Getting to the Essentials of Essential Vitamins

By Everwell | October 26, 2016

There are 13 essential vitamins needed to maintain general wellness, and they’re all available in the foods we eat…or should be eating. Unfortunately, most people don’t eat the way that they would in a perfect world, so they need to use nutritional supplements to get the essential vitamins and nutrients necessary for healthier living.

Absorbing the Facts

Of course, the essential vitamins for men do differ in certain ways from the essential vitamins for women’s health. But at the root of it all, the essential vitamins for good health are the same; and the most essential vitamins for a healthy body can be broken into two groups: fat-soluble and water-soluble. Let’s start with the alphabet of healthy vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, which means that this group of essential vitamins are absorbed from dietary fats as the intestine breaks them down, storing them in the liver until they’re needed. Unlike water-soluble vitamins like all of those B’s and vitamin C, fat-soluble vitamins don’t need to be consumed on a daily basis. So what does water-soluble mean? Simply enough, the term water-soluble means that the body releases them regularly through urination, so they must be replenished every single day.

Learn Your Alphabet

At Everwell Specialty Pharmacy, we offer customers essential vitamin supplements to help them get the essential vitamins they need for a healthy life; and here are a few letters we’d like you to get to know better:

Vitamin A, or retinols and carotenoids, is important for healthy skin, teeth, bones, eyes, and mucus membranes.
Vitamin B1, or Thiamin, is essential for heart and nerve health and aids in the conversion of fats and carbohydrates into energy.
Vitamin B2, or Riboflavin, is needed for proper growth as well as the production of red blood cells.
Vitamin B3, or Niacin, helps maintain the digestive system and keeps the skin healthy.
Vitamin B5, or Pantothenic acid, is necessary for the body to be able to metabolize and process food.
Vitamin B6, or Pyridoxine, helps maintain nerve function, supports a healthy immune system, and is essential to the formation of red blood cells and healthy antibodies.
Vitamin B7, or Biotin, plays an essential role in metabolizing fatty acids, carbohydrates, and fats and aids the health of skin, hair, and nails.
Vitamin B9, or Folic acid, is crucial for the production of red blood cells, protein, and DNA as well as the repair and growth of cells and tissues.
Vitamin B12 is necessary for the maintenance of the nervous system as well as a healthy metabolism.
Vitamin C, or Ascorbic acid, is necessary to the immune system, helps fight the development of cancer cells, and aids the formation of collagen.
Vitamin D supports the absorption of calcium and strengthens bones and teeth.
Vitamin E, or Tocopherol, protects tissues and cells and helps prevent cancer and heart disease.
Vitamin K helps maintain bone strength and plays an essential role in blood clotting.