The One Surprising Fact You Never Knew About Vitamins

There’s one big secret that most people do not know about vitamins. Even the health gurus don’t often talk about this, and it’s important if you really want to be sure you’re providing your body with a steady supply of nutrients.

Did you know that vitamins fall into two basic groups? There are those that your body can store and those that your body cannot store. The two groups depend on what type of liquid the vitamin dissolves in. Vitamins that dissolve in water are called “water soluble” vitamins, and those that dissolve in fat are called “fat soluble” vitamins. In the water soluble group, the vitamins are only temporary visitors - they’re used by the body, but then any excess is excreted upon your next visit to the bathroom. If the vitamin is fat soluble, then – you guessed it – that vitamin can be stored in the body’s fatty tissue and the liver – sometimes for days, sometimes for months.

So which is which? The answer is that all of the B vitamins and Vitamin C are water soluble, meaning they **cannot** be stored in the body. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble and, therefore, can be stored by the body.

Now it’s true that all of the vitamins are important, but in this fast-paced world, it’s difficult to eat a perfect diet every day. So I like to concentrate on the two big antioxidant vitamins, C and E. I want to be sure I’m getting at least those two covered. (Remember “C “ can’t be stored and “E” can.)

Did you know that the 10 trillion cells in our bodies are generally made up of a watery interior and a fatty cell wall? This is a perfect model for how these two big antioxidant vitamins go to work. The water soluble Vitamin C does its antioxidant cleanup work on the watery interior of the cell. Then, the fat soluble Vitamin E does the same for the fatty cell wall. What a team! Between these two antioxidant vitamins, you’ve got the whole cell covered. With an adequate supply of both, you are going to be doing yourself a big favor, day in and day out.

So here’s a tip. For breakfast, start the day off with a piece of fruit (orange, grapefruit, cantaloupe) to get the Vitamin C going and then have another piece of fruit mid afternoon (kiwis are super high in Vitamin C). When hungry for a snack, have some almonds or sunflower seeds around (preferably raw) to stoke those Vitamin E stores.