According to the Oxford dictionary, essential organic compounds required for growth and nutrition can’t be made by the body, and must be consumed in small quantities[1]. This includes fat soluble vitamins, like A, D, E, F, and K. Unfortunately, these crucial nutrients often go unnoticed, despite their importance in many bodily functions. In today’s world of gall bladder removals, poor fat digestion, and low-fat diets, fat soluble vitamins are often overlooked. It’s time to give these nutrients the attention they deserve.
Where Shall we Start? Alphabetically!
Vitamin A
Vitamin A, including retinol, retinal, and acid, is crucial for childhood development[2], immune response[3], and eyesight[4]. Research shows that animal tissues only contain true vitamin A, not its precursors or carotenoids, indicating an important distinction between vitamin A and carotenoids, as tissues require real vitamin A.
This study The study reveals that carotenoids have a low absorption rate and an even lower conversion rate to true vitamin A (as low as 5% in optimal conditions). This issue is exacerbated by gastrointestinal disorders that hinder carotenoid absorption. To ensure adequate vitamin A intake, consuming real, preformed vitamin A is recommended, which can easily be obtained from fatty animal products.
Liver is the best source of vitamin A, followed by egg yolks, oily fish, and other organ meats. Don’t count carotenoids towards your vitamin A intake. Overdosing on vitamin A without concentrated supplements is difficult. Carotenoids have many health benefits[6], even if they aren’t a good source of vitamin A. You can still enjoy them and reap the benefits.
Vitamin D3
Vitamin D3 is gaining popularity and being added to many foods, including yogurt, milk, cheese, cereals, and spreads. Why is this happening and why is it being added synthetically? In the past, we didn’t fortify our foods, so what changed? Vitamin D is essential for our health, and not getting enough can lead to serious consequences. That’s why it’s being added to foods.
According to a journal, not having enough vitamin D can cause rickets in kids and worsen osteopenia, osteoporosis, and fractures in adults. Vitamin D deficiency also links to a higher risk of autoimmune diseases, common cancers, infectious diseases, and hypertension. I agree with these findings. Clearly, it’s crucial to address the issue of vitamin D deficiency, but is adding vitamin D to our food the best way to do it? I don’t think so. The best way to get vitamin D is through sunlight, as it’s also known as the “sunshine vitamin”. When we expose ourselves to sunlight, ultraviolet radiation enters our skin and converts provitamin D3 into previtamin D3[8]. Thus, to combat vitamin D deficiency, we need to ensure that we bask in the sun regularly and responsibly.
Read this article too: Common Myths about The Sun
Vitamin E
Vitamin E acts primarily as an antioxidant[9]. This is noteworthy since antioxidants are typically water-soluble, while fats are prone to oxidation. Thus, vitamin E’s fat solubility serves a specific purpose. It’s relatively easy to acquire vitamin E from a balanced diet of high quality, and deficiencies are very uncommon. In fact, if there is a deficiency, it’s often due to poor absorption rather than insufficient dietary intake.
Vitamin F
re-write the text below, keeping most of the content. Use less passive voice. Use short sentences[10], approximately 5%. The best sources of these omega-3 fatty acids are fish, especially fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines, but all seafood is beneficial. It’s also important to note that grass-fed animal products contain higher levels of omega-3, as their diets are richer in omega-3 from the grass they consume, compared to grain-fed animals, which are heavy in omega-6. As omega-3s are present primarily in nervous system tissue, the brain and eyeballs are also good sources of these fats, even though they may be less appealing to some.
Vitamin K1
Phylloquinone, best known as Vitamin K1, serves many purposes in the body, primarily in blood clotting. K1 is typically present in plants, especially in leafy greens. Vegetables such as kale and spinach are the best sources of vitamin K1.
Vitamin K2
Menaquinone, also known as Vitamin K2, plays a crucial role in maintaining bone density [11]. It works in conjunction with vitamin D to direct calcium, magnesium, and other minerals to be stored in the bone structure. Consuming more calcium doesn’t necessarily help with poor bone mineral density because the true issue is the deficiency of vitamin K2, which prevents calcium from being deposited where it’s needed. This deficiency also affects cardiovascular health because excess calcium isn’t eliminated from the blood, and atherosclerosis is associated with calcium plaques in the arteries[12]. The best sources of vitamin K2 are yellow and orange whole food fatty foods like butter, cheese, egg yolks, and cream. All animal products, including tallow, lard, and organ meats, contain some vitamin K2. It’s worth noting that fermented foods, especially natto, a fermented soy product, can provide a good amount of K2.
Food Combining
