Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

Overview:

There are14 vitamins and 16 minerals our bodies require regularly to maintain good health. If there is one thing that may be magical for good health it is a proper balanced diet that includes these vitamins and minerals. They are essential to regulate our metabolism through enzyme systems. They boost the immune system, support growth and the development of cells and organs to insure they function normally. Vitamin and minerals supplement help balance our diets and maintain good health.

A single deficiency in vitamins and minerals can upset the whole body. Vitamins and minerals are not a substitute for food nor are they pep pills. Neither are they substitutes for the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats that our bodies require on a daily bases. Vitamins and minerals are the organic substances and chemical elements required to sustain life. Vitamins and minerals come from two sources, our diet or from taking supplements.

Generally people are aware that taking vitamin supplements could be good for our health. In choosing which vitamin and mineral supplements you may need requires good research as to how they work in concert with other nutrients to produce good health.   There's a huge range of choices and it's hard to make a decision as what to buy when you eat three balanced meals a day. But ask yourself “are you're already getting all the vitamins and minerals you require”? The problem is, most of us don't eat a healthy diet. We are a big junk food culture that results from having little time to think about, plan, and prepare proper meals. We are a people on the run, spending long hours at work and dealing with family commitments. For many adults this life style has become the norm with little thought about proper diet and health.

Good nutritional intake is always a better option than taking supplements. Fresh foods are full of vitamins and minerals, and they're easily absorbed into the body. Eating plenty of calcium, proteins, fats, fiber and carbohydrates from a variety of healthy foods is definitely the best option. But we don’t generally do that and for the most part the food we buy is either processed food or food harvested before being fully ripened and artificially colored. Processed food and early harvested foods lack most of the nutrients. In short, you can’t get all the nutrients your body needs simply from the food you eat. The nutrient stripped foods that we regularly consume have forced us to take some daily dose of vitamin supplements for sound health.    

Many foods are enhanced with extra vitamins and minerals such as breads, pastas and cereals. The containers they are packaged in contain nutritional information, including the recommended daily allowance of the various vitamins and minerals in the food, and what percentage of that is contained in a standard serving.

 A good example is calcium. Women need to make sure they get their recommended daily allowance of calcium, for good health now and to avoid osteoporosis in later life. Its recommended women consume between 1200-1500mcg of calcium each day. This should come from a variety of dairy products to including cheese, milk, yogurt, and ice cream. But if you actually consumed all these products in the quantities required for the proper amount of calcium intake you just might create a weight problem. Most calcium supplements contain approximately 30-50% of the daily requirement, so you do still need to get the rest from other foods.

Another example is Vitamin D. When you are directly in the sun you absorb Vitamin D though your skin but most of us don't spend enough time outdoors every day in direct sunlight. It can be difficult if you live in northern latitudes where days are very short during the winter season or in southern latitudes where damage from the sun's rays is a concern. If you are not getting the exposure to sunlight, a Vitamin D supplement is essential.

But it is not as simple as just buying a bunch of supplements off the shelf and hoping that they will do the job. You need to understand what vitamins and minerals your body needs, and determine whether or not you're likely to be getting sufficient amounts from your current diet. Research on what effect certain vitamin deficiencies can have on your health and identify possible deficiencies. There is lots of information available on the Internet and book stores. IF you believe you have a serious nutritional deficiency consult your family doctor or a nutritionist. Improving your intake of vitamins and minerals will be beneficial to your health.

The best book I have ever read on vitamins and minerals supplements is Dr.  Earl Mindell’s "Vitamin Bible”. He was one of the very first to do a comprehensive analysis of vitamin and mineral supplements and the balanced diet. His book is a fantastic story of his personal experience as a pharmacist and medical doctor. There are many copycats of this subject but without any doubt, he is the best.