What are vitamins?
Vitamins are organic compounds. They take part in the biochemical reactions happening inside the body, and matter for staying healthy.
How are they different from mineral salts?
Mineral salts are inorganic — single elements. Vitamins are organic — molecules containing carbon. But they share something: both are needed only in very small amounts, and both produce deficiency symptoms when missing.
Divided into two groups
Vitamins can be separated into two groups by their solubility in water.
Water-soluble
B · C
They dissolve in water, so they are not stored — the excess leaves in urine and they must be taken in regularly.
Not water-soluble
A · D · E · K
They do not dissolve in water but do dissolve in fat, so they can be stored in the body's fatty tissue.
A way to remember
The fat-soluble ones are A, D, E, K — four letters. The remaining two, B and C, dissolve in water.