Vitamins are classified as either
fat soluble (vitamins A, D, E and K) or water soluble (vitamins B and
C). This difference between the two groups is very important. It
determines how each vitamin acts within the body. Fat soluble vitamins,
once they have been stored in tissues in the body, tend to remain there.
This means that if a person takes in too much of a fat soluble vitamin,
over time they can have too much of that vitamin present in their body,
a potentially dangerous condition called hypervitaminosis (literally,
too much vitamin in the body). Water-soluble vitamins, including
vitamins C and B, are excreted much more quickly than fat-soluble
vitamins, and they need to be replaced more frequently.
