Good Reasons Why You May Need Vitamin Supplements

Good Reasons Why You May Need Vitamin Supplements

Many people believe that eating a balanced diet provides all the vitamins and minerals needed for good health. Under ideal circumstances, this is the case, but there are actually a number of reasons why you might need vitamin supplements to live in a twentieth century environment. Taking vitamins when needed is a safe way to optimize your dietary sources of nutrients, provided you follow the directions on the product label.

Good Reasons Why You May Need Vitamin Supplements

1. Poor Digestion

Even when your food is good, inefficient digestion can limit the consumption of the vitamin by your body. Some common causes of impaired digestion include not chewing too much and eating too fast. Both of these result in a larger than normal food particle size, which is too large to allow full action of the digestive enzymes. Many people with dentures do not chew as efficiently as people with a full set of original teeth.

2. Hot Coffee, Tea and Spices

Drinking very hot liquids or consuming excessive amounts such as coffee, tea or pickles and spices can cause inflammation of the digestive tract, resulting in reduced secretion of digestive fluids and reduced clearance of vitamins and minerals from food. She goes. ,

3. Wine

Drinking too much alcohol damages the liver and pancreas which are important for digestion and metabolism. It can also damage the lining of the intestinal tract and adversely affect the absorption of nutrients, leading to sub-clinical malnutrition. Regular heavy use of alcohol increases the body's need for B-group vitamins, particularly thiamin, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid and vitamins B12, A and C, as well as the minerals zinc, magnesium and calcium. Alcohol affects nutrient availability, absorption and metabolism.

4. Smoking

Smoking too much tobacco is also an irritant to the digestive system and increases metabolic requirements for vitamin C, all else being equal, well above the normal needs of non-smokers and less than 30 milligrams per cigarette. Vitamin C, which is commonly present in foods such as pawpaw, oranges and bell peppers, oxidizes rapidly after these fruits are cut, juiced, cooked, or stored in direct sunlight or near heat. Vitamin C is important for immune function.

5. Laxatives

Overuse of laxatives can lead to poor absorption of vitamins and minerals from food, by speeding up the time of intestinal transit. Paraffin and other mineral oils increase the loss of fat-soluble vitamins A, E and K. Other laxatives used in excess can cause a significant loss of minerals such as potassium, sodium and magnesium.

6. Fad Diet

A bizarre diet that misses an entire group of foods can lead to serious vitamin deficiencies. Even the popular low-fat diet, if taken to extremes, can lead to deficiencies in vitamins A, D and E. Vegetarian diets, which can exclude meat and other animal sources, must be planned very efficiently to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency, which can lead to anemia.

7. Overcooking

Prolonged cooking or heating of meat and vegetables can lead to oxidation and destruction of heat sensitive vitamins such as B-groups, C and E. Boiling vegetables destroys the water-soluble vitamins B-group and C as well as many minerals. It is better to take light steam. Some vitamins, such as vitamin B6, can be destroyed by radiation from a microwave.

8. Food Processing

Freezing vitamin E-rich food after it has been defrosted can significantly reduce its levels. Vitamin E-rich foods exposed to heat and air can go rancid. Many common sources of vitamin E, such as breads and oils nowadays, are highly processed, causing the amount of vitamin E to be significantly reduced or missing altogether, which prolongs storage life but reduces nutrient levels. does. Can do. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that defensively prevents oxidative damage to all tissues. Other vitamin losses from food processing include vitamins B1 and C.

9. Convenience Foods

A diet highly dependent on highly refined carbohydrates, such as sugar, white flour and white rice, places greater demands on additional sources of B-group vitamins to process these carbohydrates. An unbalanced diet contributes to conditions such as irritability, lethargy and sleep disorders.

10. Antibiotics

Some antibiotics, although valuable in fighting infection, also kill friendly bacteria in the gut, which would normally be producing B-group vitamins to be absorbed through the intestinal walls. Such deficiencies can result in a variety of nerve conditions, so supplementation with B-group vitamins may be advised over a long course of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

11. Food Allergies

Removal of entire food groups from the diet, as in the case of individuals allergic to gluten or lactose, can result in the loss of important dietary sources of nutrients such as thiamine, riboflavin or calcium.

