Vitamins are essential nutritional components, your body needs in varying amounts to live. They serve the body for the many functions and are the foundation of a healthy diet. You must ingest them is small amounts daily to stay healthy.

As important as vitamins are the body must get them from external sources as we can not produce them ourself. This unique quality is both a plus and a minus. The complex chemical compounds that are vitamins have very unique and specific make-up and our bodies utilization of these compounds are as differing and unique as the vitamins themselves.

It became very apparent with the onset of various vitamin deficiency diseases that we must supplement our intake of these crucial compounds. The average balanced diet is just not good enough any more. As science has caught up with most of the rest of society, doctors, nutritionist and biologist all have expounded the importance of vitamin supplementation.

There are two main classifications of vitamins, those that are water soluble and the ones that are oil or fat soluble. These classifications are not base on the chemical structure of the vitamins, but rather in terms of what they do for the body. Vitamin A,D, E and K are in the fat soluble family and vitamin B and C are both water soluble vitamins.

Vitamins have many function, which are essential to normal health. These antioxidants, hormones and enzymes could not be synthesized or function properly without them. We mainly ingest them in food or supplements, although there are some that we get through the sunlight that shines on us.

Vitamin deficiencies are a major contributor to diseases and malfunctions of the intricate machinery that the human body is. Since vitamins perform different important functions in the body, their absence upsets the normal routine of the system, and invites diseases, some of which can also be fatal. Night blindness, beriberi, rickets and scurvy are some of the dreaded diseases that can inflict a person who is not taking enough vitamins.

To eliminate the risk of diseases caused by vitamin deficiency, it is recommended to take a balanced nutritious diet which makes sure one gets the daily need of vitamins through food. In more recent times, the use of vitamin supplements is on the rise. These come in the form of capsules or tablets and take care of the regular daily need of vitamins in the human body.

Vitamins are therefore essential to the overall well-being of an organism. With judicious quantities of vitamin taken in daily, be it through food or form supplements, one can ensure a healthy life and eliminate the risk of a number of diseases.