Transcript Vitamins
The first solid hint that a specific dietary deficiency could lead to disease came in 1754. In that year the Scottish naval surgeon James Lind showed that scurvy--the painful and sometimes fatal bane of mariners on long ocean voyages--could not only be cured but also prevented with the juice of oranges, lemons, and limes. By the late eighteenth century, British sailors (soon nicknamed "Limeys") were reaping the benefit of Lind's discovery. The advent of the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the late 1700s brought with it a different scourge: rickets. As more and more families left the outdoor life of the farm for factory work in the smoggy air of industrial cities, rickets had become a plague all over Europe. Symptoms of the disease were: bones of afflicted infants remained soft, like cartilage As the children grew, their soft bones bent under the additional weight, leaving the children with rickets' telltale pigeon breast, bowed legs, or knock-knees. This condition, later found to be symptomatic of insufficient calcium, was often so severe that children died. Throughout the nineteenth century, sporadic reports of cures for rickets surfaced, but with little effect. In 1822 a Polish physician observed that children in Warsaw suffered severely from rickets, whereas the disease was virtually unknown in the city's rural outskirts. After experimenting with the two groups, he concluded that sunbathing cured rickets. Five years later, a French researcher reported cures among those given the home remedy cod-liver oil. Neither treatment gained widespread attention, in part because the prevailing medical wisdom was that people needed only to get adequate amounts of the so-called macronutrients--proteins, fats, and carbohydrates-in order to maintain health. However, researchers looking into the causes of such diseases as pellagra and beriberi began to suspect that the macronutrients might not be the whole story--that, in fact, there was more to ordinary food than met the eye. English biologist Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins developed the concept of “accessory food factors” with his discovery in 1901 of the amino acid tryptophan. Hopkins went on to demonstrate that whole foods (as opposed to purified forms of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) contain certain unknown constituents essential to health and growth. Biochemist Casimir Funk, whose own work led him to believe these factors were amines (compounds derived from ammonia), suggested they be called "vital amines" or "vitamines" for short. needed for normal vision, skin tissue, bone growth, reproduction and growth in the embryo, and immune function Excess liver damage Deficiency night blindness (inability to see in low light), dry and scaly skin, and tiredness/fatigue Fat soluble Stored in liver after absorption Other storing sites: kidney, lungs, adrenals, gonads Vitamin A is retinol, while its aldehyde is retinine Found in mammals and salt-water fish Its precursor, or provitamin, is called Beta Carotene, and is the orange plant pigment that can be changed into vitamin A in the intestines and liver helps to use calcium which is needed for nerve function, bone repair, and growth, etc. Excess can be toxic, especially in children, because too much extra calcium deposits in the kidneys and organs and they become hard and non-functioning function of the immune system, anti-oxidant (prevents or decreases the side effects of exposure to pollutants to the body) Excess not very common, but can cause digestive problems and nausea and may interfere with blood clotting Deficiency not common in present day, although sometimes present in premature babies (erythrocyte hemolysis ) Wheat germ oil Fortified breakfast cereals Sunflower seeds Almonds Safflower oil Hazelnuts and most nuts makes the protein needed in blood clotting Excess rare Deficiency newborns are at highest risk (and often receive supplements) work together as coenzymes which helps metabolize energy so it can be used in the cells Excess toxicities are vary rare and rarely reported, although niacin may be toxic from over-supplementing, which causes blood vessels to dilate near the skin’s surface (vitamin B9) (vitamin B7) Alcoholism may increase the likelihood of deficiency due to lack of absorption of several vitamins, which leads to a range of symptoms, including nausea, loss of weight and appetite, and affects the immune system Beriberi is a thiamine (B1) deficiency that causes the above symptoms plus poor coordination, and may cause edema (water build-up in legs) and possibly heart failure Pellagra is a niacin (B3) deficiency disease with symptoms including diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and death (the four Ds) Folate (B9) is given to pregnant women to ensure that the cells divide and grow properly Pernicious Anemia is a Vitamin B12 deficiency because the vitamin does not absorb well - red blood cells don’t grow properly and as a result, a person is weak and tired helps form collagen that holds the cells together - this helps wounds heal helps the body absorb calcium and iron helps the immune system function Excess excess is excreted in the urine; however, it may cause nausea, diarrhea, and stomach cramps Deficiency Scurvy which causes tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, sore bones and muscles, bleeding gums, and loss of appetite Citrus fruits Strawberries, papaya Brussel sprouts Green peppers