Vitamins in Foods - Module 5

History and Discovery

• 1500 BC: Ancient Egyptians used liver (rich in vitamin A) to treat night blindness by applying it to the eye.
• 400 BC: Hippocrates described several vitamin deficiencies, including scurvy.
• 1536: Jacques Cartier used local native knowledge while exploring the St. Lawrence River to save his men from scurvy by boiling cedar needles to make a vitamin C-rich tea.
• 1795: The British navy added lemons to sailors' rations, 40 years after James Lind, a Scottish naval surgeon, urged the use of citrus fruits to prevent scurvy.
• 1884: The Japanese navy eradicated beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency) by feeding sailors meat and fruit in addition to polished white rice, which lacked the thiamine-rich husks.
• 1897: Beriberi (a polyneuritis) was induced in birds fed only polished rice and reversed by feeding the rice polishings.
• 1911: Casimir Funk isolated an amine-containing concentrate from rice polishings that was curative for polyneuritis in pigeons and named it 'vitamine' for vital amine.

Definition of Vitamin

• An organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism.
• It cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism and must be obtained from the diet.

Biological Functions of Vitamins

• Hormone-like functions as regulators of mineral metabolism (vitamin D).
• Regulators of cell and tissue growth and differentiation (some forms of vitamin A).
• Antioxidants (vitamin E, C).
• Enzyme cofactors (tightly bound to enzyme as a part of prosthetic group, coenzymes).

Types of Vitamins

• Water-Soluble Vitamins
  • Thiamin (B1)
  • Riboflavin (B2)
  • Niacin (B3)
  • Pantothenic Acid (B5)
  • Pyridoxal, Pyridoxamine, Pyridoxine (B6)
  • Biotin
  • Cobalamin (B12)
  • Folic Acid
  • Ascorbic Acid
• Fat-Soluble Vitamins
  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin D
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin K

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

• Do not serve as coenzymes but rather act directly or bind to specific receptors in the cell nucleus.
• Absorbed in association with dietary fat; bile is required for absorption. Ulcerative colitis can lead to deficiencies.
• Vitamins A and D are stored in the liver, and it takes time to bring on a deficiency state.
• More likely to cause toxicity on overdosage.

Vitamin A

• Vitamers (chemical names): Retinol, retinal, retinoic acid; Carotenoids
• Deficiency disease: Night-blindness
• Overdose effects: Hyperkeratosis (goose-bump skin).
• Blanket term for retinoids, biologically active compounds that occur naturally in both plant and animal tissues.
• Beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A.
• Promotes good vision, healthy skin, growth, and maintenance of bones, teeth, and cell structure.
• RDA: 900 micrograms for males; 700 micrograms for females.

Functions

• Vision
• Gene transcription
• Immune function
• Embryonic development and reproduction
• Bone metabolism
• Hematopoiesis
• Skin health
• Antioxidant activity

Too Much Vitamin A

• May turn your skin orange.
• May cause fatigue, weakness, severe headache, blurred vision, hair loss, and joint pain.
• Toxicity:
  • May cause severe liver or brain damage.
  • Birth defects.
• According to some research, having more than an average of 1.5mg a day of vitamin A over many years may affect your bones, making them more likely to fracture when you are older.

Vitamin A Deficiency

• May cause night blindness.
• Lowered immune system.
• Keratinized skin.
• Dry mucous membranes.
• Susceptibility to disease.
• Impairs immunity.
• Hematopoiesis.
• Fat malabsorption
• Liver issues

Sources of Vitamin A

• Top sources of vitamin A include:
  • Beef liver
  • Egg yolk
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Fortified milk
• Top sources of beta-carotene include:
  • Sweet potato
  • Carrots
  • Pumpkin
  • Cantaloupe
  • Broccoli
  • Apricots
  • Spinach and collard greens

