A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. Vitamins are classified by their biological and chemical activity, not their structure. Such a set of chemicals is grouped under an alphabetized vitamin "generic descriptor" title, such as "vitamin A", which includes the compounds retinal, retinol, and four known carotenoids. Vitamins have diverse biochemical functions.
The term vitamin was derived from "vitamine," a combination word made up by Polish scientist Casimir Funk from vital and amine, meaning amine of life, because it was suggested in 1912 that the organic micronutrient food factors that prevent beriberi and perhaps other similar dietary-deficiency diseases might be chemical amines. The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding liver to a person would help cure night blindness, an illness now known to be caused by a vitamin A deficiency.
Vitamins as food additives are classified as either water-soluble or fat-soluble. Many types of water-soluble vitamins are synthesized by bacteria. Because they are more likely to accumulate in the body, they are more likely to lead to hypervitaminosis than are water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamin regulation is of particular significance in cystic fibrosis. The vitamins are stored in the fat tissues in your body and in your liver. They wait around in your body fat until your body needs them.
Water-soluble vitamins are different. When you eat foods that have water-soluble vitamins, the vitamins don't get stored as much in your body. So these kinds of vitamins need to be replaced often because they don't stick around! While a multivitamin and a vitamin D supplement can help fill some of the gaps in a less than optimal diet, too much can be harmful. In general, stick close to standard recommended doses in a multivitamin.
Other food additives: Xanthan Gum Konjac glucomannan
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