How it all began - The “vitamine” Discovery.
Sherry Leach-Youberg
In 1912, scientists began trying to resolve the issues and discovered that food contained more than three nutrients. Originally, these were called “accessory substances” which later changed to the term “vitamine” (RD, 2012) on scientific papers, which then again changed to the word we all know today, the vitamin. Casimir Funk, credited for discovering vitamins, proposed the idea that various diseases could be cured if these nutrients were present in foods.
At the time, when poor hygiene meant diseases were thriving in food preparation and distribution. Many people started to “eat sanitized food”. (This was done by removing bacteria from the food before consuming it.) The continued sanitizing of food caused deficiencies of vitamins and nutrients to set in. The general public started getting sores and damaged nerves, and overall malaise was becoming a problem. Sterilizing milk destroyed vitamin C content, so scurvy became a common problem as well and this was just the start.
When the 20th century began, only three essential nutrients were recognized within food; protein, carbohydrates, and fat. In the 1920s, vitamin A and C sales surged as the public began to believe that if a supplement contained vitamins, it contained other miraculous chemical compounds as well. Ultimately, it was the chemists who isolated the various vitamins, deduced their chemical structure, and developed methods for the synthesis of vitamins. Our understanding of the vitamins continues to evolve from the initial period of discovery.
A timeline of essential vitamins:
1941: Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, D, calcium & iron.
1968: Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, D, calcium & iron, E, B6, and B12 & magnesium
Today: Vitamins A, B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine,) B7 (biotin), B9 (folic acid), B12 (cobalamin), C, D, E, K, choline, calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, potassium & chloride.
Between 2000 and 2017, retail sales of nutritional vitamins have more than doubled from $17 billion to over $36 billion. 52% of Americans state now that they take a form of dietary supplement,
The discovery of the vitamins.
Semba RD.Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2012 Oct;82(5):310-5. doi: 10.1024/0300-9831/a000124.
If you are interested in knowing which vitamins, minerals, or additional supplementations you missing in your essential nutrients for better health. Here’s to taking charge of your whole-body wellness.
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