Recommended Intake

• Males ≥ 19 years: 900 ug/day
• Females ≥ 19 years: 700 ug/day

What's Vitamin A for?

• Vital for vision, particularly night vision
• Repairs tissue and bone
• Involved in reproduction and fetal development
• Helps the immune system to fight off infections from bacteria and viruses

Best Food sources

• Whole eggs, milk products, beef liver
• Non-fat and low-fat dairy products. They are fortified with vitamin A to replace what is lost in fat removal
• Dark greens and rich yellow / orange fruit and vegetables, especially carrots, cantaloupes and sweet potatoes

• Vitamin C, Ascorbic Acid

Recommended Intake

What's Vitamin C for?

• Protects against the harmful effects of free radicals (an antioxidant)
• Assists in the formation of collagen, which is important for the health of blood vessels and gums, development of bones and teeth, and wound healing
• Helps resist infection, preventing and treating the common cold
• Has been found to decrease risk of cancer, heart disease, cataracts, and other diseases

Best Food sources

• Fruit and vegetables. Particularly excellent sources are red bell peppers, kiwi, oranges, broccoli, strawberries, tomato juice, watermelon, potatoes, bananas, and carrots

• Vitamin D, Calciferol, Cholecalciferol

Recommended Intake

• Males and females 19-50 yrs: 5 ug/day (200 IU/day)
• Males and females 51-70 yrs: 10 ug/day (400 IU/day)
• Males and females > 70 yrs: 15 ug/day (600 IU/day)

Note: these intakes assume no vitamin D is being synthesized in the body from sunlight

What's Vitamin D for?

• Maintains levels of calcium and phosphorous in the body, thus assisting in bone and teeth formation
• Prevents bone deformation diseases, such as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults
• Assists in immune function, cell growth, and fetal development
• Lately, it has been shown to lower cancer risk

Best Food sources

• Synthesized in the skin upon exposure to the UV rays in sunlight
• Fatty fish sources, such as cod liver oil, salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel
• Milk and some breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamin D
• Egg yolk, beef liver, swiss cheese

• Vitamin E, Tocopherol, Alpha-tocopherol

Recommended Intake

• Males and females ≥ 19 years: 15 mg/day

What's Vitamin E for?

• Acts as an antioxidant, scavenging for free radicals that can damage cells and contribute to cardiovascular disease and cancer
• Contributes to immune function and DNA repair

Best Food sources

• Vegetables oils (such as those in salad dressings and margarine), especially wheat germ oil
• Fortified cereals
• Green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and whole grains

• Vitamin K

Recommended Intake

• Males ≥ 19 years: 120 ug/day
• Females ≥ 19 years: 90 ug/day

What's Vitamin K for?

• Plays an important role in blood clotting, thereby preventing hemorrhagic disease
• Involved in the synthesis of bone proteins

Best Food sources

• Main sources are green leafy vegetables, cabbage, and beef liver
• Found to a lesser extent in milk, eggs, meats, cereals, and other fruits and vegetables

• Thiamin, Thiamine, Vitamin B1

Recommended Intake

• Males ≥ 19 years: 1.2 mg/day
• Females ≥ 19 years: 1.1 mg/day

What's Thiamin for?

• Involved in obtaining energy from carbohydrates
• Assists in nervous system, heart, and muscle function
• Regulates appetite

Best Food sources

• Occurs in many foods in small amounts, but is not found in refined foods
• Particularly abundant in pork, seafood, pinto beans, wheat germ, whole and enriched grains, potatoes, tomato juice, watermelon, and oranges

Recommended Intake

What's Riboflavin for?

Best Food sources

• Niacin, Nicotinic Acid, Nicotinamide / Niacinamide

Recommended Intake

• Males ≥ 19 years: 16 mg/day
• Females ≥ 19 years: 14 mg/day

Note: Niacin can be made in the body from tryptophan (an amino acid), thus the recommended intake for niacin assumes that some niacin will be obtained from tryptophan

What's Niacin for?

