Your body needs 13 vitamins to function: A, C, D, E, K and eight others in the vitamin B group. A varied diet is necessary for you to get all of them, because all foods don't contain every single vitamin in significant amounts. Vitamin A, for example, is vital for eye health and bone growth. It's abundant in orange vegetables, but virtually nonexistent in others. Butternut squash has 22,868 international units of vitamin A, for instance, while artichoke has only 16 international units. Learning about vitamins equips you to make informed decisions about your diet.
Step 1
Study the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's fact sheet on vitamins. The FDA is charged with not only protecting Americans' health by overseeing the safety of consumer products, but it is also responsible for providing the public health information that is based on scientific evidence. The fact sheet is available online. Besides explaining the basics of vitamins, it lists resources for you to consult to deepen your knowledge. See Resources for a link to the fact sheet's PDF.
Step 2
Read journal articles and books authored by dietitians and nutritionists. When the terms are used correctly, a dietitian is someone who has at least a four-year degree in nutrition and passed the registration exam given by the American Dietetic Association. A nutritionist has a master's degree in her field. With so much emphasis on eating healthy, your library is likely to have at least a couple of helpful books. Search the catalog using the filter "Subject." Type "vitamins" in the search box. Your reference librarian is also a useful resource for your research on vitamins, as she's familiar with the library's collection of reference material.
Step 3
Visit the Library of Congress online. The website has a service called "Ask a Librarian" and a button on its home page that links you to it. One of the features of this service is the "Live Chat." Between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays, a librarian takes your questions on the spot and researches the answer for you. "Live Chat" is available for different areas of the library. Your questions about vitamins would be best answered by the staff in the Digital Reference Section. See Resources for the link.
Step 4
Set up an appointment with a nutritionist or dietitian. Your health insurance plan might cover at least part of the visit if your doctor makes a referral. If you pay for the consultation in full, it could cost you $100 to $200, depending on where you live. Let the professional you're seeing know ahead that you're interested in finding out more about vitamins so she'll be prepared with information to give you. Write down your questions before the appointment to make the best use of the hour that you'll have with this person.
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