Notes on Vitamins

Most people are simply unaware of what a vitamin is and its physiological importance.  

A vitamin is the short form of the term “Vital Amine” which was coined about the discoveries of organic compounds and proteins that contained amine groups, which were deemed VITAL for metabolism and health. 

What we think of today as vitamins are only a fraction of what was discovered and what is intended by the term. 

The term "vital amine" refers to a type of organic compound known as a vitamin. Vitamins are essential nutrients that are required for the proper functioning of our bodies.  "Vital amine" described the earliest discovered vitamins which were organic compounds containing an amine group.

They act as coenzymes, which means they assist enzymes in the creation of biochemical reactions within our body. The formation of red blood cells, digestive action, and the functioning of the nervous system are all dependent on the catalytic spark of vitamins.  

A catalyst is a compound that creates a reaction that wouldn’t occur without its addition.  Baking soda by itself is stable, but adding vinegar acts as a catalyst that drives a chemical reaction that causes a bubbling up chemical reaction. 

Without these vital amines present in your body, your metabolic processes can remain stagnant or dormant, waiting to be activated. 

Deficiencies in vitamins lead to various health problems, such as weakened immunity, anemia, and neurological complaints. Therefore, it is vital to maintain a diet that includes an adequate intake of vital amines or vitamins.

For a vitamin to be considered biologically active it must be in its whole complex.  It must have the proteins, methyl groups, cofactors, minerals and any other constituents to make it a readily available metabolic catalyst.     

In 1942 Dr. Royal Lee, my favorite nutrition pioneer, stated “Our diets are excessively rich in the ‘fuels’ necessary for good health, but lack the ‘spark’ in the form of vitamins and minerals necessary to properly utilize them.”  

We have no problems receiving the fats, carbs and proteins that are considered fuel substances. They are abundant in even the worst of food products.  However, without the catalytic spark of vitamins, trace minerals, and enzymes, the fuel can sit in our body and become stagnant.  It won’t nourish or drive the processes of good health. 

In refining foods, taking whole foods and processing or preparing them into something else, the material that is lost in preparation is so complex in its biological structure that it loses it’s catalytic function.  Dr. Lee says the organic nature of whole vitamin complexes is so biologically diverse that it defies artificial substitution.  

Most of the synthetic vitamin supplements that we purchase today are created in a laboratory and lack the biochemical diversity that makes them active catalysts.  Vitamins found in foods are complete and whole, almost behaving as a living organism unto itself.  These complexes are impressive in their potential for activating metabolism and making people feel healthy or vibrant again. 

Few synthetic compounds achieve this level of success. 

Overeating and cravings are themselves indicators of starvation.  Without the satisfaction of metabolic requirements, the body will continue to ask for food in the hopes the needs are met.  When a body is fed so that nutritional requirements are met, the appetite will naturally reduce and cravings will abate. 

Until we wake up to the fact that foods must be eaten whole to remain metabolically useful, people will continue to starve despite the frequency of their meals.