Vitamins

Vitamins are organic substances which the body requires in small amounts to carry out thousands of building-up and breaking-down functions. Many scientific studies have shown that a high dietary intake of vitamins is associated with health and a low dietary intake of vitamins is associated with disease.
Unfortunately, the vitamins in our foods are often rendered inactive before we get a chance to consume them. The Taber's Cyclopedia Medical Dictionary, Edition 17 (page 1562) has this to say about vitamin loss: "... oss of vitamin content [occurs] in food products because of vitamin instability, especially in oxidation and during heating. Methods of preserving foods add to the loss of vitamins. Pickling, salting, curing or fermenting processes usually cause complete loss of Vitamin C. Commercial canning destroys from fifty to eighty-five percent of Vitamin C contained in peas, lima beans, spinach and asparagus. Pasteurization, unless special precautions are observed, causes a loss of from thirty to sixty percent of Vitamin C. Freshly prepared applesauce retains only from twenty to thirty percent of the Vitamin C value of the apple. Vitamin B1 is lost through milling because the wheat embryo, rich in Vitamin B1, is removed from wheat flour in milling. Some vitamins are unstable, being readily destroyed by oxidation, heat, especially in an alkaline medium or strong acids, light and aging."

The Vitamin Chart in this prestigious medical dictionary states the following (edition 14, page 1725, except where otherwise indicated) (Boldface emphasis mine):
• Vitamin A, "destroyed by high temperatures when oxygen is present."
• Vitamin B1, "destroyed by exposure to heat, alkali or sulphites."
• Vitamin B2, "unstable in light, especially in the presence of alkali."


