By: Nikki Nies
Time and time again, one’s told this food contains a great source of vitamins whle these foods contain a variety of minerals. Not familiar with the technical names?
Being classified as a water soluable or fat soluable is telling of how the vitamin will act in the body. Fat soluable vitamins are soluabe in lipids (aka fats). They are usually absorbed in chylomicrons, whch are fat globules that travel through the lymphatic system into the body’s blood. Once transported, fat soluble vitamins, are stored in body tissues. The most common sources of fat soluable vitamins are A, D, E, and K.
| Fat Soluable Vitamin | Major Dietary Sources | Some Major Functions in Body | Possible symptoms of deficiency or extreme excess |
| Vitamin A (retinol) | Deep green, leafy vegetables; orange vegetables; dairy products | Component of visual pigments needed for maintenance of epithelial tissues; antioxidant; helps prevent damage to lipids of cell membranes | Vision problems; dry, scaling skin; headache; irritability; blurred vision; liver and bone damage; hair loss |
| Vitamin D | Dairy products—egg yolk; made in human skin in presence of sunlight | Aids in absorption and use of calcium and phosphorus; promotes bone growth | Rickets—bone deformity in children; bone softening in adults; brain; cardiovascular and kidney damage |
| Vitamin E (tocopherol) | Vegetable oils; nuts; seeds; whole grains; green leafy vegetables | Antioxidant; helps prevent damage to lipids of cell membranes | None well documented in humans; possibly anemia |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) | Avocado; egg yolk; chicken; cheese; green leafy vegetables; tea—made by colon bacteria | Important in blood clotting | Defective blood clotting; liver damage and anemia |
Source: http://science.kennesaw.edu/~jdirnber/Bio2108/Lecture/LecPhysio/PhysioDigestive.html
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10736
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