What is Vitamin C ?

Vitamin C

Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, a large number of higher primate species, a small number of other mammalian species (notably guinea pigs and bats), a few species of birds, and some fish.

Ascorbate (an ion of ascorbic acid) is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants. It is made internally by almost all organisms, humans being a notable exception. It is widely known that a deficiency in this vitamin causes scurvy in humans. It is also widely used as a food additive.

The pharmacophore of vitamin C is the ascorbate ion. In living organisms, ascorbate is an anti-oxidant, since it protects the body against oxidative stress and is a cofactor in several vital enzymatic reactions.

Scurvy has been known since ancient times. People in many parts of the world assumed it was caused by a lack of fresh plant foods. The British Navy started giving sailors lemon juice to prevent scurvy in 1795^[ Ascorbic acid was finally isolated by 1933 and synthesized in 1934. The uses and recommended daily intake of vitamin C are matters of on-going debate. A recent meta-analysis of 68 reliable antioxidant supplementation experiments involving a total of 232,606 individuals concluded that consuming additional ascorbate from supplements may not be as beneficial as thought.

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is water soluble; also called ‘water soluble C’  Vitamin, originally called vitamine, means from vital amine. However, not all vitamins contain amine group; hence, the ‘e’ from vitamine was dropped. Previously, there were 2 other vitamin discovered and the third one which follows alphabetical order (ABC) resulted in the name of vitamin C.

Biosynthesis

The vast majority of animals and plants are able to synthesize their own vitamin C, through a sequence of four enzyme-driven steps, which convert glucose to vitamin C. The glucose needed to produce ascorbate in the liver (in mammals and perching birds) is extracted from glycogen; ascorbate synthesis is a glycogenolysis-dependent process. In reptiles and birds the biosynthesis is carried out in the kidneys.

Among the animals that have lost the ability to synthesise vitamin C are simians (specifically the suborder haplorrhini, which includes humans), guinea pigs, a number of species of passerine birds (but not all of them), and many (perhaps all) major families of bats. These animals all lack the L-gulonolactone oxidase (GULO) enzyme, which is required in the last step of vitamin C synthesis, because they have a defective form of the gene for the enzyme (Pseudogene ?GULO). Some of these species (including humans) are able to make do with the lower levels available from their diets by recycling oxidised vitamin C.

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Vitamin D

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D₂ (or ergocalciferol) and vitamin D₃ (or cholecalciferol). Vitamin D₃ is produced in skin exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B radiation.

Vitamin D plays an important role in the maintenance of organ systems.

Vitamin D regulates the calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood by promoting their absorption from food in the intestines, and by promoting re-absorption of calcium in the kidneys, which enables normal mineralization of bone and prevents hypocalcemic tetany. It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts.

In the absence of vitamin K or with drugs (particularly blood thinners) that interfere with Vitamin K metabolism, Vitamin D can promote soft tissue calcification.

It inhibits parathyroid hormone secretion from the parathyroid gland.

Vitamin D affects the immune system by promoting phagocytosis, anti-tumor activity, and immunomodulatory functions. Vitamin D deficiency can result from inadequate intake coupled with inadequate sunlight exposure, disorders that limit its absorption, conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites, such as liver or kidney disorders, or, rarely, by a number of hereditary disorders. However, sunlight exposure, to avoid deficiency, carries other risks, including skin cancer; this risk is avoided with dietary absorption, either through diet or as a dietary supplement

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Iron deficiency

Deficiency

Iron deficiency (sideropenia or hypoferremia) is the most common known form of nutritional deficiency. Too little iron can interfere with these vital functions and lead to morbidity and mortality.

The direct consequence of iron deficiency is iron deficiency anemia. Total body iron averages approximately 3.8 g in men and 2.3 g in women. In blood plasma, iron is carried tightly bound to the protein transferrin. Bacteria, like human cells, require iron for growth, and restricting its bioavailability in this way prevents their infectious growth. There are several mechanisms that control human iron metabolism and safeguard against iron deficiency. When loss of iron is not sufficiently compensated by adequate intake after some time that is determined by the state of body iron storage, iron deficiency develops.

ron deficiency can have serious health consequences that diet may not be able to quickly correct, and iron supplementation is often necessary if the iron deficiency has become symptomatic. However, mild iron deficiency can be corrected, and prevented, by eating iron-rich foods. Because iron is an absolute requirement for most of the Earth’s plants and animals, a wide range of food can provide iron. However, these foods are absorbed and processed differently by the body; for instance, iron from meat (heme iron source) is more easily broken down and absorbed than iron in grains (“non-heme” iron source), and minerals and chemicals in one type of food may inhibit absorption of iron from another type of food eaten at the same time.[1]Because iron from plant sources is less easily absorbed than the heme-bound iron of animal sources, vegetarians and vegans should have a somewhat higher total daily iron intake than those who eat meat, fish or poultry.[2]Iron from nonheme sources is more readily absorbed if consumed with foods that contain either heme-bound iron or vitamin C. This is due to a hypothesised “meat factor” which enhances iron absorption.