Mindful Eating: A Path to a Healthy Body
Vitamins
Hear the true story of the sailors who fell ill, and learn about vitamins.
A true story. Long ago, sailors on long sea voyages often got bleeding, swollen gums. A Scottish doctor, James Lind, noticed that sailors who ate lemons and oranges got better. Their disease was scurvy, caused by a lack of Vitamin C. Citrus fruits like lemons and oranges are full of Vitamin C.
A disease caused by the lack of a food component is called a deficiency disease. It is not caught from anyone; the body is simply missing something. Your book gives four vitamins. Easy ways to remember them: A for aankh (eyes), B for beriberi, C for citrus.
| Vitamin | What it does | Where we get it | If it is missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | keeps eyes and skin healthy | papaya, carrot, mango, milk | poor vision, night blindness (cannot see in dim light), even loss of vision |
| B1 | keeps the heart healthy, helps the body do its many jobs | legumes, nuts, whole grains, seeds, milk products | beriberi: swelling, tingling or burning in hands and feet, trouble breathing |
| C | helps the body fight diseases | amla, guava, green chilli, orange, lemon | scurvy: bleeding gums, wounds heal slowly |
| D | helps the body absorb calcium for bones and teeth | sunlight, milk, butter, fish, eggs | rickets: soft, bent bones |
Think of Vitamin D as a friend who walks you past the guard dog into a house. Calcium can only get into the body properly when Vitamin D is there to help.
In the book, Reshma cannot see well in dim light, and her doctor gives her a vitamin supplement. Poor vision in dim light points to a lack of Vitamin A, so papaya, carrot, mango and milk would help her.
Vitamins can be lost. Some, like Vitamin C, are destroyed by the high heat of cooking, so fruits and uncooked vegetables are a wise part of our diet. Washing vegetables after cutting or peeling them can also wash vitamins away. But we should still wash all fruits and vegetables well before we eat them.
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