Nutritional Biochemistry of the Vitamins


Book Description

An authoritative and comprehensive review of our current knowledge of the vitamins, their metabolic functions and the scientific basis for setting recommended intakes for the prevention of deficiency and promotion of optimum health. This publication will be a valuable reference for students and specialists alike in the field of nutritional biochemistry.




Biochemistry of Vitamin A


Book Description

The main emphasis of this text is on the biochemistry, metabolism and systemic mode of action of vitamin A. The physiological, biochemical and nutritional aspects of naturally occurring retinoids are clearly addressed. Chapters review biogenesis, absorption, storage, transport, and metabolic transformations of vitamin A. Further discussion includes vision and bacteriorhodopsin, vitamin A deficiency and hypervitaminosis A, and the vitamin A in prevention and cure of cancer.




Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc


Book Description

This volume is the newest release in the authoritative series issued by the National Academy of Sciences on dietary reference intakes (DRIs). This series provides recommended intakes, such as Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), for use in planning nutritionally adequate diets for individuals based on age and gender. In addition, a new reference intake, the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), has also been established to assist an individual in knowing how much is "too much" of a nutrient. Based on the Institute of Medicine's review of the scientific literature regarding dietary micronutrients, recommendations have been formulated regarding vitamins A and K, iron, iodine, chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, and other potentially beneficial trace elements such as boron to determine the roles, if any, they play in health. The book also: Reviews selected components of food that may influence the bioavailability of these compounds. Develops estimates of dietary intake of these compounds that are compatible with good nutrition throughout the life span and that may decrease risk of chronic disease where data indicate they play a role. Determines Tolerable Upper Intake levels for each nutrient reviewed where adequate scientific data are available in specific population subgroups. Identifies research needed to improve knowledge of the role of these micronutrients in human health. This book will be important to professionals in nutrition research and education.




The Fat-Soluble Vitamins


Book Description

The first demonstration of the existence of a vitamin and the full recognition of this fact are often attributed to the work of McCollum, who found that a sub stance in butterfat and cod-liver oil was necessary for growth and health of ani mals fed purified diets. It became obvious that an organic substance present in microconcentrations was vital to growth and reproduction of animals. Following the coining of the word vitamine by Funk, McCollum named this fat-soluble sub stance vitamin A. We can, therefore, state that vitamin A was certainly one of the first known vitamins, yet its function and the function of the other fat-soluble vitamins had remained largely unknown until recent years. However, there has been an explosion of investigation and new information in this field, which had remained quiescent for at least two or three decades. It is now obvious that the fat-soluble vitamins function quite differently from their water-soluble counter parts. We have learned that vitamin D functions by virtue of its being converted in the kidney to a hormone that functions to regulate calcium and phosphorus metabolism. This new endocrine system is in the process of being elucidated in detail, and in addition, the medical use of these hormonal forms of vitamin D in the treatment of a variety of metabolic bone diseases has excited the medical com munity.




A Biochemical View of Vitamins


Book Description

This book is an essential guide to current knowledge and analysis of vitamins. Vitamins are described in detail in medical and biotechnological processes. An analysis of vitamin sources is also provided from physiological point of view. In this book we discuss the historical point of view of the use of vitamins, medicinal plants, and the nature and advances of biopharmacy. This book reports results from experimental and clinical work. It includes data regarding Vitamin B3 in various sources including sesame, avocado, and bananas; Vitamin C in various sources including mango, strawberries, and green salat; Vitamin D in salmon, red meat, and fish oil; Vitamin K in various sources including cucumber, asparagus, and kale; Vitamin E in nuts, cherry, green olives, bell peppers, almonds, avocado, aloe, and olives; Vitamin B5 in various sources including in corn, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes; Vitamin B2 in various sources including raspberries, grapes, and apples; Vitamin B12 in various sources including soybeans and lemon; Vitamin B9 in various sources including broccoli, pineapples, and garlic; Vitamin B6 in various sources including strawberry, lemon, and spinach; Vitamin B1 in various sources including cabbage, pistachio, and almonds; Vitamin B7 in various sources including cauliflowers, bananas, and peanuts; Vitamin B3 in peanuts, nettle, and apricots; and Vitamin C in various sources including lime. The composition and structures of the vitamins are provided. This book provides a current review in the field of vitamins and pharmacology.




Vitamin C


Book Description

Vitamin C is the first book to cover the history, chemistry, biochemistry, and medical importance of vitamin C and is the first to provide an in-depth, interdisciplinary study of this essential and fascinating compound. The book provides a comprehensive and systematic account of the vitamin C story, fully surveying the history of scurvy and how its cure led to the suggestion, discovery, and isolation of the vitamin, later named L-ascorbic acid. It describes in detail the vitamin's structure determination, synthesis and manufacture, and its oxidation products, derivatives and related compounds. Its key biochemical roles are fully categorized and explained, and the medical importance of the vitamin, including the recent use of so-called megadoses, is thoroughly discussed. Vitamin C will be of interest to a very wide readership and will provide useful background information and inspiration for students at various levels. It will also be relevant to the interested chemist or lay person, as well as those carrying out research in this area.




