These substances are amazing – salts and vitamins. Their quantity is insignificant, and the role of vitamins is huge: after all, our health, well-being, mood, appearance and, above all, resistance to diseases and … old age directly depend on vitamins.

The terms “vitamin”, “vitamins” are valid only for a specific group of organic compounds, which consist of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, less often nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and other chemical elements connected in different order, to a group of compounds that, as shown medicine is needed for our lives.

Conventionally, vitamins are divided into groups; Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin PP, Vitamin F, Vitamin H.

The body needs vitamins for good health and normal functioning, you should regularly receive them with food in a certain amount, even if small, otherwise you will get sick.

The lack of vitamins in your diet will necessarily lead to the development of a well-defined and recurring disease or disorder.

We emphasize the last statement in order to understand the difference between vitamins and other compounds called “pseudovitamins”, from which you can also benefit, which will contribute to better health, but their absence in your diet will not lead to disease. This does not mean that you should not receive them; it just means that formally we cannot call them real vitamins. Nevertheless, we can call them nutritional components that no more than nourish our body. The nutritional component may be necessary for life or not essential. A vitamin may only be necessary.

It should also be said that true vitamins are not for everyone vitamins. For example, most mammals synthesize vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in their body, and therefore they do not need to get it with food for good health. For all these creatures, ascorbic acid is not a vitamin, although it is the same substance that is vital for the human body. Humans, as well as some primates, guinea pigs and non-predatory bats – these are all creatures that have lost the ability to produce their own vitamin C and should regularly eat enough of this vitamin; otherwise, they will suffer from scurvy and eventually die from a lack of vitamin C. For us, ascorbic acid is a vitamin that meets two main criteria:

1) we cannot synthesize the vitamin ourselves and therefore must receive it with food;

2) vitamin is absolutely necessary for our life and our health, and we will develop specific symptoms in its absence.

Vitamins in fruits and vegetables

Food for humans is the main source of nutrients. At the same time, many do not so carefully monitor their diet, preferring to fill in the lack of natural vitamins with special additives. However, fresh foods containing vitamins are more beneficial for digestion and are easily digestible. Vitamin content in products may depend on various factors: food processing technology, shelf life and storage method, variety and variety of the product itself. The method of cooking also affects the amount of vitamins in foods.

Another explanation for the reduced content of vitamins in products: manufacturers, trying to extend the shelf life of food products, use various preservatives and other harmful substances in production. When fruits and vegetables are treated with chemicals, vitamins are destroyed – their content can drop by 30%, or even disappear altogether.

Much more vitamins in products grown and prepared independently. With proper cultivation and processing, vitamins in vegetables and fruits are preserved almost completely.

How to save the maximum amount of vitamins in foods at home? It is necessary to remember some features. Vitamins in fruits and vegetables are found mainly in the peel. Thermal processing of food reduces the content of vitamins in products by 25-100%. Products containing vitamins, after three days of storage, lose their value by 30-50%. In the light, some natural vitamins are destroyed. When drying, pasteurization, freezing, boiling, contact with metal utensils, the content of vitamins in products is significantly reduced. Of course, most vitamins are found in foods without any processing – try to use them, if possible, fresh.

Vitamin content in food

Vitamins of group A

A large number of these vitamins in products of marine origin, liver, cheese, eggs, carrots, citrus fruits. Vitamin A is also common in green vegetables.

B vitamins

There are many vitamins in animal products: eggs, meat, milk, cheese, fish. Vitamin content in vegetable products is also high: nuts, beans, mushrooms, rice, wheat germ, some fruits, green vegetables.

Vitamins of group D

Products containing vitamins of this group: dairy and seafood, especially fatty fish.

Vitamins of group E

The highest vitamin content in foods rich in vegetable fats: nuts and various oils, seeds of pears and apples.

Vitamins of group C

Most often, these vitamins are found in fruits, herbs, vegetables, sea buckthorn, rose hips, black currants. These vitamins are almost absent in animal products.

Try to constantly maintain a high content of vitamins in food. Eat delicious vitamins more often: natural vitamins in fresh unprocessed foods, vitamins in fruits. Also, do not forget that a properly organized diet can give you the right amount of vitamins in everyday and familiar foods. Often, the content of vitamins in foods is remembered already during an illness – do not finish it.