vitamin deficiency

CoQ is the only lipid-soluble antioxidant that is synthesized in our bodies. In humans ubiquinone-10 (CoQ10, containing 10 isoprenoid units) is the major form, whereas rats and mice predominantly make CoQ9. CoQ is present in all cellular membranes and in lipoproteins. Levels of CoQ10 in plasma are substantially less than those of vitamins E and C and vary greatly in tissues, where the concentrations of CoQ exceed those of vitamin E. Although the relative tissue distribution of CoQ varies by species, the highest concentrations are found in liver, heart, muscle, kidney, and brain. At the sub-cellular level, CoQ is found mainly in Golgi vesicles, which control protein traffic, the inner mitochondrial membrane, and lysosomes, where macromolecules are digested.

Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made tremendous progress in ensuring that women and children have access to essential vitamins and minerals ? easing the suffering of ?hidden hunger? which still leaves millions on the brink of survival. Micronutrient malnutrition is recognized as one of the most serious obstacles to human development and survival by the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and is at the forefront of WAHO's agenda, their commitment and support being critical to those nations which are grappling with competing priorities and scarce resources to address vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Magnesium: Few multivitamin supplements contain more than 100 mg.Because magnesium is plentiful in foods, eating a varied diet that provides green vegetables and whole grains daily should provide the rest of the RDA for magnesium (310-420 mg/day)..

Choline, a dietary component of many foods, is part of several major phospholipids (including phosphatidylcholine - also called lecithin) that are critical for normal membrane structure and function. The major precursor of betaine, it is used by the kidney to maintain water balance and by the liver as a source of methyl-groups for methionine formation. Also, choline is used to produce the important neurotransmitter acetylcholine. In the body choline is mainly found in phospholipids, such as lecithin (phosphatidylcholine) and sphingomyelin. The outer leaflet of plasma membrane is rich in these choline-phospholipids whereas the inner leaflet is dominated by phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylinositol. Phosphatidylcholine, the predominant phospholipid (>50%) in most mammalian membranes, not only contributes to the structure of the membrane bilayer, but products of receptor-mediated lecithin hydrolysis also serve as important second messengers in signal cascades that control cell growth

The term "vitamine" was first proposed in 1912 by the Polish chemist Casimir Funk, in his landmark paper on vitamin theory, which synthesized existing research and paved the way for developments in the field..