Water-Soluble

Vitamins

NUTR 295
Alicja Terzian, Ph.D.
George Mason University
 Agenda
• Definition and Classification of Vitamins
• Overview of water soluble vitamins
• Individual water soluble vitamins
(B vitamins & C)
– Functions
– Sources
– Requirements
– Deficiency
– Toxicity
 Definition and Classification of Vitamins
• Vitamin
Essential, noncaloric, organic nutrient needed in
tiny amounts in the diet
• Classes
– Fat-soluble
– Water-soluble

The fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E, and K.

The water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and the B
vitamins.
Vitamin precursors in foods are transformed
into active vitamins by the body.
 Water Soluble Vitamins
– Vitamin C
– B vitamins:
• Thiamin (B1)
• Riboflavin (B2)
• Niacin (B3)
• Panthothenic Acid (B5)
• Pyridoxine (B6)
• Biotin (B7)
• Folate (B9)
• Cobalamins (B12)
 Water Soluble Vitamins
• Absorbed directly into the bloodstream

• Do not require proteins for transport in the blood

• Are not stored in the body

• Excess EXCRETED by kidneys.

– Easier to develop deficiency than fat soluble vitamins (ADEK)
– Harder to develop toxicity than ADEK

• Easily destroyed/lost during food processing

The Vitamin C
 Vitamin C
• Roles
– Maintaining the connective tissues
• Participates in the synthesis of collagen (acts as a
cofactor of enzymes)
– Antioxidant – fights free radicals
– Protects iron from oxidation and promotes its
absorption
– Vital to immunity
• Does NOT cure any disease
• Cure the common cold? – not supported by research
 Vitamin C - Deficiency
– Scurvy causes general
weakness, anemia, bleeding
gum, skin hemorrhages,
bone pain, easy fractures,
Slow or no wound healing
– Smokers
• Decreased bioavailability
• More free radicals
– Very rare today, except
extreme cases of poverty,
people who smoke or have
low incomes continue to be
at risk for deficiency.
 Vitamin C Deficiency
SCURVY

Vitamin C deficiency causes the

breakdown of collagen, which
supports the teeth.

Small pinpoint hemorrhages

(red spots) appear in the skin
indicating that invisible internal
bleeding may also be occurring.
 Vitamin C - Toxicity
• Toxicity
– Very little storage capability
– Rare to see toxicity even with 1-2 grams (1,000-
2,000 mg) per day (high doses over longer period of time:
nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea; rashes; interference with medical
tests and drug therapies; in susceptible people, aggravation of gout or
kidney stones, abnormally high iron absorption, deposits in the liver)

– UL is 2 grams (2,000 mg)

– Vitamin C from food is always safe

 Vitamin C
Tower of Recommendations

Requirements (RDA)
Adult males: 90 mg/day
Adult females: 75 mg/day

1 cup OJ = 100 mg or more

The DRI Tolerable Upper Intake

Level for vitamin C is set at 2,000
mg (2 g)/day.

Only 10 mg/day prevents scurvy.

 Vitamin C
• Food sources
– Fruits and vegetables
• White potatoes
• Destruction of vitamin C
– Heat, oxygen, light
Minimizing Nutrient Losses
Vitamin C
The B Vitamins
 Water Soluble Vitamins
– B vitamins:
• Thiamin (B1)
• Riboflavin (B2)
• Niacin (B3)
• Panthothenic Acid (B5)
• Pyridoxine (B6)
• Biotin (B7)
• Folate (B9)
• Cobalamins (B12)
 The B Vitamins: Food Sources
• Grains: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folate
• Fruits and vegetables: folate
• Meat: thiamin, niacin, B6, B12
• Milk: riboflavin and B12
• Eggs: B12, B2, B5, folate, B1

• In general, eat a
balanced diet!!
 Interdependence of B Vitamins
• The presence of one B vitamin may affect
the absorption, metabolism and excretion
of another.

