Vitamins are an essential part of our health. Although taking vitamins from natural dietary sources is the best option, sometimes consuming necessary vitamins through supplements becomes inevitable. Vitamin supplements have various combinations of essential vitamins that fulfill your vitamin and mineral requirements.
These supplements provide a lot of health benefits, but there are certain misconceptions associated with their intake. An overdose of vitamin supplements can also prove to be critically dangerous for health or even fatal.
If taken without medical advice, vitamin supplements are prone to be misused. People often take vitamins as medication to cure certain diseases such as a cold. Vitamin supplements should not be used as medicines as they aren’t the miracle cure people believe them to be.
Are Vitamin Supplements Safe For Consumption?
Many vitamin brands claim to use organic ingredients from all-natural sources. They also avoid chemical additives that are harmful to health. Vitamin supplements include metabolic organic compounds. Many reputable vitamin supplement brands like Gummies Garden, Nature made, Throne Research, Life Extension, are famous for producing gluten-free, GMO-free, and gelatin-free vitamin supplements.
Are Vitamin Supplements Alone The Answer To Balanced Nutrition?
Through the intake of vitamins, the consumer achieves proper levels of essential nutrients that are important for the body’s adequate functioning of innumerable systems. The body can achieve levels that are essential for complex processes.
But relying on vitamin supplements and ignoring the importance of a healthy diet is folly.
Are Vitamin And Minerals Supplements Effective Alone?
Vitamins alone cannot fulfill your requirements. They need companions that help them in being absorbed. These companions are easily found in natural sources of vitamins. Therefore taking a single vitamin supplement cannot help your body in achieving the desired result.
For example, provitamin A found in natural dietary sources also contains many carotenoid relatives. Vitamin supplements alone may not be as effective as they can be, along with the compounds found in food. Therefore, obtaining advice from a physician or a nutritionist is critically important.
The Recommended Dosage of Vitamins and Minerals
Where vitamins are concerned, people usually believe that they should be taken in ample amounts to gain maximum benefits as they are suitable for health. However, with vitamins, the rule of ‘less is more applies. It’s essential to limit the vitamin dosage and avoid an excessive overdose. It is a mistaken concept that the more vitamins you consume, the better it would be for your health and wellbeing.
Fat-Soluble And Water-Soluble Vitamins.
Some vitamins are fat-soluble, like vitamin A, vitamin D, E, and K are stored in the body. Taking them over a more extended period harms you unless a practicing nutritionist medically prescribed them. However, they can also cause deficiency as an expert medically diagnoses them.
A few water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B6 can cause various side effects, nerve damage being one of the most common when taken in large doses.
In most cases, the packaging of a supplement tells you how much percentage of the daily recommended dosage it provides. A healthy adult needs to take supplements according to the recommended dietary intake. It would be best if you did not take a higher dose than what is recommended to you as per your medical needs. However, if you have been recommended medical advice, you will take a higher amount than average.
When Does Taking Vitamin Supplements Become Inevitable?
People who eat a balanced diet usually do not require vitamin supplements or pills. On the other hand, there are some situations where taking a multivitamin at regular intervals becomes a must.
Osteoporosis is a common deficiency, and many people are at risk of developing it, usually in older adults. Vitamin D supplements can prove to be very beneficial for them. Different doses differ for different people. Take advice from your nutritionist before you decide which dose is best for you.
Not all adults need vitamin supplements to fulfill their bodies ‘ nutritional requirements. Then again, there are some of us who need multivitamins regularly. These include people with medical conditions or deficiencies, those who don’t have a healthy balanced diet, or even people with gut conditions like chronic diarrhea, Crohn’s disease, or gastric bypass surgery. These diseases often meddle with the absorption of vitamins from the food, and as a result, people need to take vitamin pills to fulfill their requirements. On top of that, multivitamin pills are also taken in by those on dialysis for kidney failure. Also, some adults who do not get enough exposure to sunlight may require vitamin D supplements.
In some cases, people take supplements because of a genetic condition or disease. For instance, a genetic disorder that stops the metabolism of B vitamins requires a high-dose vitamin B supplement to be taken daily.
