Vitamins

2. Vitamins • Vitamins are chemical substances naturally found in a wide range of unprocessed plant and animal foods. • They promote health and help prevent disease. • They are needed by our bodies in small amounts everyday for a variety of different jobs. This is why they are micronutrients. • Some vitamins can be stored in the body. With out vitamins are bodies would show signs of deficiency disease depending on the missing vitamin. Vitamins are classified in two groups: Fat Soluble vitamins ( Vitamins that are found in foods containing fat) and Water soluble vitamins (Vitamins that are found in foods with a high water content). Vitamins are needed in tiny amounts e.g. Milligrams – mg (1mg = 1/1000 of a gram) Micro grams – mcg ( 1mcg = 1/1,000,000 of a gram)

3. Vitamin A (Fat Soluble) • Function: • Healthy Skin • Helps us see in dim light due to producing visual purple in the retina • Helps children grow • Produces mucus for the mouth, digestive system, respiratory system (Bronchial tubes and lungs) • Beta carotene is an antioxidant which stops the damage of body cells. • Retinol Whole and semi skimmed milk, cheddar cheese, butter, yolk, liver, kidney, oily fish (sardines and mackerel) and veg spreads (Retinol is added by law) • Beta carotene (converted to retinol in the body by the liver) Dark green leaves e.g. cabbage, spinach, kale, lettuce, peas Orange, yellow and red vegetables and fruits e.g. carrots, apricots, mango, papaya, peppers tomatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pumpkin and beetroot. • Deficiency: • Retinol is stored in the liver this is used before signs occur. • Children don’t grow properly. • The skin and mucus become dry and infected. • Night-blindness – unable to see in dim light. • Can lead to blindness or damage to the eyes. • Excess: • Can be toxic to the body. It will build up in the liver and will start to poison the body. • May damage the development of unborn babies

4. Vitamin D (Fat Soluble) • Cholecalciferol Mainly from the sun on the skin which makes vitamin D. Oily fish (Salmon, sardines, herrings, mackerel) Meat and meat products eggs, butter, liver, veg spread (Added by law) Fortified cereals (Added by law). • Function: • Allows calcium to be absorbed from the small intestine during digestion. • Helps calcium deposit into bones and teeth. • Deficiency: • Children’s bones and teeth will not strengthen and the legs will bow under the weight of the body. This condition is called Rickets. • Adults bones will weaken and break. This condition is Osteomalacia. • Excess: • Too much calcium will be absorbed with could lead to damage of the kidneys and other organs especially in babies and children.

5. Function: • Antioxidant which stops the damage of body cells. Vitamin E (Fat Soluble) • Deficiency: • Rare • Excess: • Rare • Tocopherol Mainly found in plants especially soya, corn oil, olive oil, nuts, seeds, wheat germ, veg spreads. Vitamin K(Fat Soluble) • Function: • Helps enable blood to clot. • Phylloquinone Plant and animal foods especially green, leafy veg, liver, cheese, green tea. • Deficiency: • Rare but can occur in babies so they can be given vitamin K at birth. • Excess: • Rare

6. Function: • Enables energy release from carbohydrates in body cells during respiration. Vitamin B1 (Water Soluble) • Deficiency: • Can lead to beriberi disease. Which is when the nerves and muscles are affected and problems with memory, concentration and heart rate occur. • Energy is needed to control nerve and brain function. So the cells will not work correctly. • Thiamin Meat especially pork, milk, cheese, eggs, vegetables, fruit, wholemeal bread, fortified cereals, Flour (Added by law) • Excess: • Rare Vitamin B2 (Water Soluble) • Function: • Enables energy release from carbohydrates, fat and protein in body cells during respiration. • Riboflavin Milk and milk products, eggs, fortified cereals, rice, mushrooms. • Deficiency: • Rare but may result in sores at the corner of the mouth. • Excess: • Rare

7. Function: • Enables energy release from foods in body cells during respiration. Vitamin B3 (Water Soluble) • Deficiency: • Pellagra: diarrhoea, dermatitis and dementia. • It prevents the brain and nervous system working properly. • Niacin Beef, pork, wheat flour, maize flour, eggs, milk. • Excess: • Rare Vitamin B9 (Water Soluble) • Function: • Works with B12 to make healthy red blood cells. • Helps reduce the risk of developing central nervous system defects such as spina bifida in unborn babies. • Folate Green leafy veg, peas, chickpeas, asparagus, wholegrain rice, oranges and bananas, added to some breads and breakfast cereals. • Deficiency: • Anaemia when red blood cells become enlarged. The blood can not follow through the narrow blood vessels. • Defects in the spinal cord in unborn babies. • Excess: • Rare

8. Function: • Works with Folate (B9) to make healthy red blood cells. • Keeps nerve cells healthy. Vitamin B12 (Water Soluble) • Deficiency: • Can be stored in the liver for 2 or more years. It can only be absorbed in the small intestine if the cells in the stomach produce a particular protein to help them absorb. • Anaemia • Cobalamin Liver, meat, fish, cheese, fortified cereals. • Excess: • Rare Vitamin C (Water Soluble) • Function: • Needed to absorb iron. • Needed to maintain connective tissue to bind body cells in skin, blood vessels and muscles. • It is an antioxidant. • Ascorbic Acid Fruit and vegetables. • Excess: • Rare • Deficiency: • Iron is not absorbed leading to anaemia. • Bleeding from small blood vessels lead to red spots under the skin and loose teeth. • Wounds take a long time to heal and scar tissue may break open. • It can lead to scurvy and death.

