ALPHABET SOUP – A, C & D
By "DocNurse" Norma Stephens Hannigan
Kasimir Funk, a Polish chemist, coined the name “vitamin” combining two words “vital” and “amine” back in the early 20th Century. But what are vitamins? Imagine the human body as a giant factory that produces lots of different new chemicals. Vitamins are the link among chemicals that make essential reactions occur in the body – sort of like if you don’t have ice cream and soda, you can’t make an ice cream soda. There are 13 vitamins that we need. Some vitamins, like D and K, can be made by the body, but the others must come from food or supplements. Some, like A, C and E are anti-oxidants – substances that reduce the damage to cells that can occur during metabolism (breakdown) of food. Some vitamins are water-soluble, meaning that they are used up right away or, if unused, end up leaving the body in urine. Fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body for some time. We are going to focus on only three of them here: A, C and D.
Vitamin A is necessary for good eye health, especially night vision. This vitamin also helps with the immune system helping to fight infection and to prevent breakdown of bone and aids in the formation of certain tissues and skin. Vitamin C helps to fight infections and foster wound healing as well as to produce collagen, a tissue in gums, cartilage (the squishy, stretchy stuff around your joints, ear lobes and end of your nose), bone, teeth and blood vessels. Vitamin D is essential to make sure the body has enough calcium and phosphorus. Without these, bones can easily break. Recent studies have shown that Vitamin D also plays an important role in preventing cancer and strengthens muscles.
Most of our vitamins come from the foods we eat. Vitamin D can also come from exposure to sunshine, so it is recommended that your skin be exposed to the sun about 15 minutes a day without any sunscreen. Even doing that, however, does not usually allow you to get all the Vitamin D you need, so it must come from food, too. Vitamin D can come from cod, salmon and tuna, and from fortified products like milk, margarine and cereals. Other good sources are liver, mackerel, and sardines.
Most of us know that oranges and grapefruits have lots of Vitamin C, but did you know that strawberries are also a good source? Green peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, turnip greens and other leafy greens, sweet and white potatoes, cantaloupe, papaya, mango, watermelon, brussel sprouts, squash, cauliflower, cabbage, red peppers, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, and pineapples are also excellent sources of Vitamin C.
Vitamin A comes from both plants and animals. Bright yellow and orange foods like squash and carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes have plenty of Vitamin A. Whole milk, eggs, shellfish and liver also are good sources. Whole milk probably isn’t the best food for many people because of its fat content, so fortified (made stronger by adding vitamins) skim milk is better for getting your Vitamin A.
What happens if you don’t get enough of these important vitamins? A Vitamin C deficiency may be the one most people have heard of – it’s called scurvy – and sailors often had it back a few hundred years ago while spending months (or years) at sea without any fruits and vegetables. The British Navy finally figured out that it was important for the sailors to have citrus foods and, since they decided to use lime juice, they became known as “limeys” (there’s a fun fact). Without enough Vitamin C, the mouth and eyes can get dry, the person may feel very tired, there can be bone pain and shortness of breath and the collagen, the connective substance that helps keep your teeth in their sockets, cannot be produced and the teeth can loosen and fall out. It is rare to see Vitamin C deficiency in the United States because so many products are fortified with it and fruits and vegetables are readily available, but it is sometimes seen in infants who aren’t fed fruits and vegetables and in the elderly who consume little food with little variety or in persons suffering from alcoholism.
Vitamin A deficiency at its worst causes night blindness or complete blindness. Less severe signs and symptoms of it are broken fingernails, itchy skin, dry hair and skin. The people most likely to have Vitamin A deficiency are those with intestinal problems that don’t allow them to absorb the vitamins from their food, someone who has stomach by-pass surgery (for weight loss, for example) or someone with alcoholism.
Without Vitamin D, the body cannot use calcium well and calcium is essential for strong bones and muscles. Rickets (bowing of the legs) may result from this deficiency, as well as osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). Recently, it has come to light that Vitamin D deficiency can put us at risk for cancer and development of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes (too much sugar in the blood). People with enough Vitamin D are less likely to experience serious falls. The only signs and symptoms of this deficiency are bowing of the legs and bone pain with pressure. The people most likely to be lacking Vitamin D are those who cannot absorb vitamins well because of some sort of an intestinal disease or darker skinned people who don’t make as much of it through sun exposure.
Can you get too much of a vitamin? Yes, a person who is eating too much of, or taking lots of vitamin supplements, can actually overdose on the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) so it’s important to be careful when taking truckloads of vitamins. Energy supplements sold at many of the truck stops out there sometimes contain huge doses of vitamins. I have seen patients trying to get lots of Vitamin A by eating extra carrots and drinking high amounts of carrot juice whose palms and soles have actually turned orange! In this case, more is not necessarily better. The toxicity or poisoning from having too much in the way of vitamins can be deadly.
Vitamins are essential to good health. It’s always best to get your vitamins from food; the body is able to use those better than the ones that come in pill form. However, if your diet does not include a good variety of fruits, vegetable, grain, dairy and protein foods, then it might be a good idea to take a multivitamin daily, especially since these deficiencies don’t make you feel sick until they are very severe. Stay healthy!
~ Dr. Norma Stephens Hannigan, who recently graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, teaches at Columbia University in New York and has treated many truck drivers at the various clinics she has worked over the years. She currently writes from her home in Newburgh, New York.