Vitamins do not share a common chemistry, but they do share certain characteristics. They are all organic nutrients that are necessary in small amounts for normal metabolism and good health. Your diet or supplements provide most vitamins. The body can manufacture only three vitamins (D, K, and the B vitamin biotin) from nondietary sources. Unlike carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, vitamins are not sources of energy. Instead, vitamins are chemical partners for the enzymes involved in the body’s metabolism, cell production, tissue repair, and other vital processes.

Vitamins are either fat soluble or water soluble. The fat-soluble vitamins, which include A, D, E, and K, are absorbed by the body using processes that closely parallel the absorption of fat. They are stored in the liver and used up by the body very slowly. The water-soluble vitamins include C and the B complex vitamins. The body uses these vitamins very quickly. Excess amounts are eliminated in urine.

Vitamin Supplement Groups

Vitamins are essential to the proper function and health of the body. While many vitamins serve individual purposes, the more common way for vitamins to function is in conjunction with other vitamins, minerals, or nutrients, such as enzymes. Some of the most crucial processes in the body are the result of vitamins partnering with each other to achieve combined effects.

Two of the most essential and most powerful vitamin partnerships are the Vitamin B complex group, made up of eight vitamins, and the group of three vitamins that are known as the antioxidant vitamins. In addition to these, there are many other combinations of vitamins that serve essential purposes within the body.

The vitamins that make up the Vitamin B complex include Vitamin B1, also called thiamin; Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin; Vitamin B3, also referred to as niacin; Vitamin B5, also called pantothenic acid; Vitamin B6, also known as pryidoxine; Vitamin B9, also referred to as folate or folic acid; Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, due to its cobalt content; and biotin, which is less commonly referred to as Vitamin H.

The degree to which the Vitamin B complex affects bodily function, overall health, cognitive processes, and emotional balance and stability is nothing short of amazing. The Vitamin B complex is essential to every major system of the body and is a part of almost every important function.

The group of vitamins that is known as the antioxidant group contains Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Vitamin A. Each are powerful agents on their own, serving individual essential purposes in the body. When they combine their strengths, acting as antioxidants, they work to rid the body of the cell and tissue-damaging free radicals that have been associated with a variety of degenerative processes and diseases, including the effects of the basic aging process and the declining abilities of the mind. Some studies suggest connections between free radicals and infirmities such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Free radicals are destabilized molecules, created when a weakened molecule splits and substracts a needed electron from the free radical. Weakened molecules can result naturally from the body’s metabolic processes, as well as from environmental contaminants, like air and water pollution. The free radical attacks other molecules in the attempt to seize back the electron it is missing. This damages the assaulted molecule, making it a free radical too. When enough free radicals emerge in a cell, it can cause cellular damage, eventually causing tissue damage. Antioxidants bring these free radicals under control by giving them the electron they need, ending their destructive behavior against other molecules.

Nutritional supplements can ensure that your body has enough nutrients it needs to support these important partnerships.