Vitamins are part of important processes throughout the body. For example, vitamins help release energy from food, help keep skin and nerves healthy, and help make red blood cells. Your body needs more than a dozen different vitamins to remain healthy. Vitamins are all different from each other, and one vitamin cannot substitute for another in the body.
Some vitamins have several different closely related forms that occur naturally in food.
Because vitamins can have various forms, you may see several different names for the same vitamin. This can be confusing when you are trying to choose a healthful diet. You may want to look at the vitamin table at the end of this report to help you recognize different names for vitamins. This table also will help you see the functions and good sources of each vitamin. The two major types of vitamins are fat soluble vitamins and water soluble vitamins.