Vitamin Information Center

Apr 17 2008 by Gerry Holt, Western Mail

Vitamin A

Important for:

A healthy immune system;

Bone and tooth development;

Healthy skin and mucus linings (in the nose for example); and

Vision in dim light.

Sources:

Milk, cheese, eggs, oily fish, fortified margarine and liver.

How much do I need?

It is fat-soluble so you don’t need it every day – any of the vitamin your body doesn’t need immediately is stored for future use.

0.7mg a day for men

0.6mg a day for women

What happens if I take too much?

Too much Vitamin A over many years can make bones more likely to fracture when you’re older.

If you’re pregnant, having large amounts of Vitamin A can harm your unborn baby.

Vitamin C

Important for:

A healthy immune system and helping the body to absorb iron.

Sources:

Found in a wide variety of fruit and vegetables including citrus fruit, blackcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and brussels sprouts.

How much do I need?

It is water-soluble, which means you need it in your diet every day because it can’t be stored in the body.

Adults need 40mg a day.

What happens if I take too much?

Can cause stomach pain, diarrhoea and flatulence.

Vitamin E

Important for:

A healthy immune system; and,

Healthy circulation.

Sources:

Found in a wide variety of foods. The richest sources are plant oils such as soya, corn and olive oil. Other good sources include nuts and seeds, and wheatgerm (found in cereals and cereal products).

How much do I need?

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin. This means you don’t need it every day because any of the vitamin your body doesn’t need immediately is stored for future use.

4mg a day for men

3mg a day for women

What happens if I take too much

There isn’t enough evidence to know what the effects might be of taking high doses of vitamin E supplements each day.

Beta-carotene

Important for:

Its similar function to Vitamin A; and,

Used to make retinol, needed for healthy vision.

Sources:

Found in fruit and vegetables that are red-orange in colour including carrots, red peppers, mango, melon and apricots.

How much do I need?

You should be able to get the amount you need from your daily diet.

What happens if I take too much?

Increases the risk of lung cancer developing in smokers and in people who have been heavily exposed to asbestos at work.

Source: Food Standards Agency

ALLAS — March 10, 2008 — Forget four-leaf clovers, lucky charms and finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The best way to get the luck o’ the Irish is to eat a well-balanced diet, with plenty of green fruits and vegetables, nutrition experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center say.

March is National Nutrition Month.

In a time of fast food, dinner-to-go and Pizza hot-lines it becomes more and more crucial for people to remember healthy eating in order to stay active, feel good and maintain a healthy weight. For those that already chronically feel sick, fatigued and overweight it is important to review these keys to healthy eating in order to change back to a healthier lifestyle.

1. Eat green. Green vegetables have a huge amount of minerals and dietary fiber in them. The minerals are essential to your health, well being and fighting sickness. Dietary fiber is like the magic pill when it comes to keeping your colon healthy and working efficiently. Greens that are good to eat are spinach leaves, broccoli, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, fresh wheat grass and collards.

2. Get moving. Start with a very small amount but do it continually to build up a habit. When the habit is there you can increase the amount of exercise you are doing. For weight loss the slow increase over time will be more beneficial than a long workout over only a short time period. Exercise has been proven to work as a hunger depressant. Especially a few minutes walking before dinner help keeping the portion size down.

3. Laugh and be Social. When you eat with others you can focus more of your attention on the conversations and the interaction that is taking place. You do not have to rely solely on your food to make you happy. Also, laughing is good for the soul. It defeats stress and works against depression, two major reasons why people overeat and turn to food as their comforter.

4. Drink Water. Somehow we forget this a lot during our busy lifestyles but still you can feel pretty miserable if you don’t drink enough. If you don’t drink enough your body actually starts to store water which will lead to weight gain and will counteract weight loss. Therefore, make sure you are getting your recommended eight cups a day.

5. Get enough Sleep. Most people need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night. When loosing weight and going through physical changes you will be needing more sleep. Not getting enough sleep will lead to fatigue and a craving for high energy foods to keep you going through the day. When you notice fatigue, try a power nap of max. 30min instead of the candy bar.

6. Eat Fresh. Everything that comes in cans, bags, boxes, bottles and so on is processed food and has already lost a large amount of its minerals and vitamins. It still has the same calories as it did fresh, but the quality has degraded. Make sure you get enough fresh food in your diet to fuel your body with all the nutrients it is needing. Always have fresh fruit in the house, keep fresh vegetables in your refrigerator and if you can afford it buy your fresh produce in the organic section. Also, a farmers market is usually the better choice than a big store.

7. Avoid Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils. More and more people are picking up on this. Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils have been linked to many diseases lately. They are being used in pastry to extend its shelf life. Therefore, always check the ingredients before buying pastries and other baked goods.

8. Choose Whole Wheat instead of white flour. The diet expert are screaming it at you all the time. Avoid the white flour. A grain consists of it’s shell, the seed and a starch pocket. In the process of producing flour the grain is stripped of the seed which is fatty and would make the flour turn bad in short time. For white flour the shell is also taken away leaving mainly the starch. In whole wheat flour the shell is left with the starch providing dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins. If you want to use whole wheat flour for baking add about 10% more water to the dough. If you want to compromise use 2/3 whole wheat flour and 1/3 white flour.

9. Say ‘No’ to Sugar. White sugar is so refined that it does not have any vitamins or minerals left. Actually, when white sugar is digested it takes those minerals from the body that it needs to be processed. Sugar has an addictive effect on the body. Some people may have mild symptoms of dizziness, headache and sweating when stopping to consume sugar.

10. Always exchange bad eating habits with good ones. Changing to healthy eating is about exchanging bad eating habits with good one. This is the important thing to keep in mind when pursuing weight loss and health improvement. Take time to think about bad eating habits that you have and instead of ending them, exchange them for good ones. Once you have that good eating habit implemented move on to the next bad habit you have and keep continuing on this path of permanent health.