All About Vitamin A

Vitamin A was first discovered back in 1912, by a Polish biochemist named Casimir Funk.  He came up with the word vitamine, which was later given the name vitamin.  Funk was the first to discover vitamins as we know them today, although vitamin A was actually the first one discovered, hence the letter “A” in the title of the vitamin.

You can find vitamin A in natural foods such as oranges and yellow fruits.  It can also be found in vegetables as well, such as spinach and fats.  When found in vegetables, vitamin A is water soluble, coming in the form of beta carotene.  The beta carotene form of vitamin A can be eliminated from your body through natural processes, making it an excellent way to get vitamin A.

Vitamin A is required by the body on an every day basis to maintain healthy skin and keep your eyesight on track.  There are many people who say that carrots provide enough vitamin A to prevent you from getting night blindness.  The fact is, ancient Egyptian doctors prescribed liver in their time, which they said contained enough vitamin A to combat night blindness.  Vitamin A is also known as an antioxidant, which makes it ideal to prevent cancer and anti aging.  Along with these benefits, it also helps with your immune system as well.

To get the proper absorption of vitamin A, you’ll need to consume fat.  Those of you who happen to be on a low fat or restricted diet, simply may not be getting the right amounts of vitamin A from your supplements that you may think.  To get the proper absorption of vitamin A in your diet, you’ll need to consume a high enough level of protein.  Protein combines with vitamin A to make it stronger, and help it move through your body.

On a normal day, you should be consuming around 5,000 international units (IU) of vitamin A.  Depending on your health and your age, you may need to consume more or less.  The safest form of vitamin A is beta carotene as mentioned above, and it can be taken in much larger doses.  No matter what age you may be, you can feel safe to consume high amounts of vitamin A in the form of beta carotene.

If you don’t consume enough vitamin A in your diet, you’ll end up with a deficiency.  A deficiency is never a good thing, as it normally results in skin problems, increased infections, and even night blindness as well.  A prolonged deficiency in vitamin A can put you at a risk for cancer as well, and you’ll also miss out on any effects of anti aging that the vitamin might have.  Although you should begin taking it immediately if you have a deficiency, the effects wouldn’t be the same as they would be if you stayed up to date with the right amount on a daily basis.

On the other hand, if you are getting too much vitamin A, you’ll put yourself at risk for pain in your joints, abdomen, and your bones.  Even though too much or not enough can cause you serious side effects, you should always get the right amount in your diet.  Vitamin A is very important, and should always be included in your diet.  You can find it in many foods, or take supplements that include the well needed vitamin.  If you are going to take supplements, you should make sure that they provide the right amounts - with no side effects.

Nutritional Supplements

For many years, people have been talking about and taking nutritional supplements.  What started out as natural herbs, has now grown into a trend that people use on a daily basis.  These days, you can find supplements more sophisticated than ever, available in many different forms such as liquid, capsules, pills, and teas.  There are some that are still home grown, although they aren’t as popular as those that are commercially supplied.

In general, nutritional supplements are taken to help with diets that are missing vital nutrients and minerals.  They come in many different forms as stated above, and provide one or more of vital sources such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, and amino acids.  Although they aren’t intended to replace meals, nutritional supplements can be taken to enhance your diet.

There are many reasons why you should take nutritional supplements.  One reason, is the environment.  With the environment rapidly changing, there is more toxin in the air, in the water we drink, and the foods we eat.  With our bodies having to work twice as hard to eliminate these toxins, it is always wise to take supplements and help our bodies to get rid of the harmful toxins.

Stress is also a factor on your body.  Stress can put your body at risk for many different things, such as a lower resistance for diseases.  Therefore, if you take supplements, you can get your immune system built back up and help your body function a lot better.  There are many different nutritional supplements you can take, such as glyconutrients, that will help you combat stress.

