Vitamins are organic substances present in minute amounts in natural foodstuffs. Having too little of any particular vitamin may increase the risk of developing certain health issues.
Each organism has different vitamin requirements. For example, humans need to get vitamin C from their diets, while dogs can produce all the vitamin C that they need.
For humans, vitamin D is not available in large enough quantities in food. The human body synthesizes the vitamin when exposed to sunlight, and this is the best source of vitamin D.
Different vitamins play different roles in the body, and a person requires a different amount of each vitamin to stay healthy.