Health and Fitness

Several vitamin-like compounds are necessary for the normal metabolism of the body and they can all be synthesized by the body. However, this is only possible at the expense of other nutrients such as essential amino acids. While there is no concern that deficiencies of these compounds exist in the average healthy adult, more research [...]

Health food enthusiasts promote a variety of naturally occurring compounds that may or may not have vital biological activity in humans as vitamins. The following are some of those compounds. Some can be synthesized by our bodies others are part of existing vitamins while others have no known value based on any scientific evidence.

Laetrile [...]

Although a daily multivitamin pill cannot substitute nutrients available in a balanced diet, does it give you partial protection when you drift from that “perfect” diet? In a perfect world you should get all the vitamins and minerals you need from your food, but for the great majority of us this is not exactly [...]

Choline is the latest addition to the list of essential nutrients grouped with the vitamin B-complex. It is an organic compound present in the lipids of the cell membranes and in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. It is a part of all tissues and cells. Choline is absorbed from the small intestines and taken up by the [...]

Vitamin B12 is a member of the water-soluble B-complex group of vitamins. It is the only vitamin that contains essential mineral elements. B12 is a collective term for a group of cobalt-containing compounds called corrinoids. It includes the free vitamin cyanocobalamin and hydroxocobalamin and two active coenzymes 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin. All B12 compounds are [...]

Folate or Vitamin B9 is part of the B-complex vitamin group and a water soluble vitamin. The term Folate is the preferred term to day as it encompasses the various forms of the vitamin available in foods. It was known earlier as folic acid or folacin. Only a very small number of food forms [...]

Biotin or Vitamin B7 also known as vitamin H is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin. It is common in two forms in foods; the free form vitamin and the protein-bound coenzyme form, biocytin. The free form is absorbed from the small intestine but not biocytin until the bond to amino acid lysine is broken by the [...]

Vitamin B6 or Pyridoxine is another water soluble vitamin and a member of the B complex vitamins. The vitamin is actually three compounds: pyridoxal, pyridoxine and pyridoxamine all of which can become the active B6. A daily supply is necessary as it is not stored and excreted in the urine within eight hours from ingestion. [...]

Pantothenic Acid or B5 is a member of the B complex vitamins. It is a water soluble nutrient that occurs in every living cell of all forms of life. It is a part of coenzyme A (CoA)-a combination of pantothenic acid + ADP (adenosine diphosphate) + amino acid cysteine. B5 is vital in cellular metabolism-carbohydrates, [...]

Vitamin B3 is one of the water soluble nutrients and a member of the B complex vitamins. It exists in two forms- nicotinic acid (niacin) and nicotinamide (niacinamide). Both forms of the vitamin perform the functions attributed to niacin. Its action as a coenzyme is to assist enzymes in the breakdown and utilization of carbohydrates, [...]