One of the main reasons to take nutritional supplements is due to poor eating habits.  Those who have busy lifestyles, sometimes don’t eat as healthy as they should.  Often times, it can be very hard to take the necessary time to eat a healthy meal.  Whenever we can’t get a healthy meal, we can always look towards supplements.  They will enhance our diets and give us the nutrients that our bodies need for energy, health, and many other purposes.

Those of us that are athletic or exercise, will need more nourishment for the body.  As you work out or play sports your body will need more nutrition.  Some good examples of supplements include protein, vitamins, and minerals.  You can find them in many different foods, or use vitamins and nutritional supplements that contain them.

If you are looking to lose weight, nutritional supplements may come in handy.  Anytime you decide to diet, you eat much less and may end up missing on foods that contain essential vitamins and minerals.  If you take some nutritional supplements on the other hand, your body won’t miss any of the important vitamins and minerals it needs.  To make things even better, you can also get supplements that will help you lose weight as well, along with giving your body everything it needs to function and carry out your normal everyday routine.

No matter how you look at it, nutritional supplements are great for many things.  You find them in your local GNC or nutrition store, or online. There are many different supplements to choose from, giving you everything you need to get the right nutrients and vitamins.  If you’ve been looking for a way to get the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals your body needs - look no further than nutritional supplements.  They are available at a great price - with many excellent manufactures offering you plenty of innovative products.

Vitamin E And Your Body

We all know that oxygen is a primary component that is needed for life.  This very same oxygen, once inside of the body, becomes very reactive through certain molecules and will start to cause damage through the free radicals, which is known as oxidative stress.  As an antioxidant, vitamin E will help to prevent this type of stress, which will prevent the cells from aging or sustaining any type of permanent damage as well.

Cholesterol, which is a fatty substance found in many foods, is absorbed by the body then transferred from the liver to be stored by tissue as fat.  This is carried through the bloodstream by molecules known as LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins).  When the LDL is oxidized, it reacts to the cholesterol and a fat substance known as plaque begins to get deposited on the artery walls, which causes the blood flow to stop.

Vitamin E will stop cholesterol from forming into plaque, which will allow the blood to flow properly.  If you don’t use vitamin E, in this situation, the blood will stop flowing and the arteries will begin to get backed up.  As most of us know, this is the main cause of heart attacks, high blood pressure, and other serious diseases.

Even though many researchers and doctors have linked vitamin E to preventing cancer, this hasn’t been conclusively proven.  There are many doctors that have said in the past that vitamin E can indeed prevent cancer, although no documentation or proof has been given to back up such statements.  We all know that it is a very important vitamin, regardless.

There are studies however, that have proven vitamin E to be very effective in protecting the skin against UV rays.  Vitamin E has been shown on numerous occasions to shield the skin from the harmful rays of the sun, which as we all know, can lead to skin cancer.  If you include sources of vitamin E, or supplements in your diet you can help to prevent the damage of UV rays to your skin.

Along with these types of benefits, vitamin E can also protect against alzheimer’s disease and inflammation of the pancreas.  This vitamin can also be very beneficial with reducing scars, and healing many types of burns and wounds.  Included in your diet, vitamin E can help your skin to heal from many discrepancies over time.

When included with vitamin C, vitamin E can be one of the most important vitamins for your body.  It offers many different benefits, besides the ones listed above.  You can find it in many different forms, including fruits and nuts.  Fruits are excellent sources of vitamin E, especially oranges.  Oranges have always been known to be rich in this vitamin, whether you are consuming whole oranges or just drinking orange juice.  If you are drinking orange juice that contains pulp, you’ll be getting plenty of vitamin E in your diet.

All things aside, you should always make sure that you include vitamin E in your diet.  Along with fruits and nuts, you can also find this vitamin plentiful in vegetables as well.  You can include it into your diet, or take supplements that provide it.  You should be getting around 1,000 mg of the vitamin a day, which isn’t hard to do if you eat the right foods.  If you consume the right amount of vitamin E in your diet, you’ll notice that your body will perform much better - and you’ll be well protected against numerous diseases as well.