Nelson Higgins, age 12, of Asheville, N.C., for his question:
Are vitamins food?
No person can enjoy a happy life unless his body is supplied with the proper items of a balanced diet. Vitamins are a necessary part of this diet. Small amounts of these chemicals are used by the body to create good health and good looks, strong teeth and bright eyes, calm nerves and an alert brain.
The fuel that runs an automobile is gasoline; arid the fuel needed to operate the body is the food you eat. A car also needs a supply of rich oil to make its machinery move. The body needs a supply of vitamins along with its food in order to operate its machinery. Small amounts of these vital chemicals are present in the different items of a balanced diet, and as a rule this is enough.
We know of about 25 different vitamins used by the body, and more may be discovered. Each has a different role, and in most cases we know what role the body has for each vitamin. We know also what diseases and disasters follow when this or that vitamin is not included in the diet. In some cases we know how the body uses its vitamins. But we need to know far more of these complex chemical operations.
In the process of digestion, the bulky food is broken up, liquefied and its chemicals converted into usable body fuel. We know that certain vitamins are necessary in the conversion of some foods. For example, we may eat all the proteins, fats and carbohydrates the body needs to build and repair a handsome, healthy skin. But without a daily smidgeon of vitamin C the skin will get a miserable disease called scurvy. Traces of vitamin C are present in the fruits and fresh vegetables on the daily diet.
Vitamin A is needed to convert food into strong bones and teeth, to build and repair cells and to ensure sharp eyesight. Andy's young readers need this chemical for building strong bodies to last a lifetime. They eat it with their vegetables and dairy foods. Each vitamin is present in one or more of our foods. They have different roles from the basic fats, proteins and carbohydrates. But the body must have its traces of vitamins to put these bulky basics to the best use. For this reason we may say that vitamins are food. Traces of vitamins are necessary parts of the proper diet, and we certainly may call them food elements.
Some vitamins are fragile chemicals that tend to perish before the food items get to the table. Water soluble vitamins such as C and the assorted B vitamins may disappear from wilted greens or escape into the cooking water. Many diet experts suggest a daily capsule of assorted vitamins just to make sure that the body gets the daily quota it needs and deserves to perform its many miracles.