Facts about the vitamins in your foods and what they do for your health.

If we would take seriously that food is information to the body maybe we would work on sending better messages. I recently offered Part One of a class I called Vitamins A-Z about what your body needs. I will be sharing this class with you over my next several blogs. I started with the fact that your body cannot make vitamin A, it must come from your diet. There are 2 types of vitamin A, the first is classified as preformed and is found in meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products. The second type is pro-vitamin A and is found in fruits, vegetables, and other plant based products. I am not going to debate the “experts” on plant based diets, but as you can see here you will not be getting both types of vitamin A if you only eat plant based foods. Both types of vitamin A are needed by the body for important things like vision, development of babies in the womb, as well as your immune system. Provitamin A: beta carotene and other carotenoids have to be converted in the body from the foods. Their properties include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. They can help protect from stressors and help recycle glutathione, another key antioxidant. They can reduce the effects of LDL (the bad cholesterol) and that is better than drugs! There is so much going on in the body after you eat, you are truly an amazing creation. There is no part of your body that exists without great thought. So I hope you will put some thought into what you eat and take care of your body, especially if you plan to have children.

PS. A healthy fat will help you absorb your fat soluble vitamins better, A D E and K