V I T A M I N S
Vitamins
play a very important role in human health. Overdosage of some vitamins may be
harmful, so people must take normal doses of vitamins.
When the winter
months come your food becomes poor of vitamins.
Winter is the time
for virus infections, colds and flu and your resistance is especially low. Take
vitamins A, D, C every day. They are often called “winter vitamins”.
Study
the table. Tell the group about the usefulness of vitamins and products they
are in.
Find English equivalents in the table
for:
Защитить зрение –
Укрепить
нервную систему –
Повысить
сопротивляемость инфекции –
Принимайте
ежедневно –
Улучшать
плохое кровообращение –
Лечение
варикозного расширения вен –
Answer the questions to the table.
1.
What do we take vitamin A for?
2.
Can vitamin A strengthen nervous system?
3.
How often must we take vitamin B?
4.
What does vitamin C give to human health?
Read some more information about
vitamins. What facts attracted your special attention? Why?
Vitamins and minerals are substances that are
found in foods we eat. Your body needs them to work properly, so you grow and
develop just like you should. When it comes to vitamins, each one has a special
role to play. For example:
Vitamin D in milk
helps your bones.
Vitamin A in
carrots helps you see at night.
Vitamin C in
oranges helps your body heal if you get a cut.
B vitamins in
whole grains help your body make energy from food.
Vitamins Hang Out in Water and Fat
There are two types of
vitamins: fat soluble and water soluble.
When you eat foods that
contain fat-soluble vitamins, the vitamins are stored in the fat tissues in
your body and in your liver. They wait around in your body fat until your body
needs them.
Fat-soluble vitamins are
happy to stay stored in your body for awhile — some stay for a few days, some
for up to 6 months! Then, when it's time for them to be used, special carriers
in your body take them to where they're needed. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are all
fat-soluble vitamins.
Water-soluble vitamins
are different. When you eat foods that have water-soluble vitamins, the
vitamins don't get stored as much in your body. Instead, they travel through
your bloodstream. Whatever your body doesn't use comes out when you urinate
(pee).
So these kinds of
vitamins need to be replaced often because they don't stick around! This crowd
of vitamins includes vitamin C and the big group of B vitamins - B1 (thiamin),
B2 (riboflavin), niacin, B6 (pyridoxine), folic acid, B12 (cobalamine), biotin,
and pantothenic acid.
This additional information will help
you to get ready with your presentation.
Vitamins Feed Your Needs
Your body is one powerful
machine, capable of doing all sorts of things by itself. But when it comes to
vitamins, it can use some help. That's where food comes in. Your body is able
to get the vitamins it needs from the foods you eat because different foods
contain different vitamins. The key is to eat different foods to get an
assortment of vitamins. Though some kids take a daily vitamin, most kids don't
need one if they're eating a variety of healthy foods.
Now, let's look more closely at
vitamins — from A to K:
Vitamin A
This vitamin plays a
really big part in eyesight. It's great for night vision, like when you're
trick-or-treating on Halloween. Vitamin A helps you see in color, too, from the
brightest yellow to the darkest purple. In addition, it helps your body fight
infections by boosting your immune system.
Which foods are rich in
vitamin A?
Milk fortified with
vitamin A, liver, orange fruits and vegetables (cantaloupe, carrots, sweet
potatoes), dark green leafy vegetables (kale, collards, spinach).
The B Vitamins
There's more than one B
vitamin. Here's the list: B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, biotin, and
pantothenic acid. Whew — that's quite a group!
The B vitamins are
important in metabolic activity - this means that they help make energy and set
it free when your body needs it. So the next time you're running to third base,
thank those B vitamins.
This group of vitamins is
also involved in making red blood cells, which
carry oxygen throughout your body. Every part of your body needs oxygen to work
properly, so these B vitamins have a really important job.
Which foods are rich in
vitamin B?
Whole grains (wheat
and oats), fish and seafood, poultry and meats, eggs, dairy products (milk and
yogurt), leafy green vegetables, beans and peas.
Vitamin C
This vitamin is important
for keeping body tissues, such as gums, bones, and blood vessels in good shape.
C is also key if you get a cut or wound because it helps you heal.
