Vitamins in vegetarian nutrition

Vitamins represent one of the most internationally known elements when talking about nutrition and health, however, their characteristics in the proper functioning of our body are often altered on many occasions, all this in order to distort certain aspects to encourage us to consume more than we really need.

The fact that they are so widely sold, under the concept that they are necessary, can lead to certain important biases. We will now unravel everything about vitamins, their functions in the body, the importance of their consumption and their appropriate amounts.

What are vitamins?

Vitamins are one of the most important micronutrients for the proper functioning of our body. They are highly influential in most of the physiological and metabolic processes of our body, representing an essential factor during development and growth, as well as the formation of cellular tissue.

Vitamins are classified into two major groups, fat-soluble and water-soluble. As their names indicate, fat-soluble vitamins are those that have the capacity to be stored in areas where fats are present, due to their ability to mix with fats, which is why they can be found in fatty tissue in general, muscles and liver.

On the other hand, the hydrosoluble ones cannot be stored inside the organism. This makes it necessary to consume foods or supplements that have them in order not to generate a deficit of them in our body. It should be noted that this is one of the most manipulated elements within the pharmaceutical industry, since by selling us the need to consume them constantly, it is usually induced to overconsume them, without warning the consumer that the amounts needed to meet the requirements of our body are generally low, and that the excess of them ends up being eliminated by our body through urine. Among the essential vitamins for the human being we find: A; C; D; E; K; and all those of the B complex.

Importance of their consumption: Each vitamin fulfills a specific function within our organism. In general, the benefit of consuming vitamins is strongly associated with the correct functioning of our nervous system, the processing of fats in the body, the strengthening of the immune system and the absorption of minerals. Vitamins are present in practically all the functions performed by our organism. From metabolic reactions to the formation of various types of tissues, muscles and bones, vitamins play an indispensable role.

Blood, skin, muscles, teeth, bones and nerves need vitamins for healthy patterns. The consequences of a vitamin deficiency can be devastating and in some cases, depending on the vitamin that is deficient, could seriously endanger our lives. That is why it is extremely important that when preparing our diet, we have in mind to adequately include the whole set of essential vitamins for our body, without neglecting any of the above mentioned.

It is very difficult to give an exact figure of the adequate amounts to fulfill the daily requirements of vitamins in our organism. This is because this figure varies considerably depending on our weight, age and physical conditions. However, the most appropriate advice in this regard is that you should make sure that your diet plan has all the essential vitamins your body needs. This can be achieved by including foods rich in these vitamins or by adding vitamin supplements that help you solve the deficit of certain vitamins in your diet.