Vitamins are a critical part of your health and it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough of them daily. There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Water soluble means that the vitamins dissolve in water. This is easy since, in large part, your food and body are made up of water. These water-soluble vitamins are Vitamins B and C.
The fat-soluble vitamins, however, are absorbed by your body when you eat them along with fat in your diet. This doesn’t need to be a cheeseburger and fries though! Healthy oils, nuts, fatty fishes, and other sources of fat are just what you need.
The fat-soluble vitamins you need are Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Here’s a quick summary of what they do for you and how to get the amounts you need to stay healthy!
Vitamin A
Why you need it:
Vitamin A supports your vision, immune system, and even helps you have healthy hair! Have you heard that that eating carrots is good for your eyes? It’s true!
How to get Vitamin A in your diet:
You can consume Vitamin A through carrots, fish liver oil, beef liver, butter, eggs, cheese, milk, sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, other leafy vegetables, cantaloupe, black-eyed peas, and fortified breakfast cereals. For the foods that don’t have fat, just make sure there’s a little healthy fat mixed in to help absorption.
Vitamin D
Why you need it:
Vitamin D is best known for its benefit to your bone health. It promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus into your body. Without enough, you become more susceptible to bone fractures.
How to get Vitamin D in your diet:
Vitamin D is nicknamed the sunshine vitamin because it’s produced by your skin when exposed to sunlight. This is the best way to get Vitamin D. Besides getting it from exposure to sunlight, you can get it in your diet with fatty fish and fish oil, mushrooms, salmon, egg yolks, and foods fortified with Vitamin D.
This vitamin is the hardest one to get an adequate amount of within your diet. Because of this, it’s the most likely one that needs to be supplemented. Check with your doctor on this.
Vitamin E
Why you need it:
Vitamin E may help protect your body from a wide range of health issues. Vitamin E boosts your immune system and serves as an antioxidant, protecting your cells against free radicals and damage.
How to get Vitamin E in your diet:
The best dietary sources of Vitamin E are wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, sunflower seeds, almonds, and hazelnuts. Other sources are avocados, peanuts, peanut butter, butter, fatty fish, fish liver oil, spinach, broccoli, kiwi fruit, and mango. Again, add a little healthy fat if your Vitamin E source doesn’t already have it.
Vitamin K
Why you need it:
Vitamin K helps your body form blood clots which prevents excessive bleeding. It also lowers your risk of heart disease, enhances bone health, and reduces the buildup of calcium in your blood.
How to get Vitamin K in your diet:
The best sources of Vitamin K are kale, liver, spinach, parsley, butter, egg yolks, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and lettuce. Your body can’t store Vitamin K as well as other vitamins. For this reason, you need to regularly consume Vitamin K.
Should you take supplements?
While vitamin supplements are helpful for people who have a deficiency, most people can get the vitamins they need from eating a variety of healthy foods in their diets. Sometimes however, health problems, diseases, or medications can make this difficult. In these cases, supplements are beneficial. Make sure you’re not taking more than the recommended daily amount though. Getting too much of these vitamins, when it’s through supplements, can be dangerous. That’s not normally a risk when you’re consuming the vitamins through your food.
Get Your Vitamins!
The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K are essential for good health and well-being. Most people can get an adequate supply of these vitamins by following a healthy and varied diet. If you think you are not getting enough of any of these, try to improve your diet with the foods we listed above, and talk with your doctor about supplements.
At Outlaw FitCamp, we want you to have a healthy year ahead. So, exercise regularly and make sure you’re getting your vitamins! Give us a call and let us show you how we can help you meet your fitness goals for 2020!