Vitamins act as powerful preventative measures against disease and the aging process, not to mention their critical function for healthy living. Learn what vitamins can help you live longer and help stave off disease. Why even bother taking vitamins at all? Everday, thousands are discovering the benefits of vitamins. Even the American Medical Association strongly recommends everybody take a basic daily multivitamin.
The benefits of a daily multivitamin are far too numerious to mention. Entire college level courses could be taught on this subject and only scratch the surface, but let's take a look at some of the common benefits to meeting your basic nutritional needs.

Vitamins are nutrients you must get from food because your body can't make them from scratch.You need only small amounts (that's why they are often referred to as micronutrients) because the body uses them without breaking them down, as happens to carbohydrates and other macronutrients. So far, 13 compounds have been classified as vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E, and K, the four fat-soluble vitamins, tend to accumulate in the body. Vitamin C and the eight B vitamins-biotin, folate, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12-dissolve in water, so excess amounts are excreted.

The "letter" vitamins sometimes go by different names. These include:
Vitamin A = retinol, retinaldehyde, retinoic acid
Vitamin B1 = thiamin
Vitamin B2 = riboflavin
Vitamin B6 = pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine
Vitamin B12 = cobalamin
Vitamin C = ascorbic acid
Vitamin D = calciferol
Vitamin E = tocopherol, tocotrienol
Vitamin K = phylloquinone

We are not self-sufficient. We depend on a steady supply from outside sources for these vital compounds. Vitamins cannot be manufactured in sufficient amounts by the body, and must be taken in from the environment. They occur naturally in many foods (vitamin D is manufactured by the body in response to sunlight exposure -- 15 minutes a week is all that is needed). Vitamins are also available as commercial nutritional supplements.

While I have great respect for the results of modern nutritional analysis, I have greater respect for the long-standing relationship between humans and their natural foods. By eating whole foods (fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grains, etc.), your child can get the necessary vitamins in the healthiest way. Vitamins occur in foods in forms that are the easiest for the body to use, and accompanied by important related compounds. One of the challenges of parenting is to make eating these whole foods as pleasant an experience as possible.

Even though many children have periods when they are quite picky eaters, most children get the minimum known requirements for vitamins from the foods they eat. Nevertheless, we live in an age of highly processed foods. Even our fruits and vegetables are often grown using agricultural techniques that minimize the vitamin and mineral contents. Thus, I like giving children multivitamins as supplements to the vitamins they get in their food.

For most children who began eating solid foods by 6 months old, I would begin adding a vitamin supplement at the first birthday. Before one year of age, most children already acquire sufficient vitamins through infant formula or breast milk. Vitamin D may be prescribed for breastfed infants who do not receive adequate sun exposure.

Often children in the toddler and pre-school years are picky eaters. As children grow, their tastes change and over time they should begin to eat a more well rounded diet. A vitamin "safety net" takes the pressure off of feeding issues during the early years. Without pressure or worry, you can be free to be creative about increasing whole foods in your child's diet knowing that vitamins are present to help your child grow strong and healthy.