Are Multivitamin Supplements Really Essential to Your Health?
Are multivitamin supplements really necessary? In fact, yes; that's especially true if your diet is deficient and doesn't provide adequate nutrition, because they'll fill in the nutritional gaps your diet doesn't provide. That doesn't mean you can eat unhealthily all the time and get away with it, but multivitamin supplements can give you nutritional support if your diet is less than optimal.
Multivitamin vitamin supplements include vitamins as well as minerals. The minerals included are important to everyday health, and many people can be deficient in them. They include magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc. Multivitamin supplements also contain many different vitamins, as listed below.
Vitamin A is found in many multivitamin supplements. Deficiency in vitamin A is uncommon unless you are elderly. It is vital for your immune system to function optimally, and it is sometimes taken to prevent bone loss and certain types of birth defects. But vitamin A should never be taken in large doses because it can be dangerous.
Beta-carotene is another supplement found in multivitamin supplements. It functions as an antioxidant and can also increase white blood cell count; it also boosts your immunity. Beta-carotene and vitamin A also are important to eye health.
Folic acid is especially important during pregnancy and is included in prenatal multivitamin supplements. Folic acid deficiencies can lead to low birth weight and an increased risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in babies.
B vitamins, too, are important to good health, and most are usually found in multivitamin supplements. Folic acid is among the B vitamins, with pyridoxine another. B12 and pyridoxine are important to control levels of homocysteine in the blood; high levels of homocysteine can cause strokes, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin B12 can also fight memory loss, anemia, and heart disease. Thiamine, or B1, is important for optimal brain function. Niacin, also called vitamin B3, helps prevent the disease pellagra. It's relatively rare to get pellagra, but this niacin-deficient disease can cause inflamed mucous membranes, scaly sores on the skin, mental confusion and diarrhea.
Vitamin C boosts the immune system and is an antioxidant, and also helps keep skin healthy; it also helps to heal wounds and prevent scar formation.
Vitamin D is necessary to properly absorb calcium, a mineral. If you're deficient in vitamin D, you can experience fractures, bone loss, and a disease called rickets, which can lead to extreme bone pain. The body can manufacture Vitamin D if you have enough sunlight exposure, but it's usually included in multivitamin supplements because it can be difficult to get. However, it's toxic in large doses, so be careful how much you take.
If you shop around, you can find multivitamin supplements that contain vitamin K. Deficiency in vitamin K can cause bleeding and leads to easy bruising and osteoporosis (brittle bones).
Vitamin K, vitamin D and calcium (a mineral) are found in many multivitamin supplements; calcium is necessary to build and maintain proper bone mass. If you consume enough calcium (along with vitamin D and vitamin K), you can reduce the risk of bone fracture once you get older.
Multivitamin supplements can provide more than 100% of the recommended daily allowance of some vitamins, but in most cases, it's not safe to consume very large amounts of any vitamin or mineral by itself. The levels included in multivitamins are usually safe, but if you take too many supplements in individual form and too much of them, extremely large doses could be unsafe.
Theoretically, your diet is supposed to be sufficient to provide 100% of your recommended daily allowance of the basic vitamins and minerals, but the person who eats a balanced diet with adequate vitamins and minerals every single day is rare in today's fast-paced world. There are many multivitamins available, and it may take some research to decide which kind is best for you. If you start taking a multivitamin supplement and experience any side effects, it is a good idea to stop taking them and see if the problem goes away. If so, you should ask your doctor to recommend a multivitamin supplement.
There are about a dozen different vitamins and minerals recognized as important for humans to consume. If you are shortchanged on any of them for a significant amount of time, you could begin to experience deficiency symptoms. And again, multivitamin supplements can prevent these types of deficiencies, but are still no substitute for a healthy diet and lifestyle, one that includes good nutritious food and exercise, too. - 17268
Multivitamin vitamin supplements include vitamins as well as minerals. The minerals included are important to everyday health, and many people can be deficient in them. They include magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc. Multivitamin supplements also contain many different vitamins, as listed below.
Vitamin A is found in many multivitamin supplements. Deficiency in vitamin A is uncommon unless you are elderly. It is vital for your immune system to function optimally, and it is sometimes taken to prevent bone loss and certain types of birth defects. But vitamin A should never be taken in large doses because it can be dangerous.
Beta-carotene is another supplement found in multivitamin supplements. It functions as an antioxidant and can also increase white blood cell count; it also boosts your immunity. Beta-carotene and vitamin A also are important to eye health.
Folic acid is especially important during pregnancy and is included in prenatal multivitamin supplements. Folic acid deficiencies can lead to low birth weight and an increased risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in babies.
B vitamins, too, are important to good health, and most are usually found in multivitamin supplements. Folic acid is among the B vitamins, with pyridoxine another. B12 and pyridoxine are important to control levels of homocysteine in the blood; high levels of homocysteine can cause strokes, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin B12 can also fight memory loss, anemia, and heart disease. Thiamine, or B1, is important for optimal brain function. Niacin, also called vitamin B3, helps prevent the disease pellagra. It's relatively rare to get pellagra, but this niacin-deficient disease can cause inflamed mucous membranes, scaly sores on the skin, mental confusion and diarrhea.
Vitamin C boosts the immune system and is an antioxidant, and also helps keep skin healthy; it also helps to heal wounds and prevent scar formation.
Vitamin D is necessary to properly absorb calcium, a mineral. If you're deficient in vitamin D, you can experience fractures, bone loss, and a disease called rickets, which can lead to extreme bone pain. The body can manufacture Vitamin D if you have enough sunlight exposure, but it's usually included in multivitamin supplements because it can be difficult to get. However, it's toxic in large doses, so be careful how much you take.
If you shop around, you can find multivitamin supplements that contain vitamin K. Deficiency in vitamin K can cause bleeding and leads to easy bruising and osteoporosis (brittle bones).
Vitamin K, vitamin D and calcium (a mineral) are found in many multivitamin supplements; calcium is necessary to build and maintain proper bone mass. If you consume enough calcium (along with vitamin D and vitamin K), you can reduce the risk of bone fracture once you get older.
Multivitamin supplements can provide more than 100% of the recommended daily allowance of some vitamins, but in most cases, it's not safe to consume very large amounts of any vitamin or mineral by itself. The levels included in multivitamins are usually safe, but if you take too many supