Fat- and Water-Soluble Vitamins

Fat- and Water-Soluble Vitamins

Deja Caster
June 13, 2014
SCI/241
University of Phoenix

Vitamins are organic compounds that are necessary for proper functioning of the human body. Some vitamins can be manufactured within the body, such as vitamin D, which is created through the skin when exposed to sunlight. However, most vitamins must be obtained through diet. It is important for proper functioning of the body to have the adequate levels of vitamin intake.  
Acquiring the proper intake of vitamins is not always easy when dealing strictly with diet. While some vitamins such as A are easily obtained through a variety of foods, other vitamins such as C are more difficult to obtain in this manner. For this reason, vitamin supplements are often used to ensure that proper vitamin intake is achieved in the body.
Vitamin supplements are extremely varied in potency and in design. Some supplement brands concentrate on giving smaller supplemental dosages of every vitamin necessary for the body, while other brands focus on the more difficult to obtain vitamins. The brand that I use, GNC Woman’s multivitamin, has all of the required vitamins necessary for proper functioning. The Woman’s multivitamin provides at least 100% of the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI).
(GNC, 2014)
(GNC, 2014)
In accordance with Grosvenor and Smolin (2014), the vitamin content of the GNC Woman’s vitamins more than meets the recommended daily intake for adults. The problem from these amounts is that more is not always better when it comes to vitamins. The text classifies vitamins as fat soluble or water soluble and each of these classifications brings benefits and risks (Grosvenor and Smolin, 2014).

Fat soluble vitamins are stored in fat and can accumulate whereas water soluble vitamins are flushed out in excess and are not stored. This can present a problem with fat soluble vitamins, in that these vitamins can reach toxic levels within the body. For instance, vitamin A, D, E,...