Vitamins and their importance
The word “Vitamine”, meaning a vital amine was proposed by a Polish researcher Dr. Cacimir Funk, in 1911 to designate a new food substance which cured berri-berri. Other terms were proposed as new factors were discovered, but the word vitamin, with the final “e” dropped, met with popular favour.
Vitamins are potent organic compounds which are found in small concentration in foods. They perform specific and vital functions in the body chemistry.
Vitamins, which are of several kinds, differ from each other in physiological function, in chemical structure and in their distribution in food. They are broadly divided into two categories, namely fat-soluble and water soluble. Vitamins A, D, E and K are all soluble in fat and fat solvents, and are therefore, known as fat-soluble. They are not easily lost by ordinary cooking methods and they can be stored in the body to some extent, mostly in the liver. They are measured in International units.
Vitamins, used therapeutically, can be of immense help in fighting disease and speeding recovery. They can be used in two ways, namely, correcting deficiencies and treating disease in place of drugs.
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