Vitamins

Vitamins are small organic compounds that cannot be synthesised by our body but that are essential for certain body functions; because the body cannot make them itself, they must be obtained through the diet. The quantities required are not large, but either a deficiency or an excess of a given vitamin can cause disease. Each vitamin has a specific function in the living system, most commonly acting as a coenzyme, and unlike carbohydrates and lipids, vitamins are not used as energy sources. …