Water-Soluble Vitamins

General Overview of the Water-Soluble Vitamins

Hi everyone! I am back with another exciting topic for today! We will continue the series on vitamins with the water-soluble ones. The mechanism of how water-soluble vitamins are absorbed is a little easier to understand. It does get more complex as you get into it, but basically, they are absorbed mainly in the small intestines via various carrier/transport proteins that aid in their absorption. Some will simply just absorb into the intestine via simple diffusion through the bowel walls. Excess vitamins are excreted in the urine. Water-soluble vitamins can be important to take as supplements, but if you take them in excess, your body won't be able to use them, and they will be removed as waste. This is different from the fat-soluble vitamins, which can be stored in the liver or fatty tissues. Whether or not you should be taking these is purely up to you and your health care provider, and most of us are able to get these from our foods, so unless you find out you have a specific deficiency, many people won't have to take these vitamins.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid): This vitamin is mainly found in citrus foods and can be found in berries as well. I think we all kind of associate vitamin C with oranges, and by eating these types of fruit, we will be able to get all the vitamin C that we need. Vitamin C is crucial for the walls of blood vessels, collagen formation, and muscle. Vitamin C is also helpful in body repair processes and the immune response. Taking Vitamin C can help some with immune function, although from what I've seen, the results are kind of mixed as to whether this actually helps. Another thing to consider with taking vitamin C is that taking it in excess will prompt your body to convert it to oxalate, which is then used in the formation of calcium oxalate kidney stones. So if you're prone to getting kidney stones, it's probably in your best interest not to overload on vitamin C. Deficiency of vitamin C can cause scurvy, in which you'll see gingivitis (gum bleeding), fatigue, weakness, easy bruising. So, make sure to keep eating your citrus fruits.

Vitamins B9/12: For the most part, you will get these in your diet. B12 is crucial for vegans, though, as we will mostly be able to get this in animal-based products. A deficiency of B12 can cause neurological impairment along with anemia. This can be found in meat and dairy products. If you eat these foods, there should be no concern about getting enough B12. B9 is crucial for pregnant mothers. B9 is one of the most common vitamin deficiencies in the United States. It's crucial for certain molecular processes, and in babies, it's needed for neural tube development. All people who are pregnant and trying to get pregnant should be taking folic acid. Symptoms of folate deficiency are fatigue, weakness, and anemia. So make sure to eat your leafy greens, vegetables, and even now some grains are fortified with B9.

Other B Vitamins: For most of us in the United States, if you just eat a standard diet, it would be really hard to be deficient in most of the other B vitamins. In some cases in alcoholics could get a B1 deficiency and get Wernicke encephalopathy, or if you don't eat enough B1, you could get beriberi syndrome, but these are extremely rare if you just eat regular foods. Being deficient in these could cause problems, but it is extremely rare. Focusing on eating a good variety of foods will help ensure you are getting the proper amounts of all of these important vitamins.

Thanks so much for reading! I know these have been long, but I hope you're finding these topics to be interesting and useful!