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Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10 / Ubiquinone) Explained

February 10, 2011 By 4 Comments
A jug of canola oil next to a canola flower.

WHAT IS COENZYME Q10? Coenzyme Q10 (also known as CoQ10 or ubiquinone) is a vitamin like substance that has antioxidant properties.  Whilst coenzyme Q10 is not technically a vitamin (because it can be produced by the body in small amounts) it is unofficially classified as a fat soluble vitamin.  In this article I will be discussing coenzyme Q10 in greater detail. WHEN WAS COENZYME Q10 DISCOVERED? Coenzyme Q10 was first isolated from beef heart mitochondria in 1957 by Dr Frederick Crane of Wisconsin, USA.  Later that year Professor Morton of England managed to extract coenzyme Q10 from … [Read more...]

The Importance of getting enough Vitamin D this Christmas

December 22, 2008 By 4 Comments
A dim snowy field at Christmas time.

Vitamins are important nutrients that help your body function properly.  They all have different roles to play and a deficiency of any one vitamin can lead to a number of nasty side effects.  Whilst they are all equally important, vitamin D is perhaps even more important over Christmas.  In this article I will be discussing why vitamin D is particularly important over the festive period and how you can make sure that you get enough. As I discussed in my previous article on vitamin D it is one of the fat soluble vitamins.  The main role of vitamin D is to help the body absorb calcium and … [Read more...]

Vitamin K Explained

October 19, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Spinach with sprinkles of water on it

Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin that assists with blood clotting and bone strength.  It was first noticed in 1929 by Danish scientist Henrik Dam who observed that after feeding chickens a diet lacking in cholesterol they would start bleeding.  He concluded that a second compound, koagulationsvitamin aka vitamin K, had been extracted from the food with the cholesterol. As I mentioned above, vitamin K's most important function is that it helps the blood to clot.  Without vitamin K even a minor cut would bleed continuously.  It is therefore vital for the proper healing of wounds.  On top … [Read more...]

Vitamin E Explained

October 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Corn oil being squeezed from a corn on the cob

Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin which has a number of important functions in the body.  It was discovered in 1922 by two University of California researchers, Herbert Evans and Catherine Bishop, when they were doing an experiment involving rats on a semi-purified diet.  The rats grew well but when the females became pregnant their pups would die in the womb.  However, when their diet was supplemented with lettuce and then wheat germ, the female rats would give birth to healthy pups, leading Evans and Bishop to conclude that their diet was missing a “Factor X”.  This “Factor X” … [Read more...]

Vitamin D Explained

October 13, 2008 By 5 Comments
The sun shining on a beach

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is often known as the sunshine vitamin because sunlight can prompt the body to produce it.  Early signs of the benefits of vitamin D were discovered in the early nineteenth century when researchers suggested that sunbathing and cod liver oil could cure rickets (softening of the bones in children and young animals which is now known to be caused by vitamin D deficiency).  Vitamin D was officially discovered in 1919 when Edward Mellanby raised a group of dogs on nothing but porridge and also kept them inside (unintentionally) meaning they had no exposure … [Read more...]

Vitamin A Explained

October 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment
A woman drinking milk

In my last few articles I have been talking about vitamins.  Today I am going to be discussing in greater detail the vitamin at the beginning of the alphabet – Vitamin A. Vitamin A was the first vitamin discovered hence it being given the the first letter of the alphabet.  It was officially discovered between 1912 and 1914 by Elmer McCollum and M. Davis, although in 1913 Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel found that butter contained a fat soluble nutrient that would soon become known as vitamin A. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and its most notable function is that it helps … [Read more...]

What are Fat Soluble Vitamins?

October 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Three eggs on a bed of straw

In my last post I provided a basic introduction to vitamins.  Today I am going to discuss the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in greater detail. Fat soluble vitamins dissolve within the body's fat cells and are usually found in fats and fatty foods.  Unlike water soluble vitamins, (which are quite easily removed from food during cooking and preparation) fat soluble vitamins normally stay in the food when it is cooked.  If they are not needed immediately, the body will store fat soluble vitamins for later use in the liver and fatty tissues.  Therefore, fat soluble vitamins do not need … [Read more...]