Vitamin Supplements -
Some Basic Information
It really gets lost on a lot of people that vitamins do not supply energy, nor do they add to muscle or lose fat. They do however support the processes in your body that allow all you to achieve all of this. So they are important for your general health, but they are by no means any sort of miracle cure.
Vitamins are needed and to help set off millions of reactions in your body that keep it functioning normally. There are literally hundreds of reactions going on at any one time just to keep you healthy and alive. To make sure these reactions occur when needed, the body relies on certain enzymes, which helps speed up the rate of these reactions so that you don't need expend too much energy. Another name for these 'certain' enzymes are vitamins.
Vitamins come in two types - water soluble vitamins and fat soluble vitamins.
Water soluble vitamins are those that come out of your urine when you take more than you need. This is where the term 'expensive urine' comes from - if you have supplements that your body can't use, you will just flush it out through your urine.
Fat soluble vitamins are dissolved and accumulated in the fatty tissue in the body.
Because of the fact that water soluble vitamins cannot be stored in the body and fat soluble vitamins can be stored in the body, it is necessary to take water soluble vitamins on a daily basis. Fat soluble vitamins can be taken less often.
As I've explained, there are two types of vitamins - fat soluble vitamins and water soluble vitamins. In his excellent book, 'The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding', Arnold Schwarzenegger provides a comprehensive list of vitamins and minerals. I've included the information in his book and I have updated it to make it currently relevant.
I'll first be discussing water soluble vitamins, why its important to your body, sources you can get each vitamin, problems that you may encounter if you are deficient in these vitamins and a recommended dietary allowance (RDA) in milligrams.
Name |
Why it is important to your body |
Sources |
Problems with deficiency |
Recommended dietary allowance (mg) |
B1 (thamin) |
helps body metabolize carbohydrates and release energy |
Dried beans and peas |
none known |
1.0-1.5 |
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Necessary for health of nerves and muscles, including heart |
whole grains |
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Helps prevent fatigue |
Pork |
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Sunflower seeds |
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Nuts |
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B2 (riboflavin) |
helps body metabolize all macronutrients for energy. |
Liver and other organs |
lesions in skin |
1.2-1.7 |
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protects cells from oxidative damage |
brewers yeast |
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Good for eyes, hair, and nails |
Fish |
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Required for normal cell growth |
dried peas |
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Beans |
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nuts |
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sunflower seeds |
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Cheese |
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Yogurt |
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Milk |
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green leafy vegetables |
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B3 (niacin, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide) |
Helps body metabolize to create more energy. |
Liver and other organs |
pellagra (sensitive to light; fatigue; loss of appetite; skin eruptions; and sore, red tongue) |
13-20 |
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Good for skin, and digestive tract tissues |
brewers yeast |
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Helps circulation in the body |
Fish |
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dried peas |
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Beans |
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nuts |
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sunflower seeds |
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Milk |
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green leafy vegetables |
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dried fruits |
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Eggs |
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B5 (pantothenic acid) |
Help body produce energy and use it. |
Nuts |
Fatigue |
6 |
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Helps produce hormones to counteract stress |
Beans |
sleep disturbances |
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Good for skin and nerves |
Seeds |
Nausea |
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dark green leafy vegetables |
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Poultry |
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dried fruit |
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Milk |
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royal jelly )from honey bees) |
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B6 (pyriopxine) |
Helps metabolize your fat |
Nuts |
nervous disorders |
1.5 - 2 |
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helps build body tissue |
Beans |
muscular disorders |
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helps release of glycogen from liver and muscles |
Sunflower seeds |
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helps reproduce red blood cells |
Poultry |
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helps balance and regulate your body fluids |
Liver |
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eggs |
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nuts |
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green leafy vegetables |
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Bananas |
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dried fruit |
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B12 (cyanacobalamin) |
helps body metabolize protein and fat |
Meat |
Pernicious anemia |
0.002 |
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helps form red blood cells |
Fish |
(weight loss, weakness, pale skin) |
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helps build genetic material |
Shellfish |
confusion |
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helps children grow |
Poultry |
moodiness |
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good for nervous system |
Milk |
memory loss |
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Yogurt |
depression |
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Eggs |
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Biotin |
helps with bodies metabolism process |
egg yolks |
dermatitis |
.03 -.10 |
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Sardines |
depression |
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whole soy flour |
muscular pain |
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Liver |
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Foliate (folic acid, folacin) |
helps make red blood cells |
Vegetables (dark, leafy and green) |
Anemia |
0.1 8-0.2 |
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helps body break down and use protein |
Nuts |
gastrointestinal problems |
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good for pregnant women |
Beans |
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can help stabilize proteins |
whole grains |
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supports brain functions. |
Fruits |
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fruit juices |
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liver |
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egg yolks |
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Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) |
Required for skin tissue, bones and teeth |
citrus foods |
scurvy (bleeding gums and weakness) |
45-60 |
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helps heal sores |
Berries |
delayed healing of sores |
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is an antioxidant |
Melons |
weak immunity against disease |
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supports your immune system |
dark green vegetables |
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hells absorbed iron in your body |
Cauliflowers |
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Tomatoes |
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green and red peppers |
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Cabbage |
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Potatoes |
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The following is a similar table of fat-soluble vitamins::
Name |
Why it is important to your body |
Sources |
Problems with deficiency |
Recommended daily intake (mg) |
Vitamin A (retinol) |
Good for skin, hair and mucous membranes and vision |
liver |
night blindness |
1 |
|
essential for growing normally and reproducing |
deep yellow, orange and dark green vegetables |
dry, scaly skin |
|
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(carrots, broccoli, spinach, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes) |
poor immune response |
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fruits |
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cheese |
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milk |
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D3 (Cholecalciferol) |
Helps control your metabolism of calcium and bone calcification |
full fat dairy products |
Rickets in children |
0.01 |
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tuna |
Bone softening in adults |
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salmon |
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cod and liver oil |
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the sun (produced by the skin when in contact with ultraviolet light) |
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Vitamin E |
it is an antioxidant to help prevent cell damage |
vegetable oils |
Anemia |
10 |
(D-alpha-tocopherol) |
|
nuts |
Pancreas diseases |
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seeds |
Liver disease |
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fish |
various forms of chronic diarrhea |
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wheat germ |
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whole-grain products |
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green leafy vegetables |
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Vitamin K (phylloquinone) |
helps normal blood clotting |
dark green leafy vegetables |
sever bleeding on injury |
0.08 |
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cabbage |
internal hemorrhaging |
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If you would like to find out about the other types of nutritional supplements (minerals), please visit our article on it.