Types of Vitamins and Where to Find Them

Vitamins are organic compounds and essential nutrients that our bodies mostly can't produce on their own, so we need to get them from the food we eat. They're super important for keeping things balanced inside our bodies (aka homeostasis), and not getting enough of them can lead to various health issues. How much you need depends on your age, gender, and situations like pregnancy or breastfeeding. There are currently 13 known vitamins.

Main Types of Vitamins

Vitamins fall into two main categories:

• Water-soluble vitamins: These aren't stored in the body and get flushed out through urine.
• Fat-soluble vitamins: These can be stored in the body for days or even months.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamin A

Also known as retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, and beta-carotene. You'll find it in foods like carrots, broccoli, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, butter, eggs, some cheeses, milk, spinach, liver, cod liver oil, and apricots.

Vitamin D

Called cholecalciferol or ergocalciferol. You mainly get it from sunlight, but it's also in fatty fish, eggs, beef liver, and mushrooms.

Vitamin E

Known as tocopherols and tocotrienols. It's