Vitamins - truth and fiction
We are all constantly lacking something. Someone lacks love, some money. But one thing is for sure: in the spring, many people are deficient in vitamins. Maybe that is why during this period we feel tired all the time?
This is understandable, because vitamins are found in fresh fruits and vegetables, and in winter they do not grow in the beds. And imported oranges and bananas lose almost all of their useful properties during long-term transportation.
So what do you do? Should I run to the pharmacy for a vitamin complex, or is it better to wait until vegetables grow on the beds? Let's figure it out.
How does vitamin deficiency occur?
Vitamins are low-molecular organic compounds of a rather simple structure, having a different chemical nature and necessary for the normal functioning of the body. The daily requirement for vitamins and their concentration in tissues are small, however, due to their deficiency, dangerous pathological changes occur. They play an important role in the metabolic process and participate in many biochemical reactions, acting as a catalyst.
Deficiency of vitamins in the body occurs due to:
- Lack of vitamins in food (malnutrition);
- Violations of the production of vitamins by the body (for example, with dysbiosis);
- Increased consumption (during illness).
Also, a lack of vitamins occurs when their absorption, processing, distribution and excretion are impaired.
The above are the most serious causes of vitamin deficiencies that can be classified as diseases. All these cases must be dealt with by medicine. Now we are talking about relatively healthy people.
If you listen to the manufacturers of vitamin complexes, each person feels a lack of vitamins. To put it mildly, this is an exaggeration. And the purpose of this statement is only one motive - to sell your product and make money.
In what doses should vitamins be consumed?
If you look at medical treatises on vitamins, you will immediately notice the discrepancy between the content of vitamins in foods and their daily requirement. If you follow the advice from these books, then in order to satisfy the body's daily need for vitamins, we would have to chew something 24 hours a day.
What is the reason for this discrepancy? First of all, don't trust vitamin books too much. Science does not stand still, it is developing all the time, new discoveries are constantly being made, which are fundamentally different from old ideas.
It is now known that some vitamins are quite complex molecules with different shapes. This is called a conformation. It's like a Rubik's cube: whichever way you turn it, it will be different, but at the same time it will remain the same Rubik's cube.
Vitamins can be divided into natural and synthetic. Natural vitamins are found in food, and synthetic ones are obtained artificially. So, the natural vitamin contains all conformations, each of which has a different biological effect. And in a synthetic vitamin, there is only one conformation. Therefore, synthetic vitamins cannot have a full biological effect on our body.
Maybe that's why their therapeutic doses are too high. In addition, they are constantly changing and revised. For example, even a dozen years ago, ascorbic acid was advised to take about a gram per day. Today the dose of vitamin C is much lower.
Natural vitamins or synthetic?
If, after all that you have read, you come to the conclusion that it makes no sense to buy vitamins at the pharmacy, then the question arises: where to get them? There can be only one answer - natural vitamins must be obtained only from natural fruits and vegetables. Of course, apples and other fruits and vegetables stored in your cellar have lost a fair amount of vitamins during the winter period. But this is not a reason to buy vitamin complexes. In case of "spring beriberi", you can drink fresh juices from fruits and vegetables.
Do not believe if the sellers of dietary supplements claim that their products contain only natural vitamins. If this were true, then these drugs would be very expensive. Indeed, to make about one tablet, they would need at least a kilogram of fruits and vegetables. And given the complex technological process of vitamin extraction and laboratory tests, it turns out that one such pill would cost at least $ 10.
When purchasing vitamins at a pharmacy, consider another important factor. The constant intake of one vitamin leads to a deficiency in the other. For example, taking vitamin B1 causes a lack of other B vitamins.
Hence, it follows that vitamins must be taken in a complex, and in a complete complex. The ideal option is a salad of fresh vegetables.
But why, then, pharmacy vitamin complexes are not so effective? Because no scientist knows what he is - this full complex. And many vitamins are not yet known to science at all. Suffice it to say that scientists discover several new vitamins every year. Naturally, they are not and cannot be in complex tablets. First, you need to study them, adjust the technology and launch them into production.
Exact science
For some time now, medicine has become an exact science. A couple of decades ago, doctors prescribed medications based only on their own experience, one might say almost “blindly”.
The situation changed radically when scientists came to the conclusion that the effect of a drug could be measured using precise statistical methods. Thus, first, for a certain time, a group of people is treated with this medicine, and then scientists look at what came of it. And then they also compare the first group with another group that did not take this drug.
As a result of these methods, some drugs have gone into oblivion, while others, on the contrary, have become incredibly popular. But what about vitamins? So far, not all of them have undergone major research. But even the study of some of them led to a revision of many medical indications. In the past, for example, vitamin E was prescribed as an antioxidant for heart attacks, although it is now known that it has no benefit in this area.
There was also a clinical study of vitamin E in order to find properties that can prevent cancer. As a result of six years of testing, scientists concluded that in the group of subjects who took vitamin E, the number of cancers was 18% higher.
It should be noted that these data relate to synthetic vitamins. Regarding natural vitamins, we can only say one thing - they will not let you down. Just when cooking, try to keep the amount of useful vitamins in food as much as possible. Try to eat as many raw fruits and vegetables as possible, and unrefined vegetable oil. In general, food should be complete.
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