Eli5: [ELI5] What qualifies a chemical or mineral as a “vitamin?” Are all vitamins good for you in proper dosages?
In: Biology
There’s no strict definition but it effectively means anything you need to ingest* for proper health / biochemical functioning that isn’t used for its calories. Vitamins are organic (carbon containing) small molecules that fit this definition, and minerals are elemental (zinc, iron, selenium, etc.).
All vitamins are good for you in correct doses and in fact necessary for proper health. Excess doses, especially of the fat soluble vitamins (A D E K) can be toxic, though.
*Vitamin D is the exception that you can synthesize it with sunlight.
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