The Basics of Water Soluble Vitamins

[B5150]

The Basics of Water Soluble Vitamins

There are two types of vitamins that the human body uses. They are water-soluble and fat-soluble. Nutrition experts generally agree that there may be a need for supplementing water-soluble vitamins. These vitamins dissolved in water and hence are called water-soluble vitamins. This implies that does not store them. So, you must consume foods that are rich in these type vitamins daily to fulfill your body?s needs.

The water-soluble vitamins include the B-complex vitamins (B1-thiamine, B2-riboflavin, B3-niacin, B5-pantothenic acid, B6-biotin, B12-cobalamins, and folic acid) and vitamin C. The B-complex vitamins assist various bodily functions, including energy production, nerve cell, and carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolizing. Most people who eat a normal diet containing a variety of foods do not have a problem in getting enough of these vitamins everyday. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that is vital for avoiding the buildup of free radicals in the system. Ensuring that your body gets sufficient amounts of vitamin C can lower your risk of heart disease and cataracts.

There are certain standards for the required amount of these vitamins depending on where you live. The recommendations for the B-complex vitamins vary. In general, your body needs 50 milligrams of vitamin C daily. This could be lower or higher depending on your age, sex, health status, and if you are pregnant or breast-feeding. This amount is only a guideline. It is always advised to consult a doctor to better understand the specific body needs.

Green vegetables, organ meats, and citrus fruits are the most common foods that are rich in vitamins C. While, the B-complex vitamins are a large group and hence a regular diet that includes a variety of foods including nuts, beans, whole grains, organ meats, fish, and poultry should be able to give you the sufficient amount of B-complex vitamins.

Vitamin C and the B-complex vitamin supplements are available in mega doses. Excessive amounts of water-soluble vitamins are excreted in the urine; however, it can also result in an upset stomach and other unpleasant side effects. You should never exceed the recommended amount of vitamins without approval from your doctor. If you are diagnosed for vitamin deficiency by a doctor, you can consider supplementation.

Len Gibb is one of the editors at a series of nutrition web sites, We offer a free health book for subscribers to our websites newsletter.

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By: Len Gibb

 

[BodyWizard]

well, that certainly is *BASIC* alright....there's even some real basic info left out entirely & replaced with myths.

Myth #1 - "Most people who eat a normal diet containing a variety of foods do not have a problem in getting enough of these vitamins everyday." Why is this a myth? Because that "normal diet" they're talking about is pretty much only available to people who eat a 'hand-grown' & largely-unprocessed diet - far too expensive and labor-intensive for the average person, who depends on food from the local grocery.

The ugly truth is that agriculture in the US has gone mega-industrial. Unlike in generations past, when farmers kept the soil in good condition (or the crops just wouldn't grow), modern industrial agriculture depends on vast quantities of petroleum-derived fertilizers. These fertilizers cause the produce to gain size & color, and to ripen on schedule, but it's the condition of the soil that determines the nutritional quality of the produce. Add to this the fragility of the water-soluble vitamins: they are the nutrients most likely to be lost in processing AND the ones that degrade the fastest from exposure to air, light & moisture; consequently, it is more difficult than it appears to get truly adequate levels of C & B by diet alone, year-'round.

Myth #2: "In general, your body needs 50 milligrams of vitamin C daily". This one dates from the days when they were trying to prevent scurvy...and yes, you only need a very little bit to prevent scurvy...but to claim that this is a 'solid' dose, rather than a minimal, anti-catastrophe measure shows very little knowledge of nutrition and supplementation. When dosing the W-SVs, the important factor is not how much one has available & circulating, but how little: your body can never use more than it has; if your unstorable supply is used up, the processes that require them don't happen, or are impaired. I take 1200-1300 of mixed C (my own blend) about every four hours, as four hours is about how long the WSVs can circulate before being processed out by the kidneys. Is it wasteful? Depends on how you define waste: to me it seems wise to keep the nutrients I need circulating & available.

As an aside, calling VitC an 'antioxidant' is like calling test a 'mood elevator' - true enough, but woefully short of grasping the full picture.

Myth #3 - "Excessive amounts of water-soluble vitamins are excreted in the urine; however, it can also result in an upset stomach and other unpleasant side effects." As I've said, unused C/B cycle out of the bloodstream - but that is not a definition of "excessive". Nor is gastric upset a response to "excessive" quantities: B-vitamins in more than trace quantities *will* cause nausea and other unpleasantness (always take B supplements with food of some kind or you'll regret it), but C has no such effect (up to ~10g). The thing to watch out for w/ C is tablets: the tablets contain binders...and if you're taking sufficient C in tablet form, those "binders" can add up to a surprising case of the runs. Word to the wise....

Myth #4 - "We cover everything you need to know on nutrition and how to improve your health." Sadly, not true. Mr. Gibb could use a refresher course: he's about 30 years out-of-date.

 

[dsade]

You forgot about "talk to your doctor about your body's specific needs.

Umm...unless your doctor is of the utmost HIGHEST calibre, good luck getting any kind of active thought.

 

[Jayhawkk]

I don't think those are myths as much as not specific in the wording that you would like to have seen used. As an example in your correction of #4; most people, if supplementing Vit C, would probably be using it in tablet form. So you may be more correct in your sentence it doesn't make his false per se.

It seems that is written for the 'average' person. The way you take it may make you healthier than someone who would follow this type of advice, it wouldn't make them unhealthy and it would still make them healthier then those who followed none of the advice. It's basic yes but not as full of myths as you make it out to be... Not to mention what Dsade already pointed out.

 

[BodyWizard]

You forgot about "talk to your doctor about your body's specific needs.

Umm...unless your doctor is of the utmost HIGHEST calibre, good luck getting any kind of active thought.

Quite right - worked on that thing on-&-off for half the day, managed to skip the 'doc myth' in the effort to get done & move on.

To make up for it, here's my personal pearl of wisdom on the subject: doctors are practitioners; physiologists are scientists - when the two disagree, trust the physiologist to have the better grasp on the science. Nowhere (IMO) is this more true than in the area of nutrition.

 

[BodyWizard]

I don't think those are myths as much as not specific in the wording that you would like to have seen used. As an example in your correction of #4; most people, if supplementing Vit C, would probably be using it in tablet form. So you may be more correct in your sentence it doesn't make his false per se.

It seems that is written for the 'average' person. The way you take it may make you healthier than someone who would follow this type of advice, it wouldn't make them unhealthy and it would still make them healthier then those who followed none of the advice. It's basic yes but not as full of myths as you make it out to be... Not to mention what Dsade already pointed out.

I'll agree that #4 is not actually a myth (except possibly in the head of Len Gibb); however, it IS falsifiable.

#3 is what you're actually referring to? And I will concede that it, too, is not a myth - but it is substantially misleading. Probably my fault for quoting too little - specifically the part about C & B being "available in mega doses", and oh, don't worry, any excess will be excreted. I suggest that anyone who has ever even approached mega-dosing C using tablets has discovered the UNbinding effects of tablet binders, perhaps to their alarm. The author is culpable for mentioning megadosing without warning about binders.

Perhaps I AM being picky about the wording, but it's only because so much was glossed-over, left out, misrepresented...but that's why I posted on this at all. B has been putting up a fascinating range of articles, they really show the range of information quality found out on the net: anyone with a little knowledge & a lot of self-promotion can sound authoritative, and they tend to get the benefit of the doubt thereby. Thus are a multitude of sins conveyed undercover.

Thank you for the comments, Jay - your opinion is always welcome!

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Jayhawkk again.

And thank you, B for sharing the fruits of your travels!