Online Class Notes (Jesse)

Nutritional immunology professors explain that natural vitamins cannot work alone and must work in conjunction with other vitamins or nutrients. If too much or too little of any individual vitamin is taken, the absorbtion of other vitamins or nutrients may be decreased or adversely affected. As the proportion of vitamin to nutrients in vitamin supplements may be different from natural vitamin sources, the effect may not be equal. Some professors claim that “natural is superior to artificial”. Besides this, there may be some physiologically active ingredients in fruit that we are unaware of, with oxidation assistance of natural food recently becoming an important topic of research in several countries. Findings show that some fruits and vegetables have strong oxidation resistance, including garlic, carrots, oranges, persimmon, and kiwi fruit, all of which contain high levels of SOD enzyme that has anti-aging properties.

To sum up, fruit must make up an important part of our daily diet and is indispensable as a source of vitamins and nutrients. For most of us, vitamin suppliments are definitely not able to replace fruit and vegetables entirely. Besides, having too many vitamin suppliments may have some side effects, with some of them being quite serious. For example, in the case of vitamin D which can lead to the calcification of soft tissue, and do harm to the renal and cardiovascular system. If Vitamin E intake is regularly too high, it may increase the risk of thrombosis. However, when immunocompromised vitamin absorbtion may be reduced and the body may need an increased intake of vitamins, in which case vitamin suppliments may be needed to restore or maintain balance. This may occur in patients following surgery, during fever, if heart disease is present, or in cases where renal or cardiovascular systems are compromised. For all patients, adding vitamin suppliments to a diet should be done under the guideance of a doctor or health practicioner.

Pronunciation

buffet – “buf fay”

Vocabulary

all you can eat – like a buffet but you order the food

allergy – guo ming