• Vitamin B6, "rapidly inactivated in the presence of heat, sunlight, or
air."
• Vitamin B12, "unstable in hot alkaline or acid solutions" (edition 19, page 2399).
• Folic Acid, "destroyed by heat at low pH, loss in food stored at room temperature" (edition 19, page 2399).
• Vitamin C, "easily destroyed by oxidation; heat hastens the process. Lost in cooking, particularly if water in which food is cooked is discarded. Also loss is greater if cooked in iron or copper utensils."
• Vitamin E, "destroyed by heat" (edition 19, page 2399).
I am of the belief that we should meet our daily vitamin needs by the consumption of living and whole foods. However, there is one vitamin that I must recommend that everyone supplement, B12. Although B12 deficiencies occur more often in vegetarians and vegans, they also occur in non-vegetarians. Vitamin B12 deficiencies are associated with elevated homocysteine (along with B6 and folic acid). Research has shown that elevated homocysteine increases the potential for deterioration of the arteries and nerves and several other unfavorable conditions. The nerve system degeneration that can occur from B12 deficiency can sometimes be irreversible. Symptoms include numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, poor memory, behavioral changes such as paranoia and nervousness, and impotence.
Gabriel Cousens M.D. explains that the minimal need for B12 is about 6 micrograms (mcg) per day and that we lose about 3 mcg per day. Furthermore, he adds that 80 percent of children, adult vegans and live-food practitioners become B12 deficient after six to ten years without B12 supplementation (Cousens pg. 285).
I use a form of B12 called methylcobalamin in a sublingual lozenge. My typical dose is 1000 mcg once per week.
What about food sources for B12? Sea vegetables do contain some human active B12. Unfortunately they also contain an analog form of B12 that can block receptor sites for human active B12. For this reason I do not suggest that anyone rely on sea vegetables for B12. Gabriel Cousens M.D., states in Conscious Eating that Vitamin B12 is heat-sensitive but not entirely destroyed by cooking. Research has shown that between 23.7% and 96.4% of B12 is destroyed by boiling or baking, depending on the type of food and cooking duration. Nutritional yeast (Red Star brand) seems to be a source for B12 but supplements are undoubtedly the best way to ensure adequate consumption.
Vitamin C is a very interesting vitamin. Practically all animals make it in their bodies so they don't have to eat it. The exceptions are fruit-eating bats, guinea pigs, the red-vented bulbous bird and primates including humans. Linus Pauling, a famous Vitamin C researcher, postulated that humans once made it. However, from eating a fruit-rich diet, we lost the ability to produce it. Diets high in food-derived Vitamin C have been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer which are currently the top causes of death in the United States.
Today it is widely known that if we don't get Vitamin C through our diets, we develop scurvy. In 1747, James Lind, a British physician discovered that fresh fruit was the cure for scurvy. Yet it wasn't until the early 1800's that the government recognized this and started putting citrus fruits on their ships. The death of sailors by scurvy continued for nearly 100 years while health experts failed to convince the ruling powers to include citrus in sailor's diets. (In 1907 Vitamin C was officially recognized as the cure and prevention of scurvy.) If our society could learn from the mistakes of our predecessors and recognize the vast body of scientific evidence that points to a whole foods diet as the prevention of most modern diseases, it would save countless people from suffering and premature death.
Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine" vitamin. In other words, when our bodies are exposed to sunlight (usually twenty minutes is sufficient), we are supplied with our daily need for Vitamin D. A baby can get all the Vitamin D it needs with only its cheeks exposed to the sun for about twenty minutes.
The Vitamin E Fact Book by the Vitamin E Research and Information Service (1989) states that almonds are a rich source of Vitamin E in their raw state but they lose eighty percent of the vitamin in roasting.
Large numbers of illnesses can be caused by vitamin deficiencies. Just to name a few, lack of Vitamin A can cause the eyes to weaken, lack of Vitamin B3 can cause pellagra, lack of Vitamin C can cause scurvy, and lack of Vitamin D can cause ricket. The government has set dietary recommendations (RDA's) for these vitamins to prevent deficiency diseases, but most researchers believe that RDA recommendations are less than optimal. Every individual has a different need for vitamins that changes constantly according to lifestyle factors. Water-soluble vitamins, if over-ingested, will usually leave the body through the urine and not cause any problems. Fat soluble Vitamins such as A, D, E and K, are stored in the liver and fatty tissues until the body needs them. For this reason the body can survive weeks of consuming foods that lack them without any deficiency signs. However, the capacity for storage sets the stage for toxic build-up should an excess be ingested.
Storage of vitamins A, D and K can easily reach toxic levels if over consumed. For example, a man driving an Alaskan dog sled got lost, and in an attempt to save himself from death, the stranded man ate the liver of one of the dogs and then died of Vitamin A toxicity. If, however, a human ate an excess of plant foods, toxic levels of vitamin A would never be reached because plants contain carotinoids that are changed into vitamin A only as the body needs them.
Synergistic and opposing relationships exist between some vitamins. For example, Vitamins A, D and E are mutually antagonistic to each other, and it is well known that hyper-vitaminosis A can be treated by Vitamin D supplementation. In addition, an excess of Vitamin D in the body can be successfully treated with Vitamin A supplementation. An excess of the mineral calcium in the body can cause a Vitamin A deficiency, and a deficiency of the mineral zinc can prevent the body from accessing Vitamin A stored in the liver. Vitamin D can become deficient if excess magnesium is present. Thus indiscriminate supplementation or eating an excess of fortified foods can cause imbalance. Foods in their natural state as the creator has designed them (i.e. excluding excessively hybridized and genetically modified foods), have the vitamins and minerals in highly usable ratios. Normal consumption of a good variety of foods does not cause imbalance. However, if we eat refined and processed foods that have been enriched with synthetic vitamins and laboratory-manipulated minerals and then consume synthetic supplemental vitamins in high doses, body chemistry can become imbalanced. If you use supplemental vitamins, be sure to use quality products from a health food store and never from discount stores, pharmacies or supermarkets. Sometimes these supplements contain artificial chemicals that can cause ill health.
According to research done by Dr. David L. Watts, some vitamins have been classified as having either a stimulating or sedating effect at the cellular level. For most people, the vitamins A, C, E, B1, B3, B6 and B10 are stimulators while vitamins D and B2 are sedatives. I have often wondered if the high dose of vitamin D absorbed from the sun is the reason why most people feel so sedated after a day at the beach.