This vitamin also helps
your body resist infection. This means
that even though you can't always avoid getting sick, vitamin C makes it a
little harder for your body to become infected with an illness.
Which foods are rich in
vitamin C?
Citrus fruits (oranges),
cantaloupe, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, kiwi fruit, sweet red
peppers.
Vitamin D
No bones about it . . .
vitamin D is the vitamin you need for strong bones! It's also great for forming
strong teeth. Vitamin D even lends a hand to an important mineral — it helps
your body absorb the amount of calcium it needs. Vitamin D is made in the skin
when exposed to sunlight, or you can get it from the foods you eat.
Which foods are rich in
vitamin D?
Milk fortified with
vitamin D, fish, egg yolks, liver, fortified cereal.
Vitamin E
Everybody needs E. This
hard-working vitamin protects your cells and tissues from damage. It is also
important for the health of red blood cells.
Which foods are rich in
vitamin E?
Whole grains (as wheat
and oats), wheat germ, leafy green vegetables, vegetable oils (sunflower,
canola and olive), egg yolks, nuts and seeds.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K is the
clotmaster! Remember the last time you got a cut? Your blood did something
special called clotting. This is when certain cells in your blood act like glue
and stick together at the surface of the cut to help stop the bleeding.
Which foods are rich in
vitamin K?
Leafy green vegetables,
dairy products (milk and yogurt), broccoli, soybean oil.
When your
body gets this vitamin and the other ones it needs,
you'll be
feeling A-OK!
M I N E R A L S
Did you ever notice how TV commercials for breakfast cereal always
mention vitamins and minerals? But when you think of minerals, food
isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Aren't minerals something you find in
the earth, like iron and quartz?
Well, yes, but small amounts of some minerals are also in foods —
for instance, red meat, such as beef, is a good source of iron.
Just like vitamins, minerals help
your body grow, develop, and stay healthy. The body uses minerals to perform
many different functions — from building strong bones to transmitting nerve impulses. Some
minerals are even used to make hormones or maintain a normal heartbeat.
Macro and Trace
The two kinds of minerals are: macrominerals and trace
minerals. Macro means "large" in Greek (and your body needs larger
amounts of macrominerals than trace minerals). The macromineral group is made
up of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur.
A trace of something means that there is only a little of it. So
even though your body needs trace minerals, it needs just a tiny bit of each
one. Scientists aren't even sure how much of these minerals you need each day.
Trace minerals includes iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt,
fluoride, and selenium.
Let's take a closer look at some of the minerals you get from
food.
When people don't get
enough of important minerals, they can have health problems. For instance, too
little calcium — especially when you're a sportsman — can lead to weaker bones.
Some sportsmen may take mineral supplements, but most sportsmen don't need them
if they eat a nutritious diet. So eat minerals and stay healthy!
Calcium
Calcium is the top
macromineral when it comes to your bones. This mineral helps build strong
bones, so you can do everything from standing up straight to scoring that
winning goal. It also helps build strong, healthy teeth, for chomping on tasty food.
Which foods are rich in
calcium?
Dairy products (milk,
cheese, and yogurt), canned salmon and sardines with bones, leafy green
vegetables (broccoli), calcium-fortified foods (from orange juice to cereals
and crackers).
Iron
The body needs iron to
transport oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. Your entire body
needs oxygen to stay healthy and alive. Iron helps because it's important in
the formation of hemoglobin, which is the part of your red blood cells that
carries oxygen throughout the body.
Which foods are rich in
iron?
Meat (especially red
meat, such as beef), tuna and salmon, eggs, beans, baked potato with skins,
dried fruits (raisins), leafy green vegetables (broccoli), whole and enriched
grains (wheat or oats).
Potassium
Potassium keeps your
muscles and nervous system working properly. Your blood and body tissues, such
as muscles, contain
water. And potassium helps make sure the amount of water is just right between
cells and body fluids.
Which foods are rich in
potassium?
Bananas, tomatoes,
potatoes and sweet potatoes (with skins), green vegetables (spinach and
broccoli), citrus fruits (oranges), low-fat milk and yogurt; legumes (beans,
split peas, and lentils).
Zinc
Zinc helps your immune
system, which is your body's system for fighting off illnesses and infections. It also
helps with cell growth and helps heal wounds, such as cuts.
