Vitamin A is required for night vision and maintenance of body linings and skin. Because of its antioxidant properties, it assists the immune system, and is good to protect against cancer formation and other diseases. It also helps the digestive and urinary tract as well as assisting your sense of taste. Many scientific studies suggested that it helps slow aging.
A deficiency of vitamin A may cause eye problems with dryness of the cornea and conjunctiva and night blindness. A warning of too little vitamin A in the body are dry itchy eyes that tire easily. If the vitamin A deficiency is severe, the cornea can ulcerate and leading to permanent blindness.
A vitamin A deficiency may also lead to dry skin and hair, especially if protein is also lacking.
Vitamin D (calciferol) can rightly be called the sunshine vitamin, since the body can manufacture this nutrient from sunshine on your skin using cholesterol from your body to do so.
Vitamin D helps with increasing the absorption of calcium, promotes strong teeth and generally assists in bone growth and their integrity.
A lack of vitamin D can lead to softening of the bone and muscle twitching and convulsions. In children it causes rickets. In adults, the shortage causes osteomalacia - loss of minerals from the bones. In older people, when protein is also lost from the bone.
osteoporosis may be a problem.
Vitamin E has earned itself a reputation - from spicing up your sex life to banning wrinkles and old age.
A powerful antioxidant, Vitamin E is protects body cells from oxidation, and neutralizes unstable free radicals, which can cause damage. Its antioxidant capability is a great help in preventing degenerative diseases - such as heart disease, strokes, arthritis, senility, diabetes and cancer.
Shortage of Vitamin E is not common, and the symptoms not very clear cut, but they may include inflamed varicose veins, fatigue, premature aging, wounds healing slowly and sub-fertility.
Vitamin K is used in the body to control blood clotting and is essential for synthesizing the liver protein that controls the clotting.
A deficiency of this vitamin may manifest itself in nosebleeds, internal hemorrhaging. In newborn babies, lack of vitamin K results in hemorrhagic disease, as well as postoperative bleeding and hematuria.
As you can see the above vitamins are very important for your body and any deficiency must by a adjusted. But there is a problem here. Vitamins A, D, E and K are classified as a fat-soluble vitamins and they are not excreted as readily as water soluble vitamins (such as the B vitamins and vitamin C). Once absorbed, Vitamins A, D, E and K remain stored in the liver and fatty tissues, therefore excess intake can cause toxic buildup
Valerian D is a freelance writer specialized in men’s health issues
With all the talks of obesity and America’s race for thin bodies, cholesterol has suffered a beating. It is even one of the main figures in the development of hypertension, that contribute much to coronary heart disease. Often seen as the culprit in “fattening” America, cholesterol has become a food taboo, something that must be avoided at all costs.
What people do not know though is that there are two kinds of cholesterol and one kind is actually beneficial to the body. In fact, it is one of the essential substances that our bodies need to maintain balance.
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a substance that can be found in fats or in lipids. Lipids are important because it is used to form cell membrane, used to balance hormones and help in other bodily functions. Too much cholesterol though tends to clog the bloodstream, eventually leading to heart disease. And because cholesterol cannot easily dissolved, only transported, the risk of build-up is great. As mentioned earlier, there two kinds of cholesterol, the LDL and the HDL cholesterol.
The bad cholesterol
The LDL cholesterol is frequently referred to as the “bad cholesterol” because too much of these can accumulate in the walls of the arteries and clog the blood stream that leads to the heart and the brain. This build up, called atherosclerosis, which can eventually lead to a heart attack or a stroke (brain attack) depending on where the arteries are leading to.
High LDL increases the risk for heart disease so it important that it is kept at normal range, which is below 100 mg/dL.
The good cholesterol
The HDL cholesterol on the other hand is referred to as the good cholesterol as high levels seem to protect a person from heart disease and hear attacks. According to some experts, instead of staying at the arteries like the LDL, HDL leaves the arteries and instead goes to the liver. In contrast with LDL levels, a low HDL increases the risk for heart attack. Levels of HDL should not be below 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women. Regular exercise has been found to increase the levels of HDL.
Cholesterol in food
Foods that come from animals contain cholesterol levels. Just how much depends on the kind of animal food. vegetables however do not contain any cholesterol.
In addition to the cholesterol that we get from food, the body is also capable of producing its own cholesterol. This creates a problem in overproduction since we also take in cholesterol through the foods that we eat. Average individuals or those who do not have any heart problems should only take in about 300 milligrams.
For people who are already at risk for coronary heart disease and heart attack, physicians recommend the reduction in the intake of cholesterol. They should only take in less than 200 milligrams. Everyone is also advised to keep their consumption of saturated fats to a minimum, as these can significantly help in lowering the risk for heart disease.
People, who have severe high blood pressure, are however advised to take in no more than six ounces of lean meat and fish daily. They should also choose the products thatv they buy and ensure that they are fat free or low-fat.
Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides cholesterol resources on http://www.your-cholesterol-resource.info