The human body requires a variety of vitamins to function. A healthy diet provides most vitamins that people need. When diet alone doesn’t offer enough nutrients, taking vitamin supplements helps to fill in for dietary shortcomings. Because supplements are not standardized and regulated as stringently as pharmaceuticals, it can be difficult to determine the amount of a substance in a specific preparation and to know an acceptable dosage. Vitamin supplements may be measured in milligrams, micrograms or international units. Converting between these units can help clarify the amount of vitamin needed.