Food and Nutrition: Fat-soluble Vitamins (A, D, E).
The plate is full: rice for carbohydrate, fish for protein. Yet some people still cannot see well once the light fades. A few jobs in the body are beyond what carbohydrate and protein can do alone. They need a small amount of something special: a vitamin.
1. What a vitamin is, and its two groups
Even when your food has enough carbohydrate and protein, the body still needs one more special component for normal growth and nutrition. That component is a vitamin. A vitamin is an organic compound. A balanced diet with plenty of vegetables every day gives you the vitamins you need.
Vitamins fall into two groups. The fat-soluble ones are A, D, E and K. The water-soluble ones are the vitamin B complex and vitamin C. On this page we take A, D and E.
2. Vitamin A
Vitamin A from animals comes from eggs, cow's milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, liver and oil-rich fish, above all cod.
From plants it comes as carotene, in red amaranth, arum leaves, stem amaranth, basil, jute leaf, water spinach, mint, peas, carrots, lady finger, cabbage and peanuts. Mango, ripe papaya and jackfruit are good sources too. Carrots hold a large amount.
Vitamin A supports growth and development. It keeps epithelial tissue such as the skin and the cornea of the eye working normally, keeps teeth, gums and bones healthy, and protects the body from contagious diseases.
It also keeps eyesight normal and protects the eyes from night blindness.
A shortage causes xerophthalmia. It first shows up as night blindness. If the shortage goes on, the cornea ulcerates or erodes and a person can go completely blind. Small bumps can also appear at the base of hair follicles. Too much vitamin A can be harmful as well. Now put the steps in order.
which firsttap in order
From night blindness to blindness
When the vitamin A shortage goes on, what shows up first?
Yes. Then?
Not yet. Corneal erosion comes only after a prolonged shortage, so it cannot come before night blindness.
Right order. Night blindness, then a corneal ulcer, then complete blindness. The whole disease is called xerophthalmia.
3. Vitamin D
Animals are the only source of vitamin D. In human skin, cholesterol is turned into vitamin D with the help of ultraviolet rays, step by step through the liver and the kidneys. Egg yolk, milk and butter are the main sources. Cabbage, liver and oil-rich fish are sources too.
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, and that calcium is used to build bones. So a shortage of vitamin D may cause rickets in children.
Vitamin D is the door for calcium. Drag the mark: with too little, calcium does not get in; with too much, so much gets in that the extra piles up in the wrong places.
drag and seeGo to both ends
Vitamin D and calcium
The dots are a model of the idea, not a measurement.
But more vitamin D than the body needs is harmful. Too much calcium and phosphorus is absorbed, and a large amount of calcium is stored in the kidneys, heart and veins. Turn the card over.
vitamin D and sunlighttap to turn over
Skin and vitamin D
QuestionWhich rays make vitamin D in the skin?
AnswerUltraviolet rays.
QuestionWhat kind of living thing is the source of vitamin D?
AnswerAnimals are the only source.
4. Vitamin E, and putting it together
All kinds of vegetable oil, palm oil above all, are the best sources of vitamin E. Corn oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil and lettuce leaves have it too. Almost every food holds a little vitamin E.
In the human body vitamin E works as an antioxidant. It stops fat from piling up in the arteries and keeps the skin healthy. A balanced diet meets the need. Now match the sources to the three vitamins.
sort themfood, then box
Which food, which vitamin
Pick up a food, then drop it in a box.
Right. Next one.
Not yet. Think: carotene-rich vegetables, fruit and oil-rich fish give which vitamin? Egg yolk and butter are the main source of which? Vegetable oil is the best source of which?
All in place. Carrot, red amaranth, ripe papaya and cod fish are A; egg yolk and butter are D; palm oil and sunflower oil are E. The book lists eggs and butter under A as well; here we took their D reading.
A shortage of vitamin A does not ruin the eye in a day; it goes step by step. Drag the shortage along, and compare what the eye sees by day and by night.
drag and seeTry night too
As the shortage goes on
The book's steps, hand drawn, not measured.
Last, shortage and disease. The book names no deficiency disease for vitamin E, so its cell shows its job instead. Tap a cell.
gridtap a cell
Deficiency and disease
vitamin
night blindness, xerophthalmia
rickets
fat in arteries
A
✓
·
·
D
·
✓
·
E
·
·
prevents
A. A shortage causes xerophthalmia, which first appears as night blindness.
D. It helps absorb calcium. A shortage causes rickets in children.
E. The book names no deficiency disease. Its job: stopping fat from collecting in the arteries and keeping the skin healthy.
5. Check yourself
Start with the first question.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 1
What is mainly available in carrots?
Phosphorus is not the main item in carrots; carrots hold carotene.
Vitamin D comes from animal sources. The right answer is: Carotene.
Right. Carrots are rich in carotene, which gives vitamin A.
Vitamin B complex is not the main content of carrots.
The second is the next step.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 2
Fat soluble vitamins in the body are-
i. A, D, E ii. A, B, C iii. A, D, K
ii has B and C, which are water-soluble.
Right. i (A, D, E) and iii (A, D, K) are correct groups of fat-soluble vitamins.
ii is wrong: B and C are water-soluble. The right answer is: i and iii.
ii is wrong, so not all three. The right answer is: i and iii.
Think a moment over the last one.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 3
Which food is good for the eyes of human beings?
Flour is not listed as an eye-vitamin source.
Molasses is a sucrose source. The right answer is: Yogurt.
Meat is not listed here as a vitamin A source.
Right. Yogurt is an animal source of vitamin A, which keeps the eyes healthy.
The whole note on eight cards.
cut from the notetap to turn over
Eight cards
QuestionWhat is a vitamin?
AnswerAn organic food component, besides carbohydrate and protein, needed for normal growth and nutrition.
QuestionWhich vitamins are fat soluble?
AnswerA, D, E and K.
QuestionWhich vitamin do carotene-rich vegetables (red amaranth, carrot, lady finger) give, and which vegetable has it in large amounts?
AnswerVitamin A; carrots.
QuestionWhich disease does prolonged vitamin A deficiency cause, and how does it first appear?
AnswerXerophthalmia; first as night blindness.
QuestionWhich rays help make vitamin D in the human skin?
AnswerUltraviolet rays, from skin cholesterol through the liver and kidneys.
QuestionWhich mineral does vitamin D help absorb, and what disease in children follows its deficiency?
AnswerCalcium; rickets.
QuestionWhat is the best source of vitamin E?
AnswerVegetable oils, especially palm oil.
QuestionWhat does vitamin E act as in the human body, and what does it inhibit?
AnswerAn antioxidant; it inhibits the accumulation of fat in arteries.