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Water Soluble v. Fat Soluble Vitamins: What's the Difference?

Water Soluble v. Fat Soluble Vitamins: What's the Difference?

Published by Wonder Laboratories on Feb 21st 2019


When the doctor says, Make sure to get your vitamins, did you know that statement isn't nearly as generic as it sounds? In fact, there are precisely thirteen vitamins that everybody needs. Not twelve. Not fourteen. Thirteen. Having a primary or secondary vitamin deficiency in any of these thirteen could, over time, lead to serious health consequences.

13 Vitamins: Water Soluble & Fat Soluble

These thirteen vitamins can be placed into two broad categories: water soluble and fat soluble. Water and fat describe where the vitamins dissolve. Water soluble vitamins are not actually stored by the body. They are consumed via food or supplement and then excreted via urine. As such, these vitamins must be replaced daily. (There is one exception to this rule: vitamin B-12 is water soluble, but can be stored in the liver.) Fat soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and the body's fat. If you consume a greater quantity of a fat soluble vitamins than you need, your body will store away the surplus for you. In some people, the body is able to store adequate amounts of certain fat soluble vitamins for months. Because these vitamins are stored, you don't have to consume them every day in food or supplement form. (That being said, daily recommended values still exist for fat soluble vitamins.)

The 9 Water Soluble Vitamins

Let's start with fan favorite, vitamin C…

The 4 Fat Soluble Vitamins

And don't forget the four fat soluble vitamins!

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