What is the best source of vitamins?

The word "vitamin" has its origins in 1911 when people first referred to a group of compounds that were considered vital for life as "vitamine." Each compound was thought to have a component known as an "amine," which contains nitrogen. When it was discovered that some of these compounds didn't contain nitrogen and therefore were not all "amines," the "e" was dropped and the word "vitamin" was coined.

You may be able to get all the vitamins you need by eating a number of different fresh fruits and vegetables

So how do we now figure vitamins work in our bodies?

• Vitamins help our body stay healthy and protect us against diseases. Research indicates that they can help prevent various diseases. Vitamin deficiencies result in conditions like scurvy, beriberi, pellagra, rickets, blindness, and internal bleeding.

• Since each vitamin helps your body in a specific way, you can often tell by how your body is functioning if you are getting the vitamins you need.

• You may be able to get all the vitamins you need by eating a number of different fresh fruits and vegetables every day. This variety of foods will often also provides the fiber, minerals, and other substances that will help you stay healthy.

• Recommended daily allowances (RDA) for vitamins are useful guides for knowing how much of a given vitamin you need. However, it is only a guide, and other factors may dictate that your body needs a higher or lower amount of a specific vitamin. Genetic factors, diseases you are experiencing, parasite infestation, overall diet, a period of stimulated growth rate, regular use of therapeutic drugs, and other factors may all affect how much of a certain vitamin your body needs to function efficiently.

• Vitamin supplements are available for times when you have a specific health condition or your diet does not give you the vitamins you need on a regular basis. Multivitamins include the RDAs of a number of different vitamins, or you can buy pills or capsules that have just one or two vitamins in them.