A vitamin is a chemical substance that is needed for a specific chemical reaction to happen in the body, but is not synthesized by the body, and therefore must be included in the diet. The nutritional requirements for standard function are generally relatively little. Most vitamins that are known today were discovered because their deficiency causes recognizable diseases. Examples are scurvy, due to a deficiency of vitamin C, which eventually motivated English sailors to carry limes onboard ship, and beriberi, caused by a deficiency of thiamin, or vitamin B1.
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