Vitamins in Your Diet - Do you need to Supplement?If you've taken the time to walk into a health shop and look at the vitamin supplements that are available, chances are you left with your head spinning. The range of choices is incredibly confusing. Plus you've probably been told that eating a nutritionally balanced meal three times a day should give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. For most of us, however, that just isn't realistic. We work, we have families, we have other commitments, sometimes we just want to have some fun - and planning and preparing a sensible menu for the week is not always possible. It's true, though, that you should never use vitamins instead of aiming for a good nutritional intake. Getting your vitamins and minerals from fresh foods is a much better option. A balanced diet with plenty of calcium, fats, proteins, carbohydrates and fiber, derived from a variety of different foods, is what you should be aiming for. But if you know that you're falling short sometimes, or perhaps have specific health concerns, then vitamin supplements may be a good choice for you to make. Nowadays lots of foods are enriched with extra vitamins and minerals. If you check the information on the packaging of breads, pastas and cereals, you will get an idea of the recommended daily allowance of the vitamins and minerals it contains, and how much of that daily allowance you're likely to get in one serving of that food. Take calcium as an example. Calcium is an extremely important mineral for women, both for good health today and to avoid osteoporosis later in life. It's generally recommended that women should consume 1200-1500 mcg of calcium daily. You need to get this from a variety of sources - most supplements only supply around 30-50% of this daily requirement. So you still need to eat cheese, yoghurt, milk and ice cream (my favorite!) to make sure you eat sufficient calcium daily. Vitamin D is another interesting example. It's possible to absorb Vitamin D through the skin by being out in the sun. That sounds easy, but it's not possible for everyone to spend the required amount of time outdoors every day. If you live a long way north, or perhaps in a climate where sunburn is a major issue, then you may find a Vitamin D supplement is beneficial. Of course, it's important for you to gain an understanding of exactly which vitamins and minerals your body needs, so that you can determine for yourself whether you need vitamin supplements, and if so, which ones. Take the time to read about how certain vitamin deficiencies affects your health, and the ways in which you can identify a possible deficiency. You can find a lot of useful information on the internet, but you can also check out your local health shop, consult a nutritionist or perhaps even a naturopath. Make the effort, because you'll feel much better once you do. |
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