Vitamins are powerful organic substances required in minute amounts in diets for optimum health. Absence of vitamins can cause human bodies to suffer a metabolic catastrophe. An organism deprived of a particular vitamin will eventually suffer from disease symptoms specific to that vitamin.

Vitamins, being organic in nature, are all produced by plants or animals. However, human bodies generally cant produce vitamins, with the exception of vitamin D, which is synthesized in the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light (sunlight). The body uses vitamins for a number of functions, including tissue building and keeping organs in smooth function. Vitamins give energy, build immune the system, and prevent diseases and the onset of premature aging.

Vitamins are of two types: water soluble and fat soluble. Water-soluble vitamins are found in fruits and vegetables; they include vitamins C, B6, and B12, Folic acid, Biotin, Niacin, Panthothenic acid, Riboflavin (vitamin B2), and Thiamin (vitamin B1). Fat-soluble vitamins have oils, nuts, and seeds as their sources; they are vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Vitamin supplements can be in natural as well as synthetic forms. These are available in tablet, capsule, and liquid forms. Tablets are the most commonly used and prescribed. A high intake of certain vitamin supplements, which far exceed the RDA, taken over long periods of time can cause health problems. RDA, or the Recommended Dietary Allowance, is the quantity of each nutrient estimated to keep the average human being healthy, according to a panel of nutrition authorities. The RDA of vitamins is revised every five years to keep up with the latest research.

To get optimal levels of nutrients from food, they have to be taken in their natural, unprocessed form in substantial quantities. Cooking, refrigerating, processing, canning, etc., all reduce the nutrient levels of foods drastically. Organically grown foods are the richest source of nutrients. However, the modern world is plagued by pesticide-ridden, fertilizer-laced, genetically modified (GM), and processed junk foods that only look appealing but have no nutritional value and only cause disease and the decline of health.

One does not have to wait to get pregnant, be a sportsperson, be diseased, or be old to resort to vitamin supplements. If youre living in a city, you are breathing, drinking, and eating carcinogenic chemicals and living under constant stress that is biological, mental, and chemical in nature. You need vitamin supplements as a countermeasure and to last the long run.