Transcript Document
UNIT 5 SEMINAR NS 220
Module 5: Vitamins and Health
Overview
Vitamin Supplementation
Vitamin deficiency diseases & food fortification
Beneficial vitamins for specific populations
Vitamin toxicities
Multivitamins
Position of American Dietetic Assoc.
To promote health and reduce risk of chronic
disease, choose variety of foods.
Food provides all vitamins you need.
Fortified foods and supplements can help some
meet their nutrition needs.
Vitamin Types
Water-Soluble
Fat-Soluble
Vitamin C
B Vitamins:
Folate
B12
Thiamin
Riboflavin
Niacin
Biotin
Pantothentic Acid
Vitamin A
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Vitamin Deficiencies
Vitamin A: may result in xerophthalmia
Vitamin D: rickets and osteomalacia
Vitamin K: deficiency in newborns; made in
intestines by good bacteria
Vitamin C: scurvy; delayed wound healing;
decrease in iron absorption; capillary bleeding
Thiamin: beriberi; heavy alcohol consumption can
lead to poor absorption of thiamin
Dietary Guidelines
Nutrients consumed should come primarily
from food.
Beneficial Vitamins for Specific Populations:
Women and Folic Acid
Special Groups and Vitamin D
People Over 50 and Vitamin B12
Women and Folic Acid
Necessary for all women of
childbearing age and women who are pregnant.
Reduces the risk of neural tube defects and
Spina Bifida.
Food fortification & food sources (green leafy
vegetables)
RDA: 400 mcg (adults/women childbearing age);
600 mcg (pregnancy)
Special Groups & Vitamin D
Fat-soluble; obtain from food and sun
Sun source activated in liver & kidney
Deficiency diseases: Rickets & Osteomalacia
Food sources: fortified milk most reliable source
High risk of deficiency:
Breastfed infants
Older adults
Limited sun exposure
Individuals with dark skin
People >50 & Vitamin B12
Most adults meeting recommended amounts
Deficiency most likely to occur as a result of an
inability to absorb B12 from food.
B12 needs stomach acid & Intrinsic Factor to
be absorbed; less gastric secretions over age
50, so decrease in absorption.
Recommend for >50 years old to eat fortified
B12 foods or take supplement.
Natural source B12 only in animal foods.
Toxicities
>100% of RDA could be harmful to health for
specific vitamins, esp from supplements.
Fat-soluble more risk of toxicity than watersoluble.
Vit. A toxicity more likely from
high dosage vit A supplements.
UL’s established.
Multivitamins
NIH Consensus and State-of-the-Science
Conference on Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements
and Chronic Disease Prevention (2006) with results
indicating:
There is not strong evidence for beneficial healthrelated effects of supplements.
There is insufficient evidence to recommend either for
or against the use of multivitamin/mineral
supplements by the American public to prevent
chronic disease.
NIH State-of-the-Science Conference Statement on Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements and
Chronic Disease Prevention. Ann Intern Med. 2006;145:364–371.
MVI Use & Risk of CA and CVD
161, 808 post-menopausal women; 8 year study
41.5% participants used MVI’s
Results: convincing evidence that MVI use has
little or no influence on the risk of common
cancers, CVD, or total mortality
Marian L. Neuhouser et al. Multivitamin Use and Risk of Cancer and Cardiovascular
Disease in the Women's Health Initiative Cohorts. Archives of Internal Medicine, Feb 9,
2009.