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At Healthfully, we strive to deliver objective content that is accurate and up-to-date. Our team periodically reviews articles in order to ensure content quality. The sources cited below consist of evidence from peer-reviewed journals, prominent medical organizations, academic associations, and government data.
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin B6
- Linus Pauling Institute: Folate
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin B12
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin C
- Food and Nutrition Research: Vitamin K: The Effect on Health Beyond Coagulation -- An Overview
- Food and Nutrition Research: Vitamin K: The Effect on Health Beyond Coagulation -- An Overview
- Advances in Nutrition: Vitamin K and the Nervous System: An Overview of Its Actions
- Advances in Nutrition: Vitamin K and the Nervous System: An Overview of Its Actions
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Vitamins for Protein Synthesis
Your cells and tissues constantly synthesize new proteins in order to stay healthy and strong, and you rely on amino acids from the protein in your food to make them. Your cells also have the ability to produce some of their own amino acids. You need a variety of nutrients to make amino acids and proteins, including vitamin C, vitamin K and some of the B vitamins.
B Vitamins Produce Amino Acids
Several of the B vitamins must be present for your body to produce amino acids. After you consume vitamin B-6, it’s converted into an active form of B-6 called pyridoxal 5-phosphate, or PLP. PLP is then used to make more than 100 enzymes, including enzymes that help make amino acids.
Your body needs folate to synthesize the amino acids cysteine, serine, glycine and histidine. Folate and vitamin B-12 are both used to produce another vital amino acid called methionine, reports Linus Pauling Institute 123.
- Several of the B vitamins must be present for your body to produce amino acids.
- Folate and vitamin B-12 are both used to produce another vital amino acid called methionine, reports Linus Pauling Institute 1.
Vitamin C for Collagen
What Do Multivitamins Do for the Body?
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Vitamin C has a specific role because it participates in the synthesis of one protein -- collagen 4. Collagen also protects and supports organs and other soft tissues.
One of the amino acids used to build collagen -- hydroxyproline -- is only synthesized when vitamin C is available. Even though vitamin C has other roles in the body, symptoms of a deficiency are related to the loss of collagen. For example, you may bruise easily as blood vessels weaken or begin to experience joint pain due to loss of connective tissue.
- Vitamin C has a specific role because it participates in the synthesis of one protein -- collagen 4.
- Even though vitamin C has other roles in the body, symptoms of a deficiency are related to the loss of collagen.
Vitamin K-Dependent Proteins
Another vitamin with a specialized role in protein synthesis is vitamin K, which is essential for producing a group of proteins called Gla proteins, notes a 2012 report in Food and Nutrition Research. These proteins fill diverse roles.
Four of the Gla proteins prevent excessive bleeding by making blood clot. Some proteins from this family help ensure strong bones by regulating bone growth and preventing loss of minerals. Others stop calcium from accumulating in soft tissues, where it causes health problems such as hardening of the arteries.
Finally, vitamin K-dependent proteins are active in the central nervous system, where they help produce compounds essential for brain cell membranes and may promote the growth of neurons, according to a review in Advances in Nutrition in March 2012 8.
- Another vitamin with a specialized role in protein synthesis is vitamin K, which is essential for producing a group of proteins called Gla proteins, notes a 2012 report in Food and Nutrition Research.
Food Sources
Vitamins That Help Broken Bones
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Some of the best sources of folate are leafy greens, beans, citrus fruits and enriched grains, such as:
- bread
- pasta
- cereal
Oranges and other citrus fruits are also top sources of vitamin C, while green leafy veggies are rich in vitamin K. Vitamins C and K share other sources, such as
- tomatoes
- carrots
- strawberries
- bell peppers
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References
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin B6
- Linus Pauling Institute: Folate
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin B12
- RCSB Protein Data Bank: Collagen
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin C
- Food and Nutrition Research: Vitamin K: The Effect on Health Beyond Coagulation -- An Overview
- Bastyr University: Vitamin K
- Advances in Nutrition: Vitamin K and the Nervous System: An Overview of Its Actions
- Hoffman JR, Falvo MJ. Protein - which is best?. J Sports Sci Med. 2004;3(3):118-30.
- Tessari P, Lante A, Mosca G. Essential amino acids: Master regulators of nutrition and environmental footprint?. Sci Rep. 2016;6:26074. doi:10.1038/srep26074
- Marsh KA, Munn EA, Baines SK. Protein and vegetarian diets. Med J Aust. 2013;199(4 Suppl):S7-S10.
- Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. Sixth Edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2013.
- Smolin LA, Grosvenor, MB. Nutrition: Science and Applications. Third Edition. Wiley Publishing Company, 2013.
Writer Bio
Sandi Busch received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, then pursued training in nursing and nutrition. She taught families to plan and prepare special diets, worked as a therapeutic support specialist, and now writes about her favorite topics – nutrition, food, families and parenting – for hospitals and trade magazines.