What are Vitamins and What Do They Do?

Why Do We Need Vitamins?

Most of our articles are about things that are causing health problems. This article ‘Why Do we need Vitamins?’ is partly a way of fighting back or at least giving us some ammunition to use against the toxic world we live in.

Minerals, amino acids and good fats are just as important but we won’t have time in this post to discuss them. Vitamins are not a cure, we are not saying that, but they can certainly help to strengthen the natural defences we need to stay healthy.

Vitamins and minerals alone will not stop medical conditions, a healthy balanced diet with good sources of food, and low stress will also help our immune system.

In fact, the immune system is the key component to help us ward off modern illness, so strengthening or rebuilding is very important if we already have a compromised immune system.

The question we are asked a lot is what are vitamins and what do they do?

What Are Vitamins and What Do They Do?

There are 2 types or sources of vitamins; water-soluble vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins. Water-soluble are basically use and loose, we don’t store these vitamins for very long. Vitamin C and Vitamin B’s are examples of water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in our fatty tissues and used at a slower rate.

We can get our nutrients from either food or supplementation. Most food sources are depleted of natural nutrients because the soil is devoid of these essential vitamins. We deplete further by cooking; boiling, roasting, BBQ and especially microwaving food, destroys many of the essential nutrients.

Vitamin supplements are important, especially if we are deficient in certain nutrients because of health conditions for example. However not all supplements are created equal and like food, there are good and badly produced vitamin supplements.

If something is called essential that means it’s probably important. So an essential vitamin is important to our health. Conventional health or government advice says we can get this from a well-balanced modern diet, like the 5 a day mantra.

From our experience, food and supplements can have harmful chemicals in them, unnecessary fillers, binders, preservatives, artificial sweeteners and high sugar contents. So how do you pick through the rubbish?

There are 12 essential vitamins (explanations & Examples are not definitive);

Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells. Obtained from Carrots, Cod Liver Oil and Spinach.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) helps the nervous system, brain, heart and flow of electrolytes, sourced from protein foods and green veg.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) breaks down food for energy, helps oxygen uptake, found in Nuts, Meat and Spinach.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) every part of our bodies requires this vitamin, Niacin helps reduce cholesterol, ease arthritis, and boost brain function. Found in Liver, Chicken Breast and Salmon.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) is one of the most important B vitamins for human life, it is necessary to make blood cells, and also converts food into energy. Dairy products, broccoli and chicken have good B5 content.

Vitamin B6 like other B Vitamins helps turn food into energy; maintains a healthy brain and overall body health. Fish, vegetables and poultry are high in vitamin B6.

Vitamin B12 is required for our nervous system, healthy blood cells and our DNA, found in meat and poultry.

Vitamin C is an important Antioxidant (see previous article Lyme Disease and Vitamin C Benefits)

Vitamin D can assist against heart disease and helps bones, joints, connective tissues, and immune system. We get Vitamin D from sunshine, fish, eggs and dairy products.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects cells from free radicals, found in seeds, avocados and greens.

Vitamin K helps joints, bones, and regulates blood calcium levels, found in green veg and red meats.

Folic Acid; women should be taking some form of Folic Acid supplement before pregnancy, in fact from a young age. This can help prevent birth defects and miscarriages further down the line. If started after becoming pregnant, it’s probably a little late.

So, why do we need vitamins?

For essential vitamins to work properly either in large or small amounts, they need the correct essential minerals and essential amino acids, these work in synergy, to produce hormones or balance our nervous systems.

There are also different types of the same vitamins, that do different functions, so just saying you are Vitamin A deficient and taking any Vitamin A isn’t the answer. It needs to be a little more specific. I know people who are anaemic and the Drs give them iron tablets, but they’re still anaemic.

Remember we aren’t just what we eat, we are what we absorb, and humans can’t absorb vitamins without minerals, and some minerals need vitamins, so having vitamin supplements alone will not deliver all the health and vitality you require.

Also, infections like parasites drain essential minerals from us mimicking illnesses that are then diagnosed as the symptoms.

Health Bunker

When we play sports, what comes out when we sweat? Fluid with essential vitamins and minerals. We don’t sweat, Lucozade, Gatorade or Powerade. In fact, these energy drinks have very few essential nutrients in them at all.

They are generally high in sugar or artificial sweeteners or caffeine. These actually use more essential nutrients by increasing our standing heart rates depleting our bodies even further.

So, if we replace the fluid with toxic chlorine and aluminium water and don’t replace the minerals lost, what do we think our bodies will do, it will use the next available source of metals/minerals. Like aluminium for instance.

Our body will also start to cannibalise our own stores like our bones, using precious calcium, magnesium and potassium. This will weaken our systems making us easier to injure with weaker bones and joints.

Isn’t that obvious?

Actually, in the Western hemisphere, we are more likely to have broken bones than people living in warmer climates, simply because they get more sun which increases vitamin d which helps mineral absorption, along with vitamin k.

In our journey against Lyme disease, supplements are a major factor in wellness, we have seen and felt first-hand the powerful effects of high dose vitamin c for instance, on us, our family and friends, oral powder or capsules or liposomal and intravenous versions.

What baffles me is that more people don’t use this wonderful vitamin let alone all the others., and why most Drs tell us nutrients are important yet don’t really understand them.

If something is essential that means we really need it.

Eat Well. Be Well.

Dom & Nic
It’s your life. Own it.

*Disclaimer – Please note, we are not Doctors or trained medical professionals. We are not giving medical advice. Check with your doctor or health practitioner before trying anything.

References

Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/51975-vitamin-a.html

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257642/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3659035/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525977/

Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/niacin/art-20046208

WebMD
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-5427/pyridoxine-vitamin-b6-oral/details

Harvard
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-c/

Medical News Today
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161618.php