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Fat soluble vitamin a
Vitamins are organic molecules that we need in the diet for the chemical reactions that maintain life. Vitamins can be soluble or fat soluble in water. Here I will discuss a fat soluble vitamin a. Other fat-soluble vitamins are D, E and k. Water-soluble vitamins are c and the Bs.
Fat soluble vitamin a are stored in the body as a substance called retinol, which is also the type we receive in the diet of products of animal origin. Retinol can be transformed into other forms of retinal, Retinoic acid and vitamin A. Retinoic acid is a form of vitamin a flowing through cell membranes and in the nucleus of the cells to modify the expression of genes, turning genes or disable.
Retina is a molecule contained in the retina of the eye, is helping to change the energy of the light into electrical signals that get sent in the brain and eventually find themselves in the visual cortex, the area of the brain involved in the perception of the view. Vitamin a is therefore an essential component of the vision, and in fact the first symptom of vitamin a to appear is night-blindness.
There are multiple sources of fat soluble vitamin A, which is absorbed best is Retinol and occurs almost exclusively in food of animal origin. Liver is the best source and cod liver oil also contains a massive amount. Eggs, meat, fish and fat as butter contain some too certain dairy products.
The plant forms are known as carotenes, and in particular alpha and beta carotene. They are composed of similar to vitamin A molecules, which are broken down into vitamin a in the digestive tract. They are not nearly as bioavailable in the form of retinol and the body shape only as much vitamin a of them properly, vitamin a toxicity is therefore not possible to overconsumption of carotenes.
A variety of vegetables and fruits contain the carotenes, and therefore, it is possible to cross the vitamin a plant foods only, although I recommend you eat foods for animals too because all other essential micronutrients they contain. Carrots, sweet potatoes and broccoli are all excellent sources of carotenes.
I would recommend having some fat with vegetables, to increase the rate of absorption of the vitamin, but any fat soluble vitamin must be consumed with grease to be properly absorbed. One or two tablespoons of something like olive oil could be the case.
The RDA for vitamin a is 900 micrograms for men and 700 micrograms for women. Vitamin a deficiency is major causes of blindness and death in third world countries, but in Western societies, serious deficiency is rare. I wouldn't recommend supplementing vitamin A, at least, or contained in the average multi or a tablespoon of cod liver oil, because that too large part can be harmful and cause birth defects.
Fat soluble vitamin k
Fat soluble vitamin k is one of which are fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Vitamin k is best known for his role in bone health and blood coagulation, but recent evidence linking vitamin k for cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer of worlds.
There are two forms of this vitamin we can find in food. One is the Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), a form found in plant foods such as spinach. The other is vitamin K2 (menaquinone), which we get from food for animals and is much better absorbed and bio more active as the shape of the plant.
The function of vitamin k in the body, is to modify the amino acid glutamate specific on certain proteins, enabling them to bind calcium. This is important because Calcium is a key player in some of our major health problems as it ages.
It is primarily the bone loss and fractures due to the loss of calcium from bone and calcium deposition in the arteries which encourages them to become clogged, contributing to heart disease. When your levels of vitamin k is adequate, these proteins to function properly.
It is usually not considered necessary to obtain many fat soluble vitamin k in the diet, because the bacteria in the intestine can produce some form of K2. Waiting at the lack of necessary clotting factor was regarded as extremely rare, but from the point of view of the prevention of arterial calcification and ensure optimal bone health, it is much more common. There are also elements of evidence showing that vitamin k can be beneficial against liver and prostate cancers.
You will find the K1 form in many different fruits and vegetables, but green leaves like spinach and Kale vegetables are the best sources. I would recommend instead to go to the animal form (K2), found in meat, eggs and organs. The best source in the modern diet, however, is rich in fatty dairy products like ice cream, cheese and butter. If you choose to get your vitamin k by plants, I recommend you to eat some fat with them to increase the absorption of fat soluble vitamin. Animals contain many more K2, if they are fed grass.
There is a single research showing that people eating the most high fat dairy had a whopping 69% less chance of heart disease in development that people eating less. This is considered mainly due to the high amount of fat soluble vitamin k in high fat dairy.
If you have a family history of heart disease and are unable for some reason some get lots of vitamin k through diet, then you should consider supplementation. The best way, in my view, is to buy drops of vitamin K2 and take approximately one drop per day. It is a very cheap supplement and lasts for months, it is not gonna break your wallet.
Good Sources of vitamin k
There are many good sources of vitamin K, including plants and animals. However, the quality of vitamin k differs substantially between them, since plants primarily produce K1 (phylloquinone) form while animals produce the K2 (menaquinone) form.
It is important to know that Vitamin K1 is almost not available as vitamin K2 bio. First of all, it is not absorbed nearly so and, secondly, that it is not as effective in the cells of the body to its primary function, activating certain proteins and to bind calcium.
The form of the plant, Vitamin K1, can be obtained through several different sources. However, the best are vegetables with green leaves, including kale, spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli and parsley. It is possible to obtain vitamin K, you need by eating plants, but you would have to eat a large quantity and 1000mcg of Vitamin K1 were found necessary to maximize the amounts of functional Osteocalcin, which is a major protein affected by vitamin k.
The animal form, K2, is the form that prefer human cells. It is found in a flat Japanese fermented soybeans called Natto. Other Natto, K2 is located exclusively in products of animal origin.
The types of pet foods that are rich in K2 include meat, eggs and organs. They contain much a greater amount if the animals are fed with grass, so it is always better to get fed meat if it is available and is not more expensive than what you are comfortable with the grass.
The best of all sources of vitamin k is high fat dairy. This is where we humans West get most of our vitamin k, and it is the superior animal form (K2). High fat dairy includes cheese, cream and butter, where the grass fed butter or butteroil is the richest source.
There was a study on the people, by comparing their consumption of high fat dairy (among other things). What researchers found was that those who ate the most had a 69% less likely to develop diseases of the heart that those eating the least. To put this in context, heart disease is the number one killer of worlds.
If you eat lots of gluten grains, then they can interfere with the absorption of fat soluble vitamin, and therefore, it might be preferable to minimize. It is also important to eat fat to be able to absorb the vitamin k and other fat-soluble nutrients.
One of the sources of vitamin k which we never short on is the bacteria in the intestine. They produce effectively so that a real vitamin k deficiency is extremely rare, and it is quite many unheard of except in infants who did not have their large intestine colonized again. This is the reason why infants are sometimes given beaten with vitamin k at birth.