The Retinoids


Book Description

The Retinoids: Biology, Biochemistry, and Disease provides an overview and synthesis of the retinoid molecules, from basic biology to mechanisms of diseases and therapy. Divided into five sections, the book covers retinoic acid signaling from biochemical, genetic, developmental, and clinical perspectives. The text is divided into five sections, the first of which examines vitamin A metabolic and enzymatic pathways. Focus then shifts to the role of retinoic acid signaling in development, and then to retinoids and physiological function. The book concludes with chapters on retinoids, disease and therapy. Comprehensive in scope and written by leading researchers in the field, The Retinoids: Biology, Biochemistry, and Disease will be an essential reference for biologists, biochemists, geneticists and developmental biologists, as well as for clinicians and pharmacists engaged in clinical research involving retinoids.




Water Soluble Vitamins


Book Description

The discovery of vitamins in the early 1900s, their later chemical characterization and the clarification of pivotal metabolic functions are sequential aspects of a brilliant chapter in the history of modern nutritional sciences and medicine. The name, derived from “vital-amines”, indicates their elementary metabolic key functions in human metabolism. Vitamins are truly families of compounds, which include precursors and various free and bound forms, all with individual roles in metabolism and function. A more recent approach therefore searches for the components, the understanding of their roles in physiology and pathology as well as looking for novel pharmacological applications. When used properly, vitamins are, indeed, “magical” substances. Due to their efficacy, they should therefore be regarded as drugs with effects and side effects to be weighted against each other. Today, it is not the previously fatal deficiency-associated diseases that are in the focus of interest, but rather the relation of suboptimal vitamin bioavailability to chronic disease. This is complicated by genetic susceptibility, lifestyle, and the presence or absence of health-compromising habits, such as smoking. In turn, the development and application of new and more sensitive and specific assays further enable us to look more closely into the many functions of vitamins. Water soluble vitamins are complex molecular structures and even today, many areas in vitamin biochemistry are not yet fully understood. Novel effects and functions of vitamins remain and continue to be discovered. This book presents most recent research results and fascinating new knowledge on the role and effects of the water soluble vitamins in man. Some of the most distinguished chemists, biochemists, biologists and clinicians have contributed valuable chapters sharing unexpected novel insights into the biochemistry, (epi)genetics, metabolism, and function of water soluble vitamins, with their potential for clinical applications. Thus, physicians, clinicians, scientists, researchers, epidemiologists. nutritional specialists and health professionals alike will find stimulating and fascinating new insight in the many roles that water soluble vitamins play in human health and disease.




Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids


Book Description

This volume is the newest release in the authoritative series of quantitative estimates of nutrient intakes to be used for planning and assessing diets for healthy people. Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) is the newest framework for an expanded approach developed by U.S. and Canadian scientists. This book discusses in detail the role of vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and the carotenoids in human physiology and health. For each nutrient the committee presents what is known about how it functions in the human body, which factors may affect how it works, and how the nutrient may be related to chronic disease. Dietary Reference Intakes provides reference intakes, such as Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), for use in planning nutritionally adequate diets for different groups based on age and gender, along with a new reference intake, the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), designed to assist an individual in knowing how much is "too much" of a nutrient.




Vitamins


Book Description

This single-source reference draws together the current knowledge of the vitamins’ biological properties in the context of human nutrition. Vitamins are co-enzymes, antioxidants or precursors of hormones and are therefore involved in a great many biochemical and physiological processes. They play a vital role in the maintenance of health, and there is evidence that dietary sources of vitamins have beneficial effects in the prevention of heart-related diseases, bone diseases and possibly cancer. Following introductory chapters on historical and nutritional aspects of vitamins, the next four chapters cover relevant and detailed aspects of physiology and functional anatomy, biochemistry, immunology and the regulation of protein synthesis by nuclear hormone receptors. These background chapters, supported by a glossary of terms, provide the scientific principles upon which vitamin functions are based. The following thirteen chapters deal with each vitamin in turn. Subject areas include chemical structure, intestinal absorption, transport, metabolism, biochemical and physiological actions, immunoregulatory properties, deficiency-related diseases and potential toxicity. An extensive bibliography refers the reader to the original research literature. Vitamins is aimed at nutritionists, biochemists, physiologists and physicians whether they be researchers, teachers or students. Food scientists, food technologists and many others working in the health professions will also find much of use and interest in the book. The inclusion of the theoretical principles in the background chapters makes the book an ideal starting point for those working outside the area who need a solid overview of the subject.