This week, let's focus on an issue that we all know that it is beneficial, but just do not know why. It is vitamins, of which, the first thing I will say about them is their definition: vitamins are compounds of organic nature present in food as such or as direct precursors which act as regulating substances, having an essential character in the diet, all known.
Vitamins are classified as water soluble soluble vitamins (not accumulate in the body, dissolve in water and are quickly eliminated. They are daily intake) and (accumulate in the body, do not dissolve in water and stored in the liver and in fatty tissue).
In this first installment of the world of vitamins, let's start by Vitamin A, Also known as retinol.
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, ie that does not dissolve in water, accumulates in the body and stored in the liver.
Among the functions of vitamin A, we found:
- It is necessary for normal growth.
- For proper immune response
- For proper fetal development.
- To carry out properly the visual cycle.
- Retinoic acid (the active form of vitamin A) is necessary to keep fresh, smooth and moist.
- Thanks to the powerful antioxidant beta carotene
Vitamin A, is presented as such in animal foods, and beta carotene are present in foods of plant origin, such as melon.
Us enter a little deeper into the world of carotenoids:
Currently the best interest of these compounds lies in their role as antioxidants (are nutrients that prevent oxidation, that is, the process in which a substance is contacted with oxygen). That a food contains antioxidants, it results in greater protection against free radicals produced by our body. Free radicals are toxic substances that occur in normal processes of our organism, such as breathing. It is important to be protected against these free radicals because they attack healthy cells and weaken, making them more vulnerable to diseases such as lung cancer.
Beta-carotene we found in melonHas the added property, compared to other carotenoids (such as lutein and zeaxanthin), it becomes more orange vitamin The pulp is melon, The higher the beta-carotene content, so the higher your antioxidant property, What will we find more fearsome protected against free radicals, which are the precursors of the great pandemic of the century, cancer.
I think I have given enough to include foods rich in carotenoids in your diet reasons, but not content with that, yet I'll let a phrase for you to consider:
"The secret is often in nature"