My Vitamin Doctor

Author: Editorial Committee of "Food Is the Best Doctor"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Vitamin is an indispensable nutrient for the human body. If the body lacks vitamins, it may suffer from various diseases. Because vitamins participate in the body's metabolism together with enzymes, they can effectively regulate the body's functions. How were vitamins discovered by humans? What price did humans pay in this process? In 1519, navigator Ferdinand Magellan led his fleet from the eastern coast of South America to sail across the Pacific. Three months later, a disaster suddenly struck, and many crew members developed a strange disease: they experienced diffuse bleeding all over their bodies, and many died without treatment. People could only watch helplessly as their companions perished at sea, with no effective solution. When the fleet reached its destination, only 35 out of over 200 crew members survived. The catastrophe faced by Magellan's fleet was later known as "scurvy," and by the mid-18th century, scurvy had claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of European sailors.
In 1747, British military physician James Lind, through experiments, concluded that fruits could treat scurvy. Therefore, he recommended that British sailors carry as many citrus fruits, lemons, and lemon juice as possible during their sea voyages. From then on, scurvy no longer broke out among long-distance fleets. The ordinary lemon, like a magic potion, helped people who crossed oceans escape the nightmare of scurvy.
In 1912, Polish scientist Casimir Funk, after countless experiments, finally extracted a white substance from rice bran that could treat beriberi. This substance was named by Funk as "vital amine," which was later shortened to "vitamin." Over time, more and more types of vitamins were discovered and recognized, forming a large family. For ease of memory, people arranged them in order, with vitamins numbered from A, B, C, D, all the way to L, P, U, and dozens of others. From the perspective of basic biochemistry, they are a class of organic compounds: present in very small amounts in the human body but with significant physiological effects. They cannot be synthesized in the body and must be supplied directly through food. If a certain vitamin is lacking in the diet, it invariably causes corresponding metabolic disorders and exhibits relatively specific clinical symptoms.
Many people have benefited from vitamins, and the story of sailors curing scurvy at sea is a prime example. In other words, the vitamins found in a simple fruit may be able to alleviate the diseases that cause you pain. In this book, we use a personified approach, comparing vitamins to doctors, and provide detailed explanations of the human conditions that vitamin doctors can treat and the pathological factors of these conditions to the readers. Additionally, after each condition, we list several dietary remedies corresponding to the condition and specify the types of vitamins they contain, which we believe will be helpful to your health.
Nature is a wonderful deity who has created a group of vitamin doctors with diverse abilities. We also need such a group, even if they are abstract. With their existence, we can still see the joy of spring even when we feel sorrow in winter. In today's world, where health preservation and wellness are highly valued, people often follow trends but forget health. We want to tell all those who love life that vitamin doctors are for everyone, but the body is yours. How well you protect it depends on your actions!