Vitamin D

• Vitamers (chemical names): Ergocalciferol, cholecalciferol
• Deficiency disease: Rickets, Osteomalacia
• Overdose effects: Hydrocephalus/headache, brittle bones, birth defects, Hypercalcification of bones, soft tissues, kidneys
• Essential for building and maintaining bones and teeth.
• Responsible for absorption and utilization of calcium.
• Other health benefits:
  • May boost the immune system.
  • May also help decrease certain cancers.
• RDA: 5 \mu g until age 50; 10 \mu g/day until 70; 15 \mu g 70+

Benefits

• Promotes cell growth
• Supports a healthy immune system
• Promotes calcium absorption
• Encourages good moods
• Prevents depression
• Reduces the risk of flu

Therapeutic Uses

• Bone and calcium homeostasis
• Infections
• Psoriasis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Respiratory health
• Diabetes & other conditions

Vitamin D Deficiency

• Putting at risk of bone problems, including rickets in children and osteomalacia/osteoporosis in adults, severe asthma in children, increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Sources of Vitamin D

• Sun exposure for 10 minutes a day
• Foods:
  • Fortified milk
  • Tuna
  • Salmon
• May need a supplement (check with doctor first though).

Vitamin E

• Vitamers (chemical names): Tocopherols, tocotrienols
• Deficiency disease: Deficiency is very rare
• Important to red blood cells, muscles, and other tissues.
• Deficiency is rare.
• Toxicity is rare.
• But Vitamin E acts as a blood thinner

Benefits of Vitamin E

• Some people use vitamin E for diseases of the:
  • Brain and nervous system, including Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Night cramps
  • Restless leg syndrome
  • Epilepsy
• Vitamin E is also used for Huntington's chorea and other disorders involving nerves and muscles.
• Women use vitamin E for preventing complications in late pregnancy due to high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia), premenstrual syndrome (PMS), painful periods, menopausal syndrome, hot flashes associated with breast cancer, and breast cysts.

Sources of Vitamin E

• Foods:
  • Vegetable oils, salad dressings, whole grain cereals, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, and wheat germ.

Vitamin K

• Vitamers (chemical names): Phylloquinone, menaquinones
• Deficiency disease: Bleeding diathesis
• Important for blood clotting.
• Also has a role for bone health.
• Mostly made in the intestines.

Risks of Taking Vitamin K

• Side effects of oral vitamin K at recommended doses are rare.
• Interactions. Many drugs can interfere with the effects of vitamin K. They include antacids, blood thinners, antibiotics, aspirin, and drugs for cancer, seizures, high cholesterol, and other conditions.

Sources of Vitamin K

• Foods:
  • Turnip greens, cauliflower, spinach, liver, broccoli, kale, and cabbage.

Water-Soluble Vitamins

• Vitamins B’s and C
• Eight B vitamins:
  • Thiamin (B-1)
  • Riboflavin (B-2)
  • Niacin (B-3)
  • Pyridoxine (B-6)
  • Cobalamin (B-12)
  • Folic acid
  • Pantothenic acid
  • Biotin
• B1 for a healthy heart
• B2 for healthy skin (& energy production)
• B3 for a healthy nervous system
• B6 - helps regulate hormones
• B5 - good for concentration
• B12 for a healthy immune system

Thiamin (B-1)

• Helps to convert carbohydrates to energy.
• Food source:
  • Pork, beef, liver, peas, seeds, legumes, whole-grain products, and oatmeal.

Diseases/Deficiency

• Fatigue, nausea, depression, nerve damage
• Deficiency causes Beri-beri and Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome

Beriberi

*   Early symptoms: Loss of appetite, tingling hands and legs, numbness, aches, pains, weakness and wasting of leg muscles, difficulty in walking, confusion
*   Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome: Confusion, Ataxia, Nystagmus & Ophthalmoplegia (eye muscle weakness)
*   Infantile beriberi: Babies can get beriberi by a vitamin B1 deficient woman. Symptoms: Fretful, vomiting, wee loss, swelling, convulsions
*   Malnourished Alcoholic

Therapeutic Use/ Benefits

• Digestive problems like ulcerative colitis
• AIDS
• Diabetic pain
• Heart diseases
• Aging
• Vision problem
• Prevent cervical cancer, etc.