• Releases energy from carbohydrates, protein, and fat in food
• Involved in the maintenance of mucous membranes, skin, and the gastrointestinal tract
• Assists in nerve function and blood circulation
• Regulates appetite
• Prevents pellagra, a disease that causes diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia, and even death

Best Food sources

• Because niacin can be made from tryptophan, which is found in protein, any diet high in protein will not likely be lacking in niacin
• Niacin is found in meat, liver, poultry, fish, beans, nuts, whole and enriched grains, peas, mushrooms, asparagus, and leafy green vegetables

• Vitamin B6, pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine

Recommended Intake

• Males 19-50 years: 1.3 mg/day
• Males 51+ years: 1.7 mg/day
• Females 19-50 years: 1.3 mg/day
• Females 51+ years: 1.5 mg/day

What's Vitamin B6 for?

• Part of carbohydrate and protein metabolism
• Assists in the formation of the vitamin niacin from tryptophan
• Involved in immune and nervous system function
• Prevents anemia by playing a part in iron transport and metabolism
• Maintains normal blood sugar levels
• Maintains normal homocysteine levels, thereby reducing risk of heart disease

Best Food sources

• Meats, fish, poultry, beans, eggs, potatoes, some fruits and vegetables like watermelon and bananas

• Vitamin B12, Cyanocobalamin, Cobalamin

Recommended Intake

Because 10 to 30% of older people may malabsorb food-bound B12, it is advisable for those older than 50 years to meet their recommendation mainly by consuming foods fortified with B12 or a supplement containing B12.

What's Vitamin B12 for?

Best Food sources

• Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and milk products
• Found in vitamin B12 fortified foods, such as breakfast cereals

• Pantothenic Acid, Pantothenate, Vitamin B5

Recommended Intake

• Males & Females ≥ 19 years: 5 mg/day

What's Pantothenic Acid for?

• Helps convert food into energy as part of Coenzyme A (CoA)
• Involved in vitamin utilization
• Assists in nerve function

Best Food sources

• Found in most animal and plant foods, such as beef, poultry, whole grains, legumes, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes

• Biotin

Recommended Intake

• Males and Females ≥ 19 years: 30 ug/day

What's Biotin for?

• Involved in the release of energy from carbohydrates, fat, and protein
• Assists in fatty acid synthesis
• Essential in gluconeogenesis, the breakdown of protein for energy during starvation
• Part of B vitamin utilization

Best Food sources

• Very widespread in foods
• Particularly abundant in egg yolk, meat, fish, soybeans, dairy, whole grains, and dark green vegetables
• Synthesized in the GI tract by intestinal microorganisms, but not enough to be the sole source

• Choline

Recommended Intake

• Males ≥ 19 years: 550 mg/day
• Females ≥ 19 years: 425 mg/day

What's Choline for?

• Structural component of the phosphatidylcholine, which is essential for the structure of cell membranes
• Involved in the production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter
• Serves as a precursor for betaine, which may be useful in preventing cardiovascular disease

Best Food sources

• Dairy, eggs, peanuts, soya, liver, cauliflower, iceberg lettuce

• Folate, Folic Acid, Folacin, Pteroylglutamic Acid (PGA)

Recommended Intake

• Males & Females ≥ 19 years: 400 ug/day

Note: It is recommended that all women of child-bearing ages consume 400 ug from supplements or fortified foods in addition to intake of food folate from a balanced diet.

What's Folate for?

• Part of an enzyme complex that assists in releasing energy from food
• Reduces risk of brain and spinal cord damage during first weeks of pregnancy
• Helps ensure proper cell division and red blood cell formation occurs
• Involved in converting vitamin B12 to its metabolically active form
• Defends against anemia and cancer

Best Food sources

• Leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits and fruit juices, dried beans and peas, poultry, enriched grain products