Vitamins and minerals are essential building blocks for health and well-being. Scientists have identified 13 different compounds they call vitamins, from Vitamin A to several B-vitamins, D, K, and others. Vitamins are fundamental for good human health, and they help create strong bodies that can resist certain types of diseases, such as some cancers and heart disease. Our bodies can overcome many obstacles, but they cannot create these vitamins on their own, instead, they must take nutrients from the foods we eat every day and turn them into vitamins (Editors 2007).
             There is a difference in how vitamins are adsorbed and used in the body. Water-soluble vitamins, such as the B vitamins and vitamin C are flushed out in the urinary system if a person ingests too many of these vitamins. However, fat-soluble vitamins, such as A and D, are stored in a person's body fat, and so, unsafe levels can build up in the body if a person consistently gets too much of these vitamins. Vitamins and their healing and health properties are relatively new to the medical field, and because of this, more research into their uses and properties continues on a regular basis.
             Many people are under the assumption that if they eat a well-balanced and healthy diet, they do not need additional vitamins for health and well-being. Experts at Harvard University note, "If you eat a healthy diet, do you need to take vitamins? Not long ago, the answer from most experts would have been a resounding 'no.' Today, though, there's good evidence that taking a daily multivitamin makes sense for most adults" (Editors 2007). Why are vitamins so necessary? Because even the healthiest eater will have difficulties consuming enough of some foods to get the recommended daily doses of many vitamins and minerals. Each vitamin has different properties, and men and women must take in optimum amounts for good health. For example, experts recommend men take in 5,000 interna...