Vitamins bring us more than just tender care and nutrition; they are not always selfless guardians of humanity. Because they always act according to their own characteristics, fulfilling their missions within the human body, each has its own food sources, metabolic pathways, and physiological functions. If people handle them improperly, causing excessive loss or toxic accumulation in the body, they can also act like demons, causing great harm to the human body, and even endangering life.
To apply vitamins scientifically, one must have a full understanding of their characteristics. Only by knowing both oneself and the enemy can vitamins truly be used to promote people's health. I. How Vitamins Are Lost
Vitamins are low-molecular organic compounds indispensable for maintaining normal substance metabolism and certain special physiological functions in the human body. They are not raw materials for building body tissues, nor do they provide energy for the body; only a small amount is needed to meet the body's physiological needs. Most vitamins cannot be synthesized by the human body and must be obtained from food daily. They exist in natural foods in their original form or in precursor forms that can be utilized by the body.
In the past, vitamin deficiency was mainly caused by famine, as people could not obtain enough food and thus could not get the necessary vitamins from their diet. Today, although most people are far from starvation, vitamin deficiency has not decreased, indicating that vitamin deficiency can be caused by a variety of reasons. Currently, vitamin deficiency is often caused by the following factors. 1. Inadequate Vitamin Intake
This can be caused by long-term consumption of finely processed foods, a monotonous diet, or picky eating, leading to an insufficient intake of vitamins in the diet to meet the body's needs. For example, in some areas where the diet is monotonous and only corn is available, it is easy to suffer from pellagra, a niacin deficiency disease. 2. Malabsorption
Conditions such as accelerated intestinal motility, reduced intestinal absorption area, and long-term diarrhea can all decrease the absorption and storage of vitamins, which is more common in patients with digestive system diseases, such as those with long-term diarrhea, or obstruction of the digestive tract or biliary tract. 3. Suppression of Intestinal Bacterial Growth
The use of antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and certain anti-tumor drugs can kill beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract, reducing the amount of vitamins they synthesize, and can lead to deficiencies in certain vitamins such as vitamin K, vitamin B6, and niacin. 4. Increased Requirement
Children in their growth period and adolescents in their puberty require several times more vitamins than normal during their growth process. Pregnant and lactating women also have an increased need for vitamins. Workers engaged in heavy physical labor and special occupations also have an increased demand for vitamins due to excessive sweating or higher muscle energy consumption. In addition, patients with long-term high fever and chronic wasting diseases have higher requirements than the general population. 5. Improper Food Storage and Cooking Methods
Discarding cooking water will cause the loss of water-soluble vitamins. Adding alkali when cooking congee or stewing meat will destroy vitamin B1. Vitamin C is the most easily destroyed during storage and cooking. The Chinese diet contains more vegetables, but it is mainly cooked food, so the actual intake is smaller than the calculated value based on fresh samples. 6. Drug Factors
Many drugs can affect the absorption, utilization, and metabolism of vitamins in the body, thereby causing vitamin deficiency. With the improvement of medical standards, people can easily obtain drugs. Due to the specialization of hospital departments, patients often have to receive prescriptions from various doctors for several diseases. These drugs have more or less effects on the absorption and utilization of vitamins. For example, long-term and large-scale use of diuretics will increase the excretion of vitamins.