Carrots have a lot of beta-carotene. Beta carotene doesn't break down very well, although it does get absorbed by the body. It travels in the blood and gets deposited in the tissues. After a while it does break down but it takes some time. This condition is appropriately known as carotenemia, and it can occur in children or adults.
Beta-carotene can be used by the body to make vitamin A, a micro nutrient that is needed for healthy eyes. Although my mother ate a lot of carrots and did turn orange, she still had very bad vision and must wear thick glasses or contacts. Her eyes may be healthy, but are still deformed. Clearly vitamin A doesn't fix everything.
Resources:
- http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2218
I've heard that eating tomatoes can prevent sunburn. Is this true and does it relate in any way to vitamins?
Tomatoes contain lots of an important antioxidant called lycopene. Lycopene is the red color in the tomato and is often called the "Tomato Vitamin." It's true classification is carotene and, although it isn't a vitamin per say, it is a Vitamin A derivative.
Studies have linked it to a reduction in risk of skin cancer. Most of the tomato's lycopene is concentrated in the peeling. It's also worth noting that "processed tomatoes" often contain higher concentrations of lycopene than the unprocessed fruit. It's also four times easier for the body to absorb lycopene if it is eaten with some fat. So eat those avocados with tomatoes. It is true that lycopene can help protect the body from sunburn. "According to one study, there were 40% fewer sunburns after ingesting 40 grams of tomato paste (providing 16 mg of lycopene) with olive oil, every day for 10 weeks."
Our bodies utilize a lot of lycopene. Lycopene actually helps to fortify the basal layer of the skin and that is how it protects against the harmful rays of the sun. The bad rays actually destroy lycopene in the skin, which is one reason it is important to replenish the supply by eating plenty of tomatoes. Evidence suggests that lycopene acts as an important army of soldiers in the war on free radicals.
Resources:
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes#section5
- https://www.sunsaferx.com/health-and-wellness/lycopene/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583891/
We all know Vitamin K helps the body with blood clotting. How does that work, and does Vitamin K do anything else for us?
Activated vitamin K is called hydroquinone. The body stores hydroquinone in the liver and uses it in the process of creating clotting factors. Clotting factors are the precursors to actual blood clots. This isn't the only thing vitamin K does.
Vitamin K is useful for other bodily processes. Our bodies need vitamin K to keep the heart beating regularly. Often a lack of vitamin K can lead to dangerous heart rhythms. It is essential to have this vitamin because becoming deficient can cause life threatening conditions.
Vitamin K also is involved in the process of mineralizing bones. If someone doesn't get enough vitamin K, the person is at risk of having issues with low bone density.
These are just a few of the ways that vitamin K contributes to bodily functions.
Resources:
- https://www.healthline.com/health/arrhythmia/alternative-treatments#types
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128000519000237
What does "Fat-soluble" mean?
The definition provided by cancer.gov is this: "A vitamin that can dissolve in fats and oils. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed along with fats in the diet and can be stored in the body’s fatty tissue. They come from plant and animal foods or dietary supplements. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble."
Normally, the intestine has "watery juices" that digest water soluble vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins won't digest in it and so need bile to make that happen. Once the fat soluble vitamins are digested and absorbed by the body, the chylomicrons carry them around delivering them where needed. Extra fat soluble vitamins get stored in either the liver or in adipose tissue.
So this brings another question: Since fat-soluble vitamins dissolve in fat, and fat-soluble vitamins are digested with the help of bile, does this mean bile is fat?
Yes. "Bile is a yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder and passes through the common bile duct into the duodenum where it helps digest fat. The principal components of bile are cholesterol, bile salts, and the pigment bilirubin."
Bile's main ingredient is cholesterol. This totally explains why bile helps the body absorb fat-soluble vitamins.
Sources:
- https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/fat-soluble-vitamin
- Understanding Nutrition, page 343
- https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2459
Vitamin A is associated with orange vegetables and fruit, and dark green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin D doesn't have a lot of color associated with it, as it is most often obtained from fish and other fatty foods, or through foods fortified with it.
Vitamin E is common in fatty foods, so again, not a lot of color associated with it.
Vitamin K is associated with dark green leafy vegetables and cabbage.
So, the takeaway is to get plenty of green leafy veggies and orange food, plus add in some healthy sources of fats such as fresh pressed olive oil and various kinds of fish.
Source:
Understanding Nutrition, Chapter 11
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