Vitamins

Vitamins are nutrients required in minute amounts for essential metabolic reactions in the body. The term vitamin does not consist of other essential nutrients such as dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, or essential amino acids, nor does it include the large number of other nutrients that promote health but that are not essential for life. Vitamins are bio-molecules that act both as catalysts and substrates in chemical reactions. When acting as a catalyst, vitamins are bound to enzymes and are called cofactors. Vitamins also act as coenzymes to hold chemical groups between enzymes. Folic acid, for example, carries various forms of carbon groups–methyl, firmly or ethylene in the cell. Vitamins have been created as commodity chemicals and prepared widely available as inexpensive pills for several decades allowing supplementation of the dietary intake.