1. Vitamin Instructor Notes
• Vitamins are complex organic compounds which are needed in the diet in very small
quantities. They do not serve as a source of energy or provide material for building
tissues, but instead participate in various essential chemical processes in the body.
• Vitamins can be divided into fat-soluble and water-soluble.
• The fat-soluble vitamins are stored in fat tissues in the body. Hence, you can build up a
reserve of fat-soluble vitamins for later use. However, because they are stored for a long
time, it is also possible to build up a toxic amount if you take too much. A, D, E, and K
are fat-soluble.
• Water-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, dissolve in body fluids. Since these fluids are
constantly being recycled, water-soluble vitamins are not stored, and you need them in
your diet every day. Extra doses of water-soluble are just excreted in your urine.
• Cooking vegetables in water can cause these vitamins to migrate out of the food and into
the water, so if you just throw this water away, you are losing some of the vitamins – one
way to solve this problem is by cooking your vegetables in a soup. When I make my own
baby food I use the water that is left over from steaming to blend the vegetables together.
• Vitamin C and all of the B vitamins are water-soluble.
• Good nutrition is essential to health. Poor nutrition leads to chronic disease. So the
decisions you make about what to eat are very important!
• Federal law requires that all food products contain nutritional labels. These labels
give information about all of the macronutrients as well as vitamins and minerals. They
are designed to help the public make informed decisions about what to include in their
diet, and can help you compare one product to another. The numbers are helpful both in
accessing the nutritional value of a single food item, or in comparing different ones.

2. o It contains the following information:
• Serving size - this indicates what portion of food the nutritional label describes. In a
packaged food, the label would also indicate how many servings were present in the
package. Simple math will allow you to compare products.
• Calories - the total calories in the serving are listed, along with how many of the calories
come from fat. This shows how much total energy is available from this food, and helps
you determine if this food will help you reach a goal of 30% of calories from fat.
• Fat - total fat and saturated fat are listed. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated may also
be listed. Remember that you want to limit the amount of bad saturated fats. (To be
discussed further in the coconut lecture)
• Carbohydrates - total carbohydrates, sugars, and dietary fiber are listed. You can figure
out the amount of starch by subtracting the fiber and sugars from the total. Fiber is
something you generally want more of, while sugars should usually be avoided.
• Protein - This tells you how much protein is found in a serving. Notice that it does not
indicate the proportion of amino acids present, so you can't tell if you are getting a
complete protein or not. There are some foods in which are great for making sure you are
getting enough amino acids. We will cover these in both the protein and coconut lecture
as well.
• Vitamins - Labels vary on how many vitamins are listed. On shorter labels, only vitamins
A and C are listed. These are listed only as percentages of the Recommended Daily
Allowances.
• Minerals - Labels also vary on how many minerals are listed. On shorter labels, only
calcium and iron are shown. These are listed also as percentages of the RDA's. If you are
concerned about minerals, and you should be if you’re active or elderly, then drink
mineralized water.
• In addition to looking at the nutritional label, it is helpful to look at the ingredients list.
This list must contain the ingredients in order of how much is present. Look for partially
hydrogenated oils, whole wheat vs. enriched flour, and so on.