• A deficiency of one may affect the

functioning or deficiency of another.
 The B Vitamins in Unison
• Function as part of coenzymes
– Combines with enzyme to activate it
– Coenzyme shape
• Roles in metabolism
– Help the body to metabolize CHO, lipids and
amino acids and use them as a fuel
• Build new cells
 Coenzyme Action
A coenzyme_ a small molecule that combines with an enzyme and activates it.
 Some Roles of the B Vitamins in
Metabolism: Examples
The B vitamins work in every cell, and
this figure displays less than a
thousandth of what they actually do.
 The B Vitamins in Unison
• Deficiencies rarely occur alone, except beriberi
and pellagra
– Every cell is affected
– Common symptoms: glossitis and cheilosis,
muscle weakness, loss of appetite, nerve
degeneration, cardiac failure, confusion, severe
exhaustion, irritability, impaired immune response…
• Can occur within 10 days of thiamin-free diet
 Thiamin

• Plays a critical role in the energy metabolism

of all cells
• Important role in peripheral nerve conduction
• Occupies a site on nerve cell membranes
Deficiency:
- Beriberi
(wet with edema
and dry, without edema)
- Muscle weakness,
loss of appetite,
nerve degeneration,
cardiac failure, confusion
- Alcohol abuse (impaired
absorption of thiamin, increased excretion in
the urine)
Food Sources:
 Thiamin (B1)

DRI Recommended Intakes

Men: 1.2 mg/day

Women: 1.1 mg/day

Many foods supply small amounts of thiamin.

If your meals contain nutritious foods each day, you will

easily meet your thiamin needs.
 Thiamin

1 cup (195 g) of cooked long grain brown

rice = 0.8 mg B1
 Riboflavin (B2)

• Role: in energy metabolism of all cells,

important coenzyme in redox reactions
 Deficiencies
• Glossitis (the tonque smooth
and purplish) and cheilosis
(cracks at the corners of the
mouth)
• elderly people
• poor diet

Destruction of vitamin
• UV light
• Irradiation

Stable to heat, cooking does not destroy it

Riboflavin (B2) 1 hard boiled = egg 0.26 mg
 Niacin (B3)
Role:
• Participates in energy metabolism by
assisting other B vitamins in converting
carbohydrates to glucose and in metabolism
of fat

The amino acid tryptophan can be converted to niacin in the

body. A person eating adequate protein will not be deficient in
niacin.
 Niacin (B3)
Deficiency:
Pellagra
Symptoms: The 3 D’s
Diarrhea
Dementia
Dermatitis
(4th D: Death)

Occurs in alcoholism and rare

genetic disorders
 Niacin (B3)

Toxicity:
large doses of niacin cause liver injury,
digestive upset, impaired glucose tolerance.

- “Niacin flush” causes a dilation of the

capillaries of the skin with tingling
sensations
Niacin (B3)
 Folate (B9)

• Role: helps to synthesize DNA, amino acids – new

cells, its metabolism depends on the presence of
vitamin B12
Work together with vitamin B12 in producing red blood
cells
• Among all vitamins folate is most likely to interact
with medications lowering the body’s use of folate
(aspirin or antacids, oral contraceptives, anticonvulsant
medications, smoking)
 Deficiency of folate
common in pregnant women and alcoholics

Caused by diet low in folate, impaired absorption,

alcoholism, increased demand –pregnancy,
lactation
Outcomes of deficiency
• Megaloblastic anemia - large, immature red
blood cells – megaloblasts,
due to inhibition of
DNA synthesis during
red blood cell production
 Deficiency of folate

