Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamin A

Vitamin A helps protect the light-sensitive cells in your eyes and boosts your immune system. It’s also crucial for cell growth and development. You can find it in foods like liver, cod liver oil, carrots, cabbage, and spinach. The recommended daily amount is about 900 micrograms for adult men, 700 micrograms for adult women, and 300 micrograms for kids.

Not getting enough vitamin A can cause night blindness, dry eyes, and in severe cases, total blindness. On the flip side, too much vitamin A can lead to tiredness, headaches, stomach pain, joint pain, loss of appetite, vomiting, blurry vision, and inflammation of the mouth and skin.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is key for keeping your bones strong. It helps control calcium and phosphorus levels in your body and makes sure your intestines absorb calcium properly. Kids lacking vitamin D might develop rickets, which causes bowed legs due to soft and weak bones. Adults can suffer from osteoporosis, especially women after menopause and older men.

You can get vitamin D by spending 15 minutes in the sun once or twice a week. The recommended daily amounts are 15 micrograms for adults, 20 micrograms for seniors, and 15 micrograms for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Low vitamin D levels can cause fatigue, depression, severe bone and back pain, muscle pain, hair loss, and over time may increase the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, and some cancers. Good dietary sources include cod liver oil, fatty fish like herring, sardines, and salmon, fortified skim milk, mushrooms, eggs, and chicken.

Too much vitamin D can cause calcium buildup in bones and hardening of blood vessels, kidneys, heart, and lungs. It might also bring on headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, dry mouth, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea. So it’s best to get it mostly from natural sources.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K plays a big role in blood clotting and stopping bleeding. It includes vitamin K1 found in leafy greens, and vitamin K2 found in meats, cheese, and eggs. A vitamin K deficiency can cause serious bleeding, but it’s pretty rare in adults. Newborns and people with digestive absorption issues are most at risk. Some medications can also interfere with vitamin K absorption.

The recommended daily amount is 120 micrograms for men and 90 micrograms for women. Great sources are spinach, legumes, cauliflower, and green beans.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is one of the strongest antioxidants out there, protecting cells from damage caused by free radicals, which can lead to cancer. You’ll find it in vegetable oils, seeds, nuts, avocados, peanut butter, fatty fish, and cod liver oil. Adults need about 15 milligrams a day, while kids and teens need between 6 and 15 milligrams.

A lack of vitamin E can cause trouble walking, weak muscles, vision problems, and numbness. Long-term deficiency might lead to anemia, heart disease, blindness, dementia, slow reflexes, and poor muscle control. Taking too much vitamin E can cause serious bleeding.