Vitamins are organic compound that our body needs to work optimally to keep us healthy. Our body has the ability to synthesize some of the essential vitamins but most other vitamins are required from external sources. Example of vitamins that are synthesized by our body are vitamin D, Vitamin K, Niacin and Biotin. Other essential vitamins that are obtained from our food include vitamin A, most vitamins of B-complex, vitamin C and vitamin E. Our body can sometimes become deficient in those vitamins that are obtained from food, and such deficiencies, if prolonged, could result in medical disorders.
So, how do we become vitamin deficient?
Well, there are many reasons, and i will include some of them here. Most important of them all is the variety of food that we eat. Some foods have more vitamins than the other, and if we don’t eat a mix of foods which provide us all the vitamins we need, we become vitamins deficient. Second reason for vitamin deficiency is the quality of food that we eat. More processed foods have lesser nutritional value. Fore example, if we juice an orange, it looses up to seventy percent of its nutritional value (vitamin C). If left for some time before drinking, orange juice looses more of its nutritional value. Lastly, vitamin deficiency could result due to the use of some specific prescription medications. Some anti-seizure prescription medications that interfere with vitamin D and lead to deficiency are phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone and valproic acid. Medicines used to lower cholestrol, commonly known as bile acid sequestrants, may also reduce the amount of vitamin D present in our body and as a result, cause vitamin D deficiency.
How can we protect ourselves from becoming vitamin deficient?
One way to prevent deficiency is to include a variety of foods, rich in all sorts of vitamins and minerals, in our diet. If the quality of diet is low, i.e not vitamin rich, then vitamin supplements are a must. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) states the minimum and maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals that we need daily, and our intake should not exceed that value to remain healthy.