Which foods are rich in
zinc?
Beef, pork, and dark
meat chicken; nuts (cashews, almonds and peanuts); legumes (beans, split peas
and lentils).
Make up questions to the information
given in the text.
Fill in the table about minerals.
Mineral
|
Foods
|
Usefulness
|
Zink
|
|
-
helps immune system for fighting off illnesses and infections
-
helps with cell growth and helps heal wounds, such as cuts.
|
|
|
|
Read the text then make it in a form
of a dialogue (Direct Speech)
S U P P L E M E N T S
The last time I
went to the doctor for a checkup, she told me that I needed to start taking
some dietary supplements that had the vitamins and minerals that my body needed
to stay healthy. I told her that I ate a balanced diet, but she said that many
people who generally ate well still didn’t get the nutrients their bodies
needed every day, and that’s why she recommends taking a multivitamin. I
remember taking chewable vitamins when I was a kid, but as an adult, I never
thought I needed it. It wasn’t because I had any signs of deficiency, she said,
but that it was better to be safe than sorry.
I asked if it was
possible to overdosage on over-the-counter multivitamins, and she said that it
was highly unlikely if I followed the recommended dosage. She said that most
people’s bodies are able to tolerate and absorb the multivitamins without any
problems. As I get older, she said, it’s all the more important to take care of
myself.
She’s right, of
course. I shouldn’t neglect my health. I just wonder if I can find some of
those chewable vitamins in the shape of my favourite cartoon characters. I may
be an adult, but I don’t always have to act like one!
Read the article from a
Health Magazine. What are the most urgent problems raised in it? Discuss with
your partner. Be ready to report to the group.
Вы наверное на раз слышали, а то и сами говорили: - «И витамины
принимаю, и питание сбалансированное, а волосы стали ломкими и выпадают, кожа
потускнела, да и общее состояние не очень… Почему такое?!»
Витамины, безусловно,
играют очень важную роль в нормальном обмене
веществ, повышают активность, защищают от болезней, делают кожу
чистой и гладкой, ногти – крепкими, а волосы – блестящими.
Но избыток витаминов тоже может быть вреден для нашего
организма. Например, если в организме слишком много витамина С, это может способствовать
образованию камней в почках, вызвать расслабление желудка и появление
аллергической сыпи, Кроме того, избыток витамина
С препятствует усвоению витамина В6 и магния. Избыток витамина D может вызвать
хрупкость и ломкость костей. Появляется тошнота, головные боли. Избыточные дозы
витаминов А, D, Е, F сосредотачиваются в печени. При слишком большом содержании в
организме витамина А появляются головные
боли, а также возможны отравления, сопровождающиеся тошнотой.
Некоторые витамины усваиваются организмом лучше, если их
принимать в сочетании с другими витаминами или некоторыми минеральными
элементами. Например, витамин А действует наиболее эффективно, если его
принимать с витаминами группы В, D, Е - его действие усиливается такими
минеральными элементами, как кальций, фосфор, цинк. Витамины группы В хорошо
сочетаются с витамином С - его воздействие на организм человека
усиливает также сочетание с магнием. Витамин С лучше усваивается, если его
принимать с такими минеральными элементами, как кальций и магний. Витамин D хорошо
сочетается с витаминами А, С, а, также, с кальцием и фосфором.
Для того, чтобы получать максимальное количество витаминов
из пищи, нужно соблюдать нехитрые правила:
- покупайте
только свежие овощи и фрукты;
- храните фрукты
и овощи недолго и в темном холодном помещении;
- чистите овощи
непосредственно перед употреблением;
- варите
картофель в кожуре, и лучше всего на пару;
- мойте салат
только под проточной водой.
А самое главное, что вы должны знать:
- алкоголь
разрушает витамины А, группы В, а также калий, цинк, кальций, магний и железо;
- никотин
разрушает витамины А, С, Е и селен;
- кофеин
разрушает витамины группы В, РР, а также снижает содержание в организме
человека железа, калия, цинка, кальция;
- аспирин
уменьшает содержание витаминов группы В, С, А, а также кальция и калия;
- снотворные
средства затрудняют усвоение витаминов А, D, Е, В12, а также
существенно снижают уровень кальция;
- антибиотики
разрушают витамины группы В, а также железо, кальций, магний.