3. • Vitamin A History--
The history of studying vision is interesting and is recorded as being studied as far back as
Aristotle. Thanks to the knowledge generated by countless generations of scholars and scientists
using increasingly sophisticated tools in pursuit of scientific knowledge our understanding of
vision has come a very long way!
During the early part of the 20th century research was aimed at understanding vision. It was also
around this time that the relationship between vision and proper nutrition began being studied at
universities and agricultural schools. It had been shown during World War I that a vitamin A
deficiency caused night blindness. The link between vitamin A and night blindness, however, did
not become clear until George Wald and his coworkers isolated vitamin A from the retina in
1933. Prior to this finding the importance of vitamins was poorly understood. Additionally, the
complete role of vitamins in physiological processes was unknown.
It is now understood that the human body makes retinal from vitamin A. To replenish the
destroyed retinal, it is important to have a source of vitamin A in your diet. Without a source of
vitamin A, night blindness can develop because the rods can’t function effectively without
sufficient sources of vitamin A.
Vitamin A comes from two sources plant (carotenes) or animal makes (retinol) from the veggies
sources they have eaten.
By eating 5-10 servings of fruits and veggies you are getting the recommended vitamin A in your
diet. Just by eating one carrot you more than dbl the amount of vitamin A your body needs in a
day. Try eating a variety of dark green leafy greens, broccoli (would be orange/yellow if it
weren’t for cholorphyll) and bright orange veggies to get your vitamin A instead of taking a
supplement. Additionally, if you do this then chances are if you suffer from Anemia (iron
deficient) this will help.

4. Vitamin A, Vitamin A, Retinol,
Food Serving Retinol, IU
RAE IU mcg
Cod liver oil 1 teaspoon 1,350 mcg 4,500 IU 1,350 mcg 4,500 IU
Fortified
150-230 150-230
breakfast 1 serving 500-767 IU 500-767 IU
mcg mcg
cereals
Egg 1 large 91 mcg 303 IU 89 mcg 296 IU
1
Butter 97 mcg 323 IU 95 mcg 317 IU
tablespoon
1 cup (8 fl
Whole milk 68 mcg 227 IU 68 mcg 227 IU
oz.)
2% fat milk
1 cup (8 fl
(vitamin A 134 mcg 447 IU 134 mcg 447 IU
oz)
added)
Nonfat milk
1 cup (8 fl
(vitamin A 149 mcg 497 IU 149 mcg 497 IU
oz.)
added)
Sweet
1/2 cup,
potato, 555 mcg 1,848 IU 0 0
mashed
canned
Sweet pot. 1/2 cup
961 mcg 3,203 IU 0 0
Pumpkin,
1/2 cup 953 mcg 3,177 IU 0 0
canned
1/2 cup,
Carrot (raw) 538 mcg 1,793 IU 0 0
chopped
1/2 medium
Cantaloupe 467 mcg 1,555 IU 0 0
melon
Mango 1 fruit 79 mcg 263 IU 0 0
1/2 cup,
Spinach 472 mcg 1,572 IU 0 0
cooked
1/2 cup,
Broccoli 60 mcg 200 IU 0 0
cooked
1/2 cup,
Kale 443 mcg 1,475 IU 0 0
cooked
1/2 cup,
Collards 386 mcg 1,285 IU 0 0
cooked
Squash, 1/2 cup,
572 mcg 1,907 IU 0 0
butternut cooked

5. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for Vitamin A as Preformed
Vitamin A (Retinol Activity Equivalents)
Males: mcg/day Females: mcg/day
Life Stage Age
(IU/day) (IU/day)
Infants (AI) 0-6 months 400 (1,333 IU) 400 (1,333 IU)
Infants (AI) 7-12 months 500 (1,667 IU) 500 (1,667 IU)
Children 1-3 years 300 (1,000 IU) 300 (1,000 IU)
Children 4-8 years 400 (1,333 IU) 400 (1,333 IU)
Children 9-13 years 600 (2,000 IU) 600 (2,000 IU)
Adolescents 14-18 years 900 (3,000 IU) 700 (2,333 IU)
19 years and
Adults 900 (3,000 IU) 700 (2,333 IU)
older
18 years and
Pregnancy - 750 (2,500 IU)
younger
19 years and
Pregnancy - 770 (2,567 IU)
older
18 years and
Breast-feeding - 1,200 (4,000 IU)
younger
19 years and
Breast-feeding - 1,300 (4,333 IU)
older

6. Work Cited
Linus Pauling Institute. Micronutrient Information Center. Retreived August 9, 2011
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminA/
How we See: The First Steps of Human Vision. Retrieved August 9, 2011
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/vision_background.php