How do vitamins keep me healthy?

Head into any pharmacy today, and their vitamins and supplements will likely be on offer. Thanks to coughs and colds being so common this time of year, it’s the ideal time to entice people into upping their nutrient intake to try and ward off sniffles and sore throats.

How many vitamins are there?

But how many of us know which vitamins are the most effective in boosting our health and whether supplements are worth taking or not?

Vitamin A

What does it do?

Vitamin A is an all-around champion for good eyesight and essential for preserving your vision. It also helps to support your immune system as it maintains the mucous barriers in your eyes, lungs and gut, and is particularly good for glowing skin. Although it’s essential to include vitamin A in your diet, too much can make you feel unwell and cause dizziness and headaches (hypervitaminosis A). Therefore, if your diet is already high in vitamin A, you won’t need to overconsume tablets to supplement your intake.

What foods should I eat?

• Sweet potato
• Liver
• Squash
• Kale
• Carrots
• Sweet red pepper
• Mango

Vitamin C

What does it do?

Arguably the one that most people turn to when they’re full of cold or have flu symptoms, vitamin C promotes the production of white blood cells, which helps to protect your body against infections. It also aids the body’s absorption of iron from your diet and helps it to heal after an injury. Because your body can’t produce or store vitamin C, it’s essential to include it in your diet daily to ensure it receives the right amount to function properly.

What foods should I eat?

• Strawberries
• Oranges/orange juice
• Peppers
• Blackcurrants
• Kiwi
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes

Vitamin D

What does it do?

There’s a reason why a lot of people become deficient in vitamin D in winter, and this is because it’s created by our bodies when the sun shines on our skin. We need vitamin D to regulate our phosphate and calcium to keep bones and teeth healthy, so it’s worth considering taking a supplement between October and March when the days are darker. Without the required amount of vitamin D, our risk of bone pain and deformities increases, and we’re more likely to suffer from infection and feel fatigued.

What should I eat?

Sunshine and supplements are the best way to make sure your body has all the vitamin D it needs, but there are some foods that will help:

• Egg yolks
• Red meat
• Oily fish
• Fortified cereals

Vitamin E

What does it do?

A good all-rounder, vitamin E is a fat-soluble nutrient that helps your body’s immune system fight illness and infection. It’s also needed to maintain healthy skin and eyes and could potentially reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

What should I eat?

• Wheat germ oil (found in cereals)
• Sunflower seeds
• Spinach
• Plant oils such as soya, rapeseed, and olive oil

Vitamin K

Although vitamin K isn’t associated with keeping the immune system healthy, it is needed to help our blood clot and heal wounds. Without it, we can easily bleed excessively after cutting ourselves and bruising. This is the reason babies are regularly given vitamin K injections after birth, as it massively reduces the chances of them developing vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB).

What should I eat?

• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Vegetable oil

Learn more about food intolerance tests and vitamins

If you’d like some information on food intolerance tests and which vitamins we test for, have a look around our website. Plus, you’ll learn how they can help improve your health this autumn, please email [email protected] or fill out the contact form on our website.