What Vitamins Should You Have and Why?
January 27, 2025Vitamins are the most important things we can consume. It’s extremely essential for everyday life. We can get our vitamins from foods, beverages, and supplements. As a nutrition coach, I am often asked about what vitamins we should eat and why. All vitamins have important roles in our bodies, but I’ve included the most important vitamins that we need on a regular basis for energy support, workout support, and immune system health.
Vitamin A
Why It’s Important
Vitamin A is an important vitamin for all ages and genders. It plays an important role in our eye health, as well as supports a healthy immune system. It’s also an important vitamin for women, since it’s necessary for healthy fetal development. Vitamin A is also a precursor for retinol and beta-carotene, both necessary for healthy eyes, skin, hair, and bones. Beta-carotene also acts as a great antioxidant.
What Foods To Eat
There are many ways to add vitamin A to your everyday life. The most healthy way is through red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables. These foods contain carotenoids, which are pigments that give these foods their beautiful colors. When we consume these foods, our bodies convert carotenoids into Vitamin A and retinol. Foods such as strawberries, cherries, red bell peppers, carrots, and green leafy vegetables are great examples of foods that contain Vitamin A. Halibut, egg yolks, and whole milk products also contain Vitamin A.
Vitamin A is healthy, but it also depends on how you consume it-via foods and/or supplements. As a nutritionist, I always recommend getting your vitamins primarily and mainly through whole foods, but not everyone has the time to eat the right amount on a regular basis.
Vitamin D
Why It’s Important
Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones. Vitamin D also improves muscle strength and helps reduce the risk of osteoporosis. It also helps absorb calcium, which is also important for your heart. Vitamin D also helps to maintain our immune system. Women require higher levels of Vitamin D than men, specifically because it is very important for fetal development.
What Foods To Eat
Whole milk products, such as milk, yogurt and cheeses are good sources of Vitamin D. Mackerel, halibut, salmon, sardines, and shrimp are also rich in Vitamin D. For vegans, green beans, strawberries, oranges, mushrooms, and spinach also contain a good amount of Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is also produced in our bodies when we’re exposed to sunlight. However, this is not a very healthy way of getting your Vitamin D. The main reasons are because of the risk of skin cancer with excessive exposure to sun. Too much sun can also permanently damage your skin. Older adults (50 or older) should have at least 3 servings of Vitamin D per day. An example is a spinach salad with salmon, a handful of strawberries, and an orange smoothie (with 2 oranges). And, as always, consult with your doctor about your Vitamin intake.
Vitamin E
Why It’s important
Vitamin E helps to protect our bodies from free-radicals because of its antioxidant properties. Vitamin E is also vital for red blood cell formation and has been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease in men.
What Foods To Eat
Safflower oils, corn oil, peanut and cottonseed oils are all rich sources of Vitamin E. Sauteing vegetables with peanut oil is a good example of incorporating Vitamin E into your food.
Vitamin B7
Why It’s Important
Vitamin B7 plays important roles in our bodies. Also, called Biotin, Vitamin B7 is involved in fat metabolism, as well as glucose and amino acid metabolism. Since Vitamin B7 helps with fat metabolism and the breakdown of amino acids (essential for improving muscle tone), Vitamin B7 can be advantageous for people that’s trying to lose weight and/or gain more muscle mass.
What Foods To Eat
There are several foods you can eat that are great sources of Vitamin B7. This includes legumes, liver, soy flour, cauliflower, milk, yeast, and egg yolks.
Vitamin B9
Why It’s Important
Vitamin B9 is also known as folate. Folate helps to stimulate B12 in our bodies, as well as support the development of red blood cells. Folate also affects the soft tissues in our bodies, such as our skin, gastrointestinal tract, bone marrow, where our blood cells are formed, and muscle tissues.
Since Vitamin B9 helps us regenerate our muscle tissues, Vitamin B9 is very beneficial for athletes and for workout support. Endurance athletes can benefit from folate’s role in red blood cell production and tissue repair. Speeding muscle tissue repair helps to minimize the stress of high-intensity or long duration training.
What Foods To Eat
Dietary sources of folate include beef, lamb, pork, chicken liver, eggs, asparagus, whole wheat, dark-green leafy vegetables, salmon, and yeast.
Vitamin B12
Why It’s Important
Vitamin B12 is one of the most important vitamins we can consume, mainly because it aids our bodies in energy metabolism, new cell growth,and immune system function. It’s also important for new cell growth and healthy red blood and white cells, all necessary to combat infections, colds, and flus. Vitamin B12 supports our bone health, prevents anemia, supports heart health, and can increase energy levels.
What Foods To Eat
Foods, such as poultry, fish, dairy products, turnip greens, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, leafy green vegetables, wheat germ, nuts, and enriched grain products are all efficient sources of Vitamin B12, especially with daily consumption. Note that older adults need more Vitamin B12 because the ability for our bodies to produce this vitamin declines with age.
What To Remember About Vitamins
Vitamins are always best consumed via foods and beverages. The easiest way to incorporate vitamins into your lifestyle is to mix food groups together in one meal. For example, eating an ounce of baked salmon, a bowl of spinach salad with a handful of strawberries and peanuts for dinner is a great way to consume all of the vitamins included in this list.
If you’re taking vitamin supplements or thinking of doing so, keep in mind that less is not more. For example, taking Vitamin A pills on a daily basis can lead to build-up in your body after a prolonged period of time. It takes time for our bodies to break down vitamins, especially for inactive people. Liquid vitamins or crushing your vitamin pills into a smoothie are better ways of intaking your vitamin supplement because it ensures faster absorption in your body than a solid pill. It also reduces the risk of vitamin toxicity. Though rare, we should always be aware of the amounts of supplements we use. And, as always, consult your physician before using any supplements.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s important to stay hydrated in order for your body to absorb vitamins faster. Whether you’re getting your vitamins from food, supplements, or both, dehydration can cause your body to lose its capacity to absorb and break down vitamins. Since water is vital for eliminating our waste, a lack of water can cause vitamin build-up in your body, therefore risking toxicity. Be sure to stay dehydrated at all times, but especially when you’re taking supplements on a regular basis.