- мочегонные
средства выводят из организма витамины группы В, а также магний, цинк и
калий;
- слабительные
средства препятствуют усвоению витаминов А, D, Е.
Вот теперь внимательно отнеситесь к своему рациону питания и выбирайте, что для вас
важнее – чашечка кофе, сигарета или красивый цвет лица!
Watch a video. Look at the script.
Are the italicized words familiar to you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISZLTJH5lYg
HOW DO VITAMINS WORK?
Ginnie Trinh Nguyen
A, C, E, D, B, K.
Now, this isn’t some random, out of
order alphabet.
These are vitamins, and just like
letters build words, they are building blocks that keep the body running.
Vitamins are organic compounds
we need to ingest in small amounts to keep functioning.
They are the body’s builders, defenders
and maintenance workers, helping it to build muscle and bone, make use of
nutrients, capture and use energy and heal wounds.
If you need convincing about
vitamin value, just consider the plight of olden day sailors, who had no
access to vitamin-rich fresh produce.
They got scurvy.
But vitamin C, abundant in fruits and
vegetables, was the simple antidote to this disease.
While bacteria, fungi and
plants produce their own vitamins, our bodies can’t, so we have to get them
from other sources.
So how does the body get vitamins
from out there into here?
That’s depending on the form these
compounds take.
Vitamins come in two types:
lipid-soluble and water-soluble, and the difference between them determines
how the body transport and stores vitamins, and gets rid of the excess.
The water-solubles are vitamin C and
B Complex vitamins that are made up of eight different types that each do
something unique.
These are dissolved in the watery
parts of fruits, vegetables and grains, meaning their passage through the body
is relatively straightforward.
Once inside the system, these foods
are digested and the vitamins within them are taken up directly by bloodstream.
Because blood plasma is water-based,
water-soluble vitamins C and B have their transport cut out for them and can
move around freely within the body.
For lipid-soluble vitamins, dissolved
in fat and found in foods like diary, butter and oils, this trip into the blood
is a little more adventurous.
These vitamins make it through the
stomach and the intestine, where an acidic substance called bile
flows in from the liver, breaking up the fat and preparing it for absorption
through the intestinal wall.
Because fat-soluble vitamins can’t
make use of the blood’s watery nature, they need something else to move them
around, and that comes from proteins that attach to the vitamins and act like couriers,
transporting fat-solubles into the blood and around the body.
So, this difference between water- or
fat-soluble vitamins determines how they get into the blood, but also how
they’re stored or rejected from the body.
The system’s ability to circulate
water-soluble vitamins in the bloodstream so easily means that most of them can
be passed out equally easily via the kidneys.
Because of that, most water-soluble
vitamins need to be replenished on a daily basis through the food we
eat.
But fat-soluble vitamins have staying
power because they can be packed into the liver and in fat cells.
The body treats these parts like a pantry,
storing the vitamins there and rationing them out when needed, meaning we
shouldn’t overload on this type of vitamin because the body is generally
well stocked.
Once we figured the logistics of
transport and storage, the vitamins are left to do the work they came here to
do in the first place.
Some, like many of the B Complex
vitamins, make up coenzymes, whose job it is to help enzymes release the energy
from food.
Other B vitamins then help the body
to use that energy.
From vitamin C, you get the ability
to fight infection and make collagen, a kind of tissue that forms bones
and teeth and heals wounds.
Vitamin A helps make white blood
cells, key in the body’s defense, helps shape bones and improves vision by
keeping the cells of the eye in check.
Vitamin D gathers calcium and
phosphorus so we can make bones, and vitamin E works as an antioxidant, getting
rid of elements in the body that can damage cells.
Finally, from vitamin K, we score the
ability to clot blood, since it helps make the proteins that do this job.
Without this vitamin variety, humans
face deficiencies that cause a range of problems, like fatigue,
nerve damage, heart disorders, or diseases like rickets and scurvy.
On the other hand, too much of any
vitamin can cause toxicity in the body, so there goes the myth that loading
yourself with supplements is a great idea.
In reality, it’s all about getting
the balance right, and hitting that vitamin jackpot.
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