12. Loss of Crop Nutrients

Some agricultural soils lack trace elements. Decades of intensive agriculture can lead to overwork and depletion of soil unless all soil nutrients, including trace elements, are replaced regularly. This means that food crops may be deficient in nutrients due to poor soil management. US A government survey found levels of essential minerals in crops to drop by 68 percent over a four-year period in the 1970s.

13. Accidents and Illness

Burning leads to the loss of essential trace nutrients such as proteins and vitamins and minerals. Surgery increases the need for zinc, vitamin E and other nutrients involved in cellular repair mechanisms. The repair of broken bones will be slowed by an insufficient supply of calcium and vitamin C and conversely will be enhanced by a complete dietary supply. The challenge of infection places high demands on the nutritional resources of zinc, magnesium and vitamins B5, B6 and zinc.

Why You May Need Vitamin Supplements

14. Stress

Chemical, physical and emotional stress can increase the body's requirements for vitamins B2, B5, B6 and C. Air pollution increases vitamin E requirements.

15. P.M.T ( premenstrual tension )

Research has shown that 60 percent of women suffering from premenstrual tension such as headache, irritability, bloating, breast tenderness, lethargy and depression can benefit from a vitamin B6 supplement.

16. Teenagers

Rapid growth in adolescence, especially in girls, places high demands on nutritional resources underpinning the accelerated physical, biochemical and emotional development in this age group. Data from the USA Ten State Nutrition Survey (covering a total of 24,000 households and 86,000 individuals in 1968–70) showed that 30–50 percent of adolescents aged 12–16 met more than two-thirds of the recommended daily average for vitamins. Consumed less food. A, C, calcium and iron.

17. Pregnant Women

Pregnancy creates above-average nutritional demands to ensure healthy growth of the baby and comfortable confinement for the mother. The nutrients that need growth during pregnancy are the B-groups, especially B1, B2, B3, B6, folic acid and B12, A, D, E and the minerals calcium, iron. , magnesium, zinc and phosphorus.

Ten state nutrition surveys in the United States in 1968–70 showed that 80 percent of pregnant women surveyed had dietary intakes of less than two-thirds of the recommended daily allowance. Professional evaluation of nutrient requirements should be sought during pregnancy.

18. Oral Contraception

Oral contraceptives may reduce the absorption of folic acid and increase the need for vitamin B6, and possibly vitamin C, zinc and riboflavin. Around 22 per cent of Australian women aged 15-44 are believed to be on the "pill" at some point.

19. Light eaters

Some people eat very little even without a weight loss goal. American dietary surveys have shown that an average woman maintains her weight at 7,560 kilojoules per day, the level at which her diet is likely to be low in thiamine, calcium and iron.

20. Elderly

The elderly have been shown to have lower intakes of vitamins and minerals, especially iron, calcium and zinc. Folic acid deficiency is often found along with vitamin C deficiency. Fiber intake is often low. Riboflavin (B2) and pyridoxine (B6) deficiencies have also been observed. Possible causes include impaired sense of taste and smell, reduced secretion of digestive enzymes, chronic illness and, perhaps, physical impairment.

21. Lack of sunlight

Invalid, shift workers and people who have minimal exposure to sunlight may suffer from insufficient amounts of vitamin D, which is essential for calcium metabolism, without which rickets and osteoporosis (thinning of the bone) are seen. has gone. Ultraviolet light induces the formation of vitamin D in the skin. It is blocked by clouds, fog, mist, smoke, ordinary window panes, curtains and clothing. The maximum recommended daily supplemental intake of vitamin D is 400 IU. Is.

22. Bio-personality

Wide fluctuations in individual nutrient requirements from the official recommended average vitamin and mineral intake are common, particularly in occupations with high physical demands, such as athletics and manual labor, taking into account body weight and body type. Protein intake affects the requirement for vitamin B6 and vitamin B is associated with 1 kJ intake.

23. Low Body Reserve

Although the body is able to store stores of certain vitamins such as A and E, Canadian autopsy data showed that up to thirty percent of the population have vitamin A stores so low that it could be considered "at risk". Is. Vitamin A is important for healthy skin and mucous membranes (including the sinuses and lungs) and eyesight.

24. Athlete

Athletes consume large amounts of food and experience considerable stress. These factors specifically affect their needs for B-group vitamins, vitamin C and iron. For example, tests on Australian Olympic athletes and A-grade football players have shown widespread vitamin deficiencies.

 

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