Jamie Pope, Steven Nizielski, and Alison McCook

NUTRITION
for a Changing World
SECOND EDITION

Chapter 7
Fat-Soluble Vitamins

© 2022 by W. H. Freeman and Company & Scientific American

 • Identify the fat-soluble vitamins and their
primary functions
• Describe the properties of the fat-soluble
vitamins
• Identify excellent dietary sources of the
fat-soluble vitamins
• Demonstrate how the various forms of
vitamin A can be converted from one to
the other
Objectives • Describe the role of vitamin A in healthy
vision
• List sources of free radicals and describe
how antioxidants can block oxidative
damage
• Describe the role of vitamin D in blood
calcium regulation
• Explain how vitamin E works as an
antioxidant in the cell membrane
 Golden Rice

• Genetically
engineered to produce
beta-carotene, a
source of vitamin A
• Could reduce
blindness and
mortality of children
• Could improve the
health of pregnant
women
Global Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency
 • Organic compounds
• Micronutrients
• Essential nutrients
• Individual units
• Abundant in fruits
and vegetables
• Bioavailability
• Not a source of
energy

Vitamins
 Bioavailability and Solubility
• Bioavailability
– Degree to which nutrients can be absorbed and used
by the body
• Vitamins grouped according to solubility
– Ability to disperse or dissolve in water or lipids
• Fat-soluble
________________________________________
• Water-soluble
__________________________________
– Determines how they are absorbed and transported
– Affects where they are stored and the risk for toxicity
Functions of Fat-Soluble Vitamins
 Properties of
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
Vitamin A

• Retinoids
• Preformed = Already in active
form
• Carotenoids
• Provitamin (precursor), not in
active form
• ________________
Sources of Vitamin A
 • Vision
• Cell development
• Important to epithelial cells
Functions of which forms the skin and moist
mucous membranes
Vitamin A • Immune function
• Growth
• Bone health
• Reproduction
Vitamin A in Vision
Key component of rhodopsin
Free Radicals

• Naturally formed
through oxidation
• High levels can cause
disease
• Combat with
antioxidants
 Antioxidants

• Plant forms of
vitamin A
• Carotenoids
• Beta-carotene
Vitamin A
Deficiency

• Hypovitaminosis A
• Night blindness
• Permanent blindness
• Impaired immunity
• Rough, dry, or scaly
skin
• Keratinization
 • Hypervitaminosis A
– Can cause osteoporosis
– Comes mostly from supplements
• UL for adults is 3000 mcg RAE
• Pregnant women need to be cautious
– Can cause birth defects

Vitamin A – Animal foods and supplements

Toxicity
• __________________________________
• Beta-carotene can turn the skin yellow or
orange
Vitamin D
• “Sunshine vitamin”
• Made in the
skin
• ____________
____________
____________
• Lack of sun exposure
makes it essential to
consume vitamin D in
diet
• Activated in the
kidneys and liver
Sources of Vitamin D
 Functions of
Vitamin D

• Acts as a
_____________
• Helps bone growth
and maintenance
• Regulates calcium
• Regulates protein
synthesis
• Possibly regulates
cardiovascular
function
Vitamin D Activation
Calcitriol: Fully activated form from the kidney
Regulation of
Blood Calcium

• Calcitriol increases
absorption of
calcium in the
intestine
• Active vitamin D and
parathyroid hormone
decrease calcium
excretion by the
kidneys
Vitamin D
Deficiency
•Deficiency may increase risk of
several diseases:
• Rickets (___________)
• Osteomalacia (_________)
• Cancer
• Autoimmune disease
• Kidney disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease
 • Family of fat-soluble vitamins
• Tocopherols
• Only alpha-tocopherol reverses
deficiency
• Best dietary sources are plant oils
Vitamin E • Little evidence that vitamin E
supplementation reduces risk of
heart disease or cancer
– Other forms of vitamin E from
our diet may be protective
Sources of Vitamin E
Functions of Vitamin E
___________________________
Vitamin • Caused by high supplement intake

E • Increases tendency to bleed

• Vitamin E is less likely to be toxic
Toxicity than vitamins A or D.
Vitamin K No RDA, only AI

Leafy vegetables
are good dietary
sources
Sources of Vitamin K
Functions of Vitamin K

Blood clotting Bone metabolism

Needed for synthesis of protein for Modifies bone proteins
blood clotting
 Vitamin K Deficiency
Leads to hemorrhaging

Since the early 1960s, infants in the United States have received vitamin K at birth to reduce the risk of
hemorrhage because they have limited stores and lack the bacteria needed to produce vitamin K.
 • Vitamins are organic compounds (containing
both carbon–carbon and carbon–hydrogen
bonds) that are needed in small quantities for
very specific functions, such as the
maintenance of regulatory and metabolic
processes in the body.
• Inadequate or excessive intake of vitamins can
lead to deficiency or toxicity, with adverse
Summary health effects.
• The 14 known vitamins are classified by their
solubility, as either fat-soluble or water-soluble.
• Fat-soluble vitamins are transported in the
body via the lymph, and excess intake is
stored in fatty tissues and the liver, from which
fat-soluble vitamins are released when needed.
• The fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) have
diverse functions in the body.
 • The bioavailability, or the degree to which
nutrients can be absorbed and utilized by
the body, is influenced by many factors,
including physiological and dietary
conditions.
• Vitamin A serves many critical
biochemical and physiological functions in
the body related to vision, cell
development, reproduction, immune
Summary function, and growth, among others. The
carotenoids have antioxidant properties in
the body, which help protect cells from
damage caused by free radicals.
• Most vitamins are in their active form
(preformed) in foods. In other cases,
provitamins, which are inactive and
precursor forms of vitamins, must be
converted to fulfill biological functions in
the body.
 • Vitamin D functions as a hormone
in the body. Among other important
functions, it plays a key role in the
growth and maintenance of bone, in
part through its role in maintaining
calcium concentrations in the blood.
• Vitamin E comprises a group of
Summary compounds called tocopherols,
found primarily in nuts and
vegetable oils.
• Vitamin K is an essential nutrient
found in foods such as leafy
greens. It plays a key role in blood
clotting and bone metabolism.