Each of us, from childhood, like a mantra, repeats the phrase about the benefits of vitamins, and many do this without delving into the details of the topic. Some people prefer vitamins in tablets, considering this use as the only acceptable option for saturating the body without hassle, while others, sometimes not without fanaticism, seek to improve their diet with the maximum number of vegetables and fruits.
Vitamin boom intensifies with the onset of cold weather and after them, in the offseason: it is believed that the active use of vitamins during this period will help strengthen immunity, avoid colds and viral diseases. What do recent studies say about the role of vitamins in strengthening immunity?
What vitamins are needed for immunity for adults?
Vitamins play the role of a catalyst in the body, participating in metabolic processes, and you can’t say which one can be considered the best immunomodulator, because everyone plays a role. Nature has taken care of the necessary balance, and it is wrong to raise the question of which vitamins are more important for immunity.
Let us dwell in more detail on the main vitamins recognized by classical medicine as a means to maintain and restore immunity:
• Vitamin A - improves vision, is recognized as a beauty vitamin, as it stimulates the growth of new cells, is necessary for protein synthesis; It is a prophylactic in the fight against cancer. Vitamin A and β-carotene is also a powerful immunostimulant, in particular for colds and diseases of the respiratory system, it is found in animal products (in finished form), as well as in plant foods (fats are needed to absorb β-carotene to provide it full assimilation).
• BB vitamins are the conductors of microelements to the body, activate hematopoiesis, protect the body from external adverse factors, are powerful antioxidants, stimulate brain activity, the digestive and nervous systems, the heart, give energy and vitality.
It is proved that brain activity helps to strengthen the immune system, and if so, the vitamins of this group are indirectly involved in the body's immune defense.
This group of vitamins is present mainly in plant foods (cereals, beans); in small quantities found in meat products, eggs and fish. Vitamins of the BB group are synthesized by the body in the intestine.
• Vitamin C: it is difficult to overestimate its role in the body - it is involved in the production of antibodies necessary for protection against infections, in blood formation, and oxidative processes. Thanks to this vitamin, the body metabolizes folic acid and iron.
It is possible to enumerate the advantages of this vitamin even further, but they are already known even to lay people, as well as the fact that Vitamin C is a water-soluble element that quickly decomposes even at a temperature of 40 ° C. Unlike other vitamins, it is completely not synthesized in the human body, so its supplies must be regularly replenished.
• Vitamin E is an antioxidant that prevents cell destruction. Without his participation, the absorption of vitamin A is reduced.
• Vitamin D is needed to protect bone tissue, transport calcium and phosphorus.
• Vitamin F is also involved in building immune defenses, stimulates wound healing, has an anti-inflammatory effect, and is involved in the synthesis of unsaturated acids and cholesterol metabolism.
• Vitamin PP is essential for digestion. It strengthens the walls of blood vessels, prevents the penetration of infection.
So, if very briefly, classical medicine explains the importance of vitamins.
In general, all the major discoveries related to vitamins were made in the first half of the twentieth century. In modern medicine, which has more opportunities, based on statistical studies, no less important studies have been done regarding vitamins, their effects on the body, and their role in protective properties.
Vitamins for immunity to adults - the rejection of familiar stereotypes
Studies of vitamins, according to official sources, have been conducted for ten years in a group of one hundred thousand people. Here are some results:
• As it turned out, in the group of people taking vitamin A, which, according to the postulates of classical medicine, prevents the oncological diseases, some subjects who regularly took vitamin A died of lung cancer. It was later established that they were all heavy smokers.
• A lot of scientific works of the twentieth century prove that the vitamins of group BB and vitamin E prevent strokes and heart attacks, but why does this not happen, and people continue to die from these diseases? But, meanwhile, it is impossible to deny that pyroxidine (vitamin B6) stimulates the work of the heart muscle.
• It is believed that vitamin C is the first remedy in the fight against SARS, so people begin to be treated with "effervescent" tablets, aspirin. Has vitamin C at least once helped to prevent a cold or the appearance of a virus in the body? It did not help, because the incubation period of a viral infection that got into the body is 5-7 days, and no vitamins can change this. Vitamin C shortens the course of the disease and alleviates the symptoms, but nothing more.