Riboflavin (B-2)

• Was once called Vitamin G.
• Key to metabolism and red blood cells.
• Intestinal bacteria are also known to synthesize riboflavin.
• Added as food coloring agent and to fortify some foods as baby foods, breakfast cereals, sauces, processed cheese, fruit drinks, and vitamin-enriched milk).

Food Source

• Milk, yogurt, cheese, whole-grain breads, green leafy vegetables, meat, and eggs.

Deficiency/ Disease

• Dry, scaly skin
• Riboflavin decomposes when exposed to visible light. This characteristic can lead to riboflavin deficiencies in newborns treated for hyperbilirubinemia by phototherapy.
• The severe deficiency of riboflavin is known as ariboflavinosis.

Therapeutic Uses

• Migraine headaches in use of high doses of riboflavin
• Improve memory
• Healthy development of the fetus
• Boost the body's level of glutathione which is an anti-oxidant

Niacin (B-3)

• Also involved with energy production.
• Also helps with the skin, nerves, and digestive system.
• Foods:
  • Meat, poultry, liver, eggs, brown rice, baked potatoes, fish, milk, and whole-grain foods.

Deficiency/ Diseases

• Rare but causes diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death.
• Niacin chronic deficiency results in Pellagra.

Therapeutic Use/ Benefits

• Decreases blood cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of heart attack.
• Niacinamide used on a long-term basis to prevent the onset of juvenile diabetes (children).
• Involved in the production of sex and stress hormones.
• Improves blood circulation.
• Regulates blood sugar level.

Pyridoxine (B-6)

• Vitamin B6 refers to a group of chemically very similar compounds which can be interconverted in biological systems.
• Involved in chemical reactions of proteins and amino acids.
• Important for maintaining healthy brain function, the formation of red blood cells, the breakdown of protein, and the synthesis of antibodies in support of the immune system.

Sources

1) Tuna
2) Beef
3) Chicken
4) Turkey
5) Venison
6) Potatoes
7) Codfish
8) Sunflower seeds
9) Halibut
10) Spinach

Deficiency

• Skin changes
• Dementia
• Ulceration
• Conjunctivitis
• Intertrigo
• Confusion
• Anemia
• Nervous system disorders

Cobalamin (B-12)

• Helps with the nervous system, red blood cells, and DNA synthesis.
• Deficiency:
  • Nervous system disorders and pernicious anemia.
• Foods:
  • Only found in animal products
  • Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk products, and clams.
• Important for metabolism, the formation of red blood cells, and the maintenance of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord.

Causes of Deficiency (Reduced Absorption)

• Low Protein Diet
• Antacids
• Altered Intestinal Function (Leaky Gut)
• Medications
• Stress
• Alcohol
• Aging

Deficiency Related Symptoms

• Anemia
• Fatigue
• Numbness and Tingling
• Slower Healing
• Increased Homocysteine
• Impaired Detoxification

Folic Acid (Folacin, Folate)

• Key role in red blood cell formation and cell division
• Deficiency:
  • Anemia, digestive disorders
• Foods:
  • Leafy, dark green vegetables
  • Also found in liver, beans, peas, asparagus, oranges, avocados

Pantothenic Acid and Biotin

• Help with metabolism and the formation of some hormones.
• Deficiencies are rare.
• Foods:
  • Almost any food, plant-based or animal-based.

Vitamin C

• Important to bone health, blood vessel health, cell structure, and absorption of iron.
• Deficiency:
  • Rare
• Too much vitamin C
• Foods:
  • Melons, berries, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, fortified juices, kiwi, mangos, yellow peppers, and citrus fruits.