ABCs of Vitamins

You may take a vitamin tablet in the morning. We are often told "Eat your fruit and vegetables because they have vitamins." What's so important about vitamins? While they do not provide energy like protein from meat and sugar from breads, they do help to convert this energy into the energy your body uses.

Because our bodies can't make vitamins, we need to get them from the food we eat. There are 13 vitamins we need.

Four of these vitamins dissolve in fat (are fat soluble). They are found in foods that contain fat and are stored in fat in our bodies - vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Nine of these vitamins dissolve in water (are water soluble). They are not stored in our bodies. Eight of these vitamins are B vitamins that include thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, B6, B12, biotin, and pantothenic acid.  Vitamin C is also water soluble.

There are many things vitamins do for us and some things they do not do. Here are some of the facts and myths about vitamins.