Fat Soluble Vitamins

Fat soluble vitamins mean that the vitamin cannot easily be dissolved in water, and is instead is processed by fat. Fat soluble vitamins are absorbed through the intestinal tract with the help of lipids. This also means that a certain amount of fat must be existent within the body for it to be able to correctly process fat soluble vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins only consist of four different vitamins. These include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, and vitamin E. As you can see, fat soluble vitamin C is not one on the list. Instead, vitamin C is actually a water soluble vitamin.

The difference in characteristics of the fat and the water soluble vitamins is not only that they are more easily absorbed in different ways, but also that they are found in different types of foods. All of the vitamins on the fat soluble vitamin list are vitamins that come from fattier foods. For example, vitamin D is commonly found in milk, and others are found in fish and liver oils. Storage of fat soluble vitamins in the body is not all the same, but vitamins A and D are both stored in the liver. While there is a requirement of a certain amount of vitamins A and D within the body for proper function, if you get too much of either it can potentially be harmful. It is a fine line with fat soluble vitamins. You definitely need a certain amount for the body to work right, and any amount over that will be stored within the body for later use. This happens so that, if for some reason, the body is later deprived of the fat soluble vitamins it needs, there will be enough to hold the body over until it begins ingesting them again. But, if there is extra already stored, and the body continues to ingest more and more of these fat soluble vitamins, problems can arise.

Typically, however, ingesting too many fat soluble vitamins does not occur as a result of eating too many foods with these vitamins. Instead, it is usually a result of people eating enough of the vitamins on a regular basis, and then ingesting vitamin supplements that contain additional amounts of these fat soluble vitamins. This is when the result can be an overdose of vitamins within the body, and the results can be just as bad as if there were a deficiency.