For many of us, vitamins are synonymous with health and good nutrition. But why? How do they work? Where to find them and how to prepare a meal so that the vitamins remain in it? See!
Vitamins in the human body
“Eat a lot of vitamins and you’ll be healthy” – this is a saying that probably all of us have heard – and even small children know about the beneficial effects of vitamins. But what are these mysterious relationships? And why can’t we function without them? After all, they don’t provide us with any calories! Let us explain, but first things first.
Before we can tell ourselves what vitamins have important functions in the human body and what these compounds are from a chemical point of view, we need to know one important name. Last name Funk. It is worth knowing that it was a Polish scientist — Kazimierz Funk — who discovered and described the first vitamin. He did this by conducting research on the causes of tropical beriberi disease, which is the bane of large cities and port regions, where the basis of nutrition was white, refined rice. Kazimierz Funk rightly linked beriberi disease to a deficiency of his newly discovered compound, which we know today as thiamine (vitamin B1). It was Funk who gave the molecule he discovered the name “vitamin” – from the words “vita” – life and “amine” – which referred to the fact that the discovered compound contained a so-called amino group.
So much for the story — and now for some modern theory. Over time, it turned out that not all vitamins contain an “amino group” (which is based on nitrogen and hydrogen). It turned out that the vitamins in the body are very different — some of them are nitrogenous compounds (B vitamins), others are not. Some dissolve in water and others in fats. And finally, we can (at least partially) synthesize some of them from other compounds, either on our own or with the help of the gut microbiota.
As you can see, at first glance, there is more that divides than unites. However, their common feature is that they do not provide energy or are part of the body’s structures, but are needed for the proper course of metabolic processes and the functioning of the body. And they are all organic compounds from a chemical point of view.
What are the most important vitamins for humans? And vitamins — what are they and where to find them? Read on to find out!
The role of vitamins
What is the role of vitamins in the human body? As you already know, the importance of vitamins is related to the course of metabolic and biochemical processes in the body. Why is this so important? It is thanks to vitamins that reactions such as obtaining energy from food, metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, synthesis of hormones and various types of enzymes, blood clotting, DNA synthesis and many others can have a proper course, which we will discuss next to individual vitamins.
As you can see, vitamins and their role are a much more complex issue than you might think — without them, our body would not be able to, for example, obtain fuel for functioning. Even if we were able to digest food and absorb it into the bloodstream, our body would not be able to convert it into the energy necessary for life. Our cells would not be able to replicate their DNA properly, which would result in endless genetic mutations and rapid death of the organism. And even small wounds would lead to serious consequences due to the improper course of the bleeding process.
The role of vitamins is very complex and crucial to human health — and I’ll talk a little more about the slightly more practical dimension of vitamin function in a moment.
Functions of vitamins
You already know that vitamins are essential for metabolic processes – but that’s not all! What are the most important functions of vitamins and how do they translate into the practical functioning of the human body? Let us explain!
Vitamins – what are they responsible for? Vitamins are involved in many important processes, m.in:
- protection of the body against oxidative stress, neutralization of free radicals
transmission of nerve impulses
- metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates
- synthesis of hormones (m.in. thyroxine, insulin, cortisol) and enzymes
- synthesis of proteins (m.in. collagen)
- synthesis of neurotransmitters
- formation of red blood cells
- DNA replication
- blood clotting
- normal development of the foetus
- conversion of harmful homocysteine to methionine
- the process of vision
- maintaining the proper condition of the skin and mucous membranes
- sperm formation
- absorption of calcium and normal bone structure
As you can see, the functions of vitamins are extremely diverse — and the examples given above are just the tip of the iceberg.
Vitamins structure
The structure of vitamins is diverse — as we mentioned a bit in the first part of the article. And although these compounds are classified as one broad group of “vitamins”, chemically they belong to many different groups.
Vitamins division by structure:
- nitrogen-containing vitamins — B vitamins. Of course, the mere presence of nitrogen does not make all B vitamins similar in structure – nothing could be further from the truth! Each B vitamin is different and has its own characteristics. Example? Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, and vitamins B1, B5 and B7 have sulfur atoms in their structure.
- nitrogen-free vitamins — vitamin C, A, K, D, E:
- vitamin C is, from a chemical point of view, a lactone made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms,
- vitamin A is actually not one, but many compounds, and the most important are: retinol (a compound from the group of alcohols), retinal (a compound from the group of aldehydes) and retinoic acid, as well as some compounds from the group of carotenoids, which are converted in the body into biologically active vitamin βA
- vitamin K is a group of compounds from the quinone family (containing the so-called quinone ring),
- vitamin D consists of 3 steroidal (lipid) compounds,
- Vitamin E is a derivative of a compound known as “tokol” (specifically, 4 compounds from the tocopherol group and 4 from the tocotrienol group).
As you can see, the structure of vitamins is quite a complicated matter — and the names of all sorts of compounds, chains, and rings can make you quite dizzy. But now it’s time for a division of vitamins that you’re probably familiar with – and that has a practical impact on your health and diet!
