Vitamins are essential to life.
In the task of taking care of yourself, staying alive is the most basic goal. Whether you obtain them directly from food or as supplements, you need vitamins to meet this objective.
Definition
According to Medicine Net.com, Casimir Funk (1884-1967) coined the term "vitamine" in 1911 because he believed the substance he isolated was "necessary to life and it was a chemical amine." Subsequent researchers discovered that vitamins are not always amines, and so removed the ending "e."
With the exception of vitamin K, researchers added the letters to designate specific vitamins in the order they discovered them. Danish researcher Henrik Dam named vitamin K from "koagulation."
Function
From beta carotene acting as an antioxidant protection against cancer to vitamin K aiding in the formation of blood clots, vitamins are essential for your body to function properly.
Deficiencies
MedicineNet.com reports that vitamin deficiencies lead to "beriberi, a disease of the heart and nervous system" (vitamin B1), anemia (vitamins B6, B12 ,E, and folate), scurvy, inadequate healing, and bone deformity (vitamin C), and poor blood clotting leading to abnormal bleeding (vitamin K). If untreated, any of these conditions can create life-threatening illnesses.
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