Fat Fat provides energy and certain polyunsaturated fatty acids that the body needs but cannot make, which are called essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are needed for the formation of cell membranes. They are also the precursors of inflammatory mediators, such as linolenic acid, becoming eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, and linoleic acid becoming arachidonic acid. Vitamin A facilitates production of carotene, which stimulates protein synthesis in epithelial tissues and results in appropriate cellular differentiation in growth and maintenance of cellular integrity and efficient epithelialization. Vitamin A also reverses the inhibitory effects of corticosteroids on the inflammatory phase of wound repair.
Vitamin D is essential to the proper regulation of calcium and phosphorous levels.
It is needed for the proper development and repair of bone. Vitamin E is an antioxidant and protects lipid components of cell-membranes from oxidation. Although often topically used by surgeons to minimize scar formation, definitive research and proof linking vitamin E to wound healing is lacking. Vitamin K helps regulate the synthesis of coagulation factors II, VII, IX, and X at the ribosomal level in the liver and is also a calcium-binding protein required in bone metabolism. The water soluble vitamins, vitamin C and the B-complex of vitamins, are not stored or synthesized by the body, so they require a daily dietary intake.