9. Effects of food preparation and cooking on vitamins Water soluble vitamins are easily damaged or lost during preparation and cooking. They are damaged by heat and dissolve in water. Vitamin B12 is damaged by light. Vitamin C is damaged by heat and exposure to air. To prevent the loss of vitamins: • Store foods away from heat and light and for the shortest amount of time. • Cut, grate or squeeze fruits and vegetables as close to cooking and eating them as possible. ( or the air and natural enzymes in the foods will start to destroy the vitamins) • Avoid damaged foods. • Use small amounts of water. Boil water first then add foods and cook for the shortest time possible. • Save the cooking water and use in sauces or gravies. • Serve foods straight away. • Steam vegetables. Typical exam question: What can be done to prevent the loss of vitamins through food preparation and cooking? ( 8 marks)

10. Antioxidants Everyday our bodies are exposed to lots of chemicals from the air, water, food and pollution. Some of these chemicals pick up in the oxygen in the body and become free radicals. These free radicals can cause damage to the cells in our bodies, which could lead to inflammation, heart disease or cancer in some people. Antioxidants help prevent these chemicals from picking up oxygen so they do not damage the body cells. Vitamin A, C and E are all antioxidants. These help prevent people from developing these health conditions.

11. Practise questions 1. Explain with reasons and examples how you would minimise the loss of vitamins from food as you prepare, cook and serve. (10 marks) 2. State why pregnant women, young women and elderly people might need vitamin supplements. Give reasons for your answer (6 marks) 3. Discuss why it is advisable to seek medical advice before taking or giving vitamin supplements. Give reasons for your answers. ( 3 marks)

12. Minerals • Minerals are chemical substances that are naturally found in a wide range of plant and animal foods. They are needed by our bodies in small amounts everyday for a variety of different jobs. This is why they are micronutrients. Some minerals can be stored in the body. • Without minerals the body would show signs of a deficiency disease depending on what mineral is missing.

13. Function: • Main mineral in the body. • It makes teeth and bones strong. Mainly during adolescence. • It makes the nerves and muscles work properly. • It helps the blood clot over a wound. Calcium • Deficiency: • Bones and teeth will weaken and bend under weight of the body. • Rickets in children. Osteomalacia in adults. • The muscles and nerves will not work properly. • Blood will not clot properly over a wound. • Excess: • Rare but some calcium could be deposited into organs such as the kidneys and stop them working properly. • Osteoporosis • It means porous bones and is a natural ageing process that happens normally in old age. • Once bones reach peak bone mass (normally aged 30) gradually minerals remove and are not replaced. • Eventually bones become porous and weaken and are likely to break. • It can be slowed if enough vitamin D and calcium is consumed and by staying physically active.

14. Function: • Needed to make haemoglobin in red blood cells to carry oxygen to all body cells. • Vitamin C is required to enable iron to be absorbed from food during digestion. Iron • Deficiency: • Anaemia symptoms include tiredness, lack of energy, weakness, pale skin, weak and split nails. • Unborn babies have a store of iron in the last 3 months before birth so it is important that pregnant women have enough iron in their diet. • Excess: • Too much becomes poisonous. Oxygen is needed by body cells, along with glucose, to produce energy during respiration. If there is a deficiency of iron, there will not be enough oxygen available for cells to produce enough energy.

15. Function: • Sodium controls the amount of water in the body. • It also helps to control nerves and muscles. • It helps the body use energy. • Deficiency: • Can lead to muscle cramp and can be caused by losing salt in sweat, sickness or diarrhoea. • Without sodium to help control the nerves, the muscles will not work properly. Sodium • Excess: • High blood pressure. • Too much sodium will cause the body to retain too much water instead of getting rid through the kidneys. • Extra water increases the volume of blood and raises the blood pressure as the heart has to work harder to pump it round the body. • Can put a strain on the heart and kidneys which will affect how they work. Fluoride • Function: • To strengthen the bones and the enamel in the teeth and help prevent tooth decay. • Deficiency: • May lead to weaken enamel on the teeth and therefore more chance of tooth decay. • Excess: • Permanently discoloured teeth.

16. Function: • To produce the hormone thyroxin, in the thyroid gland in the neck, which controls the metabolic rate of the body (the rate at which chemical reactions happen). • Deficiency: • This will lead to a swelling in the neck called a goitre. • If a mother is deficient in iodine when she is pregnant, her baby may develop cretinism, which means it will be born with permanent brain damage. Iodine • Excess: • Rare Phosphorus • Function: • Along with calcium, phosphorous mineralises the bones and teeth to make them strong. • Essential for energy release and other chemical reactions in the body. • It makes up phospholipids, which are special fat molecules that are found in cell membranes throughout the body, but especially in the brain and nervous system. • Deficiency: • Rare. • Excess: • Rare.

17. Practical Make a food product that contains: Water soluble vitamins, fat soluble vitamins, calcium, iron, sodium, fluoride, Iodine and Phosphorus.