The same can be said about the role of other vitamins. Yes, vitamins are what people cannot do without. But do not think that they are the same “magic pill”, by taking which you can get rid of all diseases.
In the question of whether vitamins are needed for immunity, it is necessary to understand that they are not a panacea, but only part of a set of measures to maintain normal body functions. Therefore, in order to strengthen immunity, it is also necessary:
• Balanced physical activity;
• Walks in the open air;
• Normal sleep;
• Quitting smoking and other bad habits;
• Emotional discharge (avoid stressful situations);
• Proper, balanced diet (be wary of all kinds of fashionable diets for weight loss, consult your doctor).
The conclusion is obvious: without giving up bad habits, vitamins can provoke a disease, and not help in the fight against it. A healthy lifestyle, adherence to diet, sleep are equally important for the immune system.
Are vitamins for immunity necessary or not?
Recall that immunity is the ability of the body at the cellular level to recognize foreign bodies in the body and destroy them. For this, all available reserves are used, including vitamins. The question of whether adults need to take vitamins for immunity if there are no visible or tangible indications for their intake should be posed differently. Rather, we should talk about a sense of proportion and a competent approach to the use of vitamins.
An insignificant deficiency of one or another vitamin in the body can be detected only in a clinical way - outwardly and on their health, some of their deficiency is not felt. In order to judge the deficiency of one or more vitamins, due to the lack of which malfunctions of the immune system occur, a rather complicated and expensive blood test must be done.
Therefore, if there is no serious reason for concern, then:
• Live in the usual rhythm, eat normally: do not try to artificially replenish vitamins in the body, but do not limit their intake as part of natural products.
• Do not forget that their excess (hypervitaminosis) can also negatively affect well-being, as well as a deficiency (hypovitaminosis and vitamin deficiency).
The lack of vitamins in the body can be judged in the presence of:
Dry skin, mucous membranes, cornea of the eyes;
Fragile nails, hair loss;
Insomnia, nausea, lack of appetite;
Puffiness, general weakness, and so on.
Such manifestations are an occasion to consult a doctor, because similar symptoms can be the result of many other diseases. Before taking vitamins for immunity, be sure to consider that an overdose in many cases causes similar symptoms, sometimes even presenting a life threat.
Artificial vitamins for immunity to adults: about vitamins and their antipodes
For those who believe that vitamins in tablets are a convenient solution to the problem of providing the body with the necessary reserves, here are a few interesting facts, as information for consideration:
• Chemical analogues of vitamin A - retinoids. In its natural form, this vitamin has many varieties (α-, β-, d-carotenes, luteins, lipokens - in total over five hundred names), and artificial vitamin A (retinol) exists in only one version. It is clear that a drug created by man cannot fully replace natural vitamin A. It is prescribed in the treatment of various diseases, in combination with other drugs, since it is equivalent to corticosteroid drugs in terms of its effect on cells.
• Antivitamin B - thiaminase. It destroys natural vitamin B. A significant amount of thiaminase is present in some fish species, including the herring family, in rice, spinach, raw potatoes, Savoy cabbage, and some other plant products. When cooked, anti-vitamin is destroyed. This information should be taken into account by fans of veganism and all kinds of non-nutritious diets.
• Vitamin B, for example, is synthesized by microorganisms located in the intestine. Artificial vitamins are absorbed faster and easier than vitamins that come with food. Now the question is: what will happen to the intestinal microflora if the need for vitamin production disappears?
• Vitamin C also has its own antipode. It is visible on a section of an apple lying in the open. Within 20 minutes, vitamin C is completely destroyed by its antipode.
This list could be continued, but the meaning is already clear.
Vitamins are built into the cells to participate in the exchange, but if they are replaced by chemical vitamins, which are absorbed much more easily by entering the bloodstream, then over time the immune system will learn to perceive vitamins that enter the body through food as foreign bodies. The more often vitamins are consumed in tablets or ampoules, the faster this will happen.
In cases where it becomes necessary to take artificial vitamins for medicinal purposes, they must be taken as prescribed by the doctor, after a thorough examination. Strengthening immunity with vitamins for adults, and even more so for children, on their own initiative, is extremely imprudent.
The key to the normal functioning of the immune system is a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet and a thoughtful attitude to advertising, the advice of friends and acquaintances regarding health, fashion diets, and the intake of "harmless" vitamins.