• Birth defects
– Neural tube defects (NTD)
symptoms: range from
slight problems in the spine to
mental retardation, severely
diminished brain size, and death
shortly after birth
– NTD arise in the first days or
weeks of pregnancy
 Deficiency of folate
• Neural tube defects (Spina Bifida)
• Folate supplements taken one month before
conception and continued through first trimester
can help prevent neural tube defects.
• Fortification
– Began 1990’s
– NTD’s have
dropped 25%
Incidence of Spina Bifida Before and
After Folate Fortification
 Folate
• Toxicity
– UL: 1,000 micrograms a day for adults; increased
risk of cancer
– High intakes can mask the blood symptom of a
vitamin B12 deficiency
• Recommendations
- healthy adults, all women of child-bearing age
0.4 milligrams per day
 Folate
Food sources of folate
- Leafy green vegetables such as spinach and turnip,
greens provide abundant folate, eggs

Destruction of folate:
the heat of cooking and the oxidation that occurs
during storage
 Amount
of
Serving Folate/Ser
Source Size ving DV %
Spinach 1 cup 263 mcg 65%

Collard 1 cup 177 mcg 44%

Greens

Turnip 1 cup 170 mcg 42%

Greens

Mustard 1 cup 103 mcg 26%

Greens

Romaine 1 cup 76 mcg 19%

Lettuce
Folate
 Vitamin B12 - Cobalamin
• Closely related to folate

• Role:
- helps to maintain and protect the sheaths around
nerve fibers
- necessary for folate metabolism
- necessary for maturation of erythrocytes
Vitamin B12 absorption

Intrinsic factor
Vitamin B12 requires stomach
acid (HCl) and intrinsic factor
to be absorbed.
 B12 - Deficiency

Deficiency caused by decreased or absent

intrinsic factor/ HCl
• Elderly (decreased production)
• Stomach / small intestine surgeries
• Prolonged use of antacid drugs (Nexium®,
Prilosec®, Pepcid®)
 Cobalamin (B12)
Deficiencies
– Pernicious anemia
(large, immature red
blood cells)
• Deficient intrinsic factor
• Alcoholism
• Elderly
– Nerve damage
 Vitamin B12

• Food sources
– Absolutely no plant source!!!
– It is synthesized by microorganisms
– Occurs only in animal products: eggs, meat,
poultry, milk, shellfish
– Fortified cereals
– Supplements
(Folate supplements can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency)
 Vitamin B12 - Storage
• B12 is the one water soluble vitamin that is
stored in liver! (4 – 5 mg)
• Deficiency can take up to 20 years of a B12
due to deficient diet OR deficient intrinsic
factor: B12 can not be absorbed
Vitamin B12
 Vitamin B6 - pyridoxine
• Roles
– Participates in over 100 reactions (particularly
amino acids)
– Additional roles
• Deficiency
– General symptoms: weakness,
depression, confusion, irritability,
insomnia.
Other symptoms include anemia, the greasy
dermatitis, weak immune response.
 Vitamin B6 - pyridoxine
• Toxicity: more than 2 grams/day for a few months: numb feet,
lost sensation in hands, unable to walk or work
• Intake recommendations: 1.3 mg/day
• Food sources: meats, fish, and poultry (protein-
rich foods); potatoes; leafy green vegetables;
and some fruits

Food sources of vitamin B6 are safe.

1 capsule of 2 grams of vitamin B6 =
3,000 bananas,
more than 1,600 servings of liver
more than 3,800 chicken breasts

Moral: Stick with food

Vitamin B6
 Biotin - B7 and
Pantothenic Acid - B5
• Important for energy metabolism
• Biotin
– Cofactor for enzymes in the metabolism of carbohydrate,
fat, and protein
– Gene expression (some research indicates that high-
dose biotin supplementation may damage DNA)
– No UL
• Pantothenic acid
– Key coenzyme participates in more than 100 steps in the
synthesis of lipids, neurotransmitters, steroid hormones,
and hemoglobin.
 Biotin - B7 and
Pantothenic Acid - B5
Deficiencies:
• Very rare, both vitamins are readily available in foods.

• A steady diet of raw egg whites, which contain a protein that

binds biotin, can produce biotin deficiency, but you would
have to consume more than two dozen raw egg whites daily
to produce the effect. Cooking eggs denatures the protein.

• Healthy people eating ordinary diets are not at risk for

deficiencies.