Multi Vitamins
Vitamins and Minerals: Main Benefits
Taking a single multi-vitamin and mineral pill once a day is a simple way of ensuring that your body gets the essential vitamins and minerals it requires. It is especially useful for people suffering from the stresses and strains of modern day living, and the majority of us who find it impossible to maintain a constant healthy diet.
The correct balance of vitamin and minerals in hwize.com one-a-day multi-vitamins and minerals will allow you to reduce the risk of lowered immunity and increased fatigue due to deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals.
Vitamin A and Beta Carotene
Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin that is stored in the liver. It has a significant effect on the immune system and is essential for healthy growth. Vitamin A is needed for healthy skin. It is also vital for healthy eyes and helps us to see better at night. Vitamin A comes in 2 forms, retinol and beta-carotene. Too much vitamin A in the form of retinol can be toxic. However beta-carotene is non-toxic and is converted into vitamin A as and when our body requires it.
Vitamin B1 - Thiamin
Thiamin is used in all key metabolic processes in the nervous system, heart, blood cells and muscles. It helps convert carbohydrates into energy and is useful in the treatment of nervous disorders. It may also be useful in treating certain types of heart disease.
Vitamin B2 - Riboflavin
Riboflavin is a water soluble vitamin. Your body relies on Riboflavin for a wide range of functions, but Riboflavin is not stored in any significant quantity in the body. Riboflavin is crucial to the production of energy, helping to metabolize fats, carbohydrates and proteins.
Riboflavin also helps in the production of infection-fighting immune cells, in the production of red blood cells and in the conversion of other B vitamins into their active forms. It also helps antioxidants in protecting cells from damage by highly reactive free radicals.
Vitamin B3 - Niacin
Niacin is a water soluble vitamin needed to release energy from carbohydrates. It is also essential for the creation of sex hormones, controlling blood sugar levels and for healthy nervous and digestive systems.
Vitamin B5 - Pantothenic Acid
Pantothenic Acid is a water soluble vitamin that helps maintain normal growth and the health of the nervous system. It can boost energy levels and improve the immune response by encouraging the action of the lymphatic system.
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is a water soluble vitamin that is probably involved in more bodily processes than any other vitamin. It functions as a coenzyme, helping to speed up chemical reactions in cells. It is required by over 60 enzymes. There is evidence that it also plays a role in preventing and treating many diseases including heart disease.
Some women suffering from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) find that supplementing with Vitamin B6 brings relief from their symptoms. It is thought that this is down to its role in clearing out excess oestrogen from the body.
Vitamin B6 is required for Vitamin B12 to be absorbed.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin and is the only vitamin that contains essential minerals. It is also the only B vitamin that the body stores in large quantities, in the liver.
Absorption of Vitamin B12 by the body is a very complicated process. Low levels of stomach acid or low levels of intrinsic factor can lead to deficiencies, which is why people over the age of 50 may have difficulty absorbing it from food. However the body generally has good reserves of Vitamin 12.
Vitamin B12 is essential for cell replication, especially red blood cells. It maintains the protective myelin sheath around nerves, helps convert food to energy, and plays a vital role in the creation of DNA and RNA, the genetic material in cells.
Folic Acid
Folic acid is a water soluble vitamin that can protect against birth defects such as spina bifida and cleft palate.
Along with Vitamin B12, folic acid appears to control the body's production and use of homocysteine. At high levels homocysteine can damage the lining of blood vessels making them more susceptible to a build up of plaque.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is the body's primaty water soluble antioxidant. Vitamin C fights the damage done by unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals, especially in areas of the body that are mostly water such as the inside of cells.
Vitamin C enhances immunity, can shorten the duration of a cold, quickens the healing of wounds, promotes healthy gums, helps prevent cataracts and protects against some forms of cancer and heart disease.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is also known as the sunshine vitamin because with enough sunshine your body can make all it needs. However many people do not get enough sun to generate sufficient vitamin D, especially in the winter. Also the body's ability to manufacture vitamin D declines with age.
Vitamin D is important for calcium and phosphorus absorption and helps to regulate calcium metabolism. This helps in the building and maintenance of strong bones and healthy teeth.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin and a key antioxidant. It is stored for short periods in the body, mainly in fat tissue and in the liver.
