6 Facts About Vitamins and Supplements That You Should Know

Vitamins are chemical compounds the body uses in so many ways. These compounds are responsible for building and repairing damaged tissues in the body. They are also responsible for metabolism, the growth and development of the immune system, and vision. 

According to the study of some pharmaceutical consulting firms and companies, vitamins are grouped in two forms, namely, water-soluble and fat-soluble. The water-soluble consists of Vitamin B and Vitamin C, while the fat-soluble consists of Vitamin A, D, E, and K. The major difference between water-soluble and fat-soluble is that they differ in the way each dissolves in water, and this process determines how these vitamins are absorbed and transported in the body. 

More so, supplements have many health benefits; they can aid proper digestion and improve heart health. Although if taken wrongly, it can be harmful, this is all the more reason you should talk to a doctor or pharmacist before you take supplements to improve your health well enough. Hence, here are some interesting facts to learn more about vitamins and supplements.

Vitamins work in many ways to regulate the body processes, vitamins like C and E work as an antioxidant - they prevent cells from being damaged by oxygen. Knowing the benefits of vitamins, you can plan on getting the perfect discount codes for iherb to get the best out of vitamins. More so, vitamins A promote good vision and boost the immune system. 

While vitamins D are needed for bone health, and vitamin K helps in clotting the blood virtually. Although there are lots of facts about vitamins that aren't discussed generally, here are few basic and important ones; 

You might not know this, but some women were amongst people who spearheaded some vitamins' discovery and development. A woman named Marguerite Davis co-discovered vitamin A, and this was in 1913. In 1922, Katherine Bishop was part of a team that discovered vitamin E, and Lucy Wills solely discovered folic acid. 

Sunlight is the primary vitamin-D source, although foods like chicken breast, yolk, liver fish, soy milk, cow milk, cheese, cereals, etc., are also a great source of vitamin-D. 

Vitamins are meant to be ingested in the body through food. In 2019 a study conducted proved that multivitamins aren't effective in achieving longevity in contrast to diets containing vitamins. 

You should know there are little-known facts about supplements. One basic one is that supplements aren't tested and proven through clinical trials, surprising, right? And other important ones to know are; 

Although supplements might be good for your health, it doesn't give you the health benefits a healthy diet can provide. Supplements can be used to fill nutritional gaps and improve your health, but a healthy diet does more than that - A good diet promotes good health.

When certain supplements interact with your medication, it may cause serious side effects; and these side effects can cause a high risk of liver injury, slow down the process of your blood's ability to clot, and increase your chances of uncontrolled bleeding. 

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has an Office of Dietary Supplements that gives information on supplements and their side effects. More so, because there is a wide category of supplements, they have the same risk as pharmaceutical drugs - these side effects can include digestive upset or diarrhea. 

Some supplements can interfere with the prescription medications you take, if you take any. More so, supplements might not be good for people with chronic diseases; they can cause serious health problems - excess calcium can cause coronary artery disease, and niacin can elevate the blood sugar of a diabetic patient. 

In 1929 Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, an English biochemist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering vitamins. Legend right? 

Another fact about vitamins that you should consider is that storing them in a humid place might be bad because doing this reduces the efficiency of the vitamins. 

More so, you must know that taking more supplements doesn't mean you could have good health - to say the least, it ain't better. Suppose you must take an additional supplement to the ones you're already consuming. In that case, you must speak to a doctor or, rather, a pharmacist before you consume any more supplements to avoid any health complications.