Are Food Supplements Necessary?
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When it comes to getting proper nutrition from your diet, you may be coming up short. You could be not eating enough foods to get the correct balance of vitamins, minerals, and other important compounds. Or you could be lacking in the right variety of healthy foods in your diet.
It could be of your choosing if, for instance, you are on a high-protein diet or some other form of restrictive eating. Or it could be completely out of your control, if a health condition keeps you from eating a balanced diet. Certain life conditions, such as old age or pregnancy, can also affect your nutritional needs.
Whatever the case, multivitamin and mineral supplements could be the food supplement answers to your dietary demands. They can give your body the nutrients that it cannot derive from the food you eat.
Picking the Right Pill
If this is the case for you, supplements are a blessing. As their name implies, these pills supplement, or add to, your nutrient intake from
You still need to eat as balanced a diet as possible, along with your supplements. Only food offers a mix of hundreds of healthy compounds in the same package. It’s important to try to get as many natural nutrients as possible. But where your diet leaves off, supplements finish.
When choosing the supplement to take, it’s nearly as important as choosing a medication. Vitamins and minerals are not candy. They are strong medicine that have side effects and possible risks of their own. So it’s important to take them correctly, and to take the right brand.
Start by label shopping. Usually a supermarket or pharmacy will offer several brands of multivitamins or individual mineral/vitamin supplements, so compare
Labels will tell you exactly what active ingredients a supplement contains and in what quantity. Specifically compare the serving sizes of different supplements, such as whether they come in capsules, teaspoonfuls, or packet.
In the case of supplements, bigger is not always better. Some vitamins and minerals have side effects if you take too big a dose, such as vitamin A and zinc. That’s why medical experts recommend avoiding megadoses, or supplements that supply more than 100 percent of a nutrient’s daily value.
Another good sign on a supplement label is the symbol “USP.” This means that the pill has met the standards of the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) for strength, purity, dissolution, and disintegration.
The Downside of a Label
Many vitamin companies will claim to offer a “natural” form of the supplement. Or they say their form of a vitamin is more easy for your
In many cases, these claims are just hooey. They are just an excuse for the company to charge more for their brand. And in most cases, the claims are not proven in a laboratory.
These expensive supplements, which are usually manmade, are the same usually as natural forms of the nutrient. Even supplements that contain so-called digestive enzymes and other additives don’t do much more for you either, besides empty your wallet quicker.
Often overlooked on the supplement’s label is also the expiration date. Especially in hot and moist weather, supplements age and lose their power over time. So like any medicinal product, supplements should have an expiration date. If they don’t, don’t buy it. If they’re past their due date, toss them.
To avoid having to throw yours old, store all of your supplement supply in a dry, cool location. Keep them out of the bathroom, which is like storing them in a tropical rainforest. If you have children, take the same care in storing them as you would cleaning products or your prescription medicine.
One Last Precaution
Vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements, and food supplements are powerful medicine. They can help your body overcome nutritional deficiencies and even disease. But this benefit has another side to it: they can
That’s why it’s important to double check with your doctor before taking any food supplement or even a multivitamin. He or she can decide whether you actually need them, and if you do, whether or not they will react with the medicines you already take.
For instance, did you know that vitamin E and vitamin K can interfere with your blood thinning medication? That vitamin B3 is a no-no is you have liver problems?
Probably not. But your doctor knows these things. So don’t supplement excitement of a new healthy you for good sense. Talk with your doctor before taking any new pills or packets.