Vitamin E can help reduce the harmful effects of LDL cholesterol and help prevent blood clots. It can help protect against heart disease, cancer and a range of other disorders and may even have a role in slowing down the ageing process.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K promotes blood clotting. Doctors use Vitamin K to help reduce blood loss after surgery and to prevent bleeding problems in newborn babies.
Most of the body's Vitamin K requirements are met by the beneficial activity of bacteria in the intestines. Deficiencies are therefore rare even though your body does not store Vitamin K in high amounts.
Biotin
Biotin works with B-Complex vitamins. It is water soluble and is found in many common foods.
Biotin helps the body use carbohydrates, fats and protein. It promotes healthy hair, skin and nails.
Calcium
Calcium is well known for its importance in maintaining a healthy bone mass and thus preventing osteoporosis. It is also required for other body functions such as blood clotting, muscle contraction and for transmission of messages along nerves.
Because Calcium is so important to so many bodily processes, any deficiencies in blood Calcium lead to our body taking what it needs from our bones. Too many calcium withdrawals from our bones can lead to osteoporosis where the bones become thin and brittle.
Chloride
Chloride, together with sodium (outside cells) and potassium (inside cells), regulates the body's fluid, electrolyte and acid/alkaline balance. It also helps digestion through the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and through cleansing body wastes in the liver.
Chromium
Chromium is an important regulator of blood sugar (glucose) levels. It is also essential for the breakdown of protein, fats and carbohydrates.
Chromium may help avert type II diabetes by helping the body to utilise insulin more effectively. The stage at which the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to properly regulate blood sugar levels may thereby be delayed.
Copper
Copper is an essential trace mineral required for respiration as iron and copper are required for oxygen to be synthesized in red blood cells.
Copper is also essential for the production of collagen which is responsible for the health of bones, skin and connective tissue.
Iodine
Unique amongst minerals, iodine plays only a single role in the body. It is essential to thyroid gland for the production of the hormone thyroxine that regulates metabolism in all the body's cells.
Iron
Iron is an essential component of haemoglobin, the red pigment in blood that carries oxygen around the body. The body closely monitors iron levels and absorbs more of the mineral from food when required, for example when menstruating or during periods of rapid growth.
Maintaining sufficient levels of iron provides vitality and help keep the immune system at its best. Studies have shown that even mild deficiencies can cause problems with concentration.
Vegetarians, people on restrictive diets and endurance athletes are also susceptible to iron deficiency.
Magnesium
Magnesium is essential for every biochemical process in our bodies. It is involved inenergy production, nerve function, muscle relaxation and bone and tooth formation. Along with Calcium and Potassium, magnesium regulates heartbeat and clots blood.
Magnesium deficiency is common, especially in the elderly, heavy drinkers, pregnant women, strenuous exercisers, people under stress and people with certain diseases or on certain medications. It as been shown that even mild deficiencies in Magnesium can cause disruption of the heartbeat.
Manganese
Manganese is an essential trace element required for the normal functioning of the brain. It has been used effectively in treating nervous disorders including Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.
Molybdenum
Molybdenum helps in the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. It is essential for the utilisation of iron within our bodies. It can help prevent anaemia and help prevent sexual impotence.
Potassium
In some people potassium may do as much to control blood pressure as reducing sodium intake. Potassium is the third most abundant mineral in the body after calcium and phosphorus. Almost all the potassium in your body is withinh your cells. Along with sodium and chloride, potassium is an electrolyte. The body needs a balance of these minerals to perform a host of essential tasks.
Along with other electrolytes, potassium is used in nerve conduction, muscle contractions and in regulating heartbeat and blood pressure. Potassium is also a natural diuretic, helping to remove toxins from the body.
Selenium
Selenium has received a great deal of attention recently for its role in fighting cancers. In addition selenium can decrease the risk of clotting by lowering the "stickiness" of the blood, thereby protecting against heart attack and stroke.
Zinc
The body does not produce or store zinc but zinc is required by every cell in the body. It is required for over 200 enzyme activities in the body.
Zinc is required for the proper functioning of the immune system and to help the body fight off infections. It may also support the body's natural defence and repair mechanisms in treating serious illnesses associated with impaired immune function.