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The Micronutrients-I : Vitamins

You learnt about the  sources, functions and utilization of macronutrients. We will now begin our discuision on micronutrients with the study of vitamins in  this unit. 

The "vita" part of the word "vitamin" means "life".  Vitamins are, in  fact,  vital and essential  for life and  health. They  regulate  metabolism,  help in the growth and  maintenance of our body and protect  against  disease.  You will learn a great deal about these functions in the  unit. 

Vitamins (like  carbohydrates, fats and proteins) are organic compounds. Unlike these nutrients, however, vitamins are present  in  minute quantities in food.  This does not mean we need vitamin pills to meet our needs! We can meet our requirements for vitamins quite easily by consuming the right  types of foods. 

Some of the  vitamins are soluble in water while others are soluble in fat. They are hence  classified into two  categories:  water-soluble vitamins and  fat-saluble vitamins.  This unit will introduce you to the  different vitamins included in each of these  categories. You  will learn about the food sources, functions and absorption of these vitamins. 

Objectives 

After  studying this  unit, you will be able  to: 
  • differentiate between fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins 
  • identify the  food  sources of each vitamin 
  • describe  the  mechanism of absorption of each  vitamin 
  • describe  the storage of fat-soluble  vitamins and 
  • state the important functions of each  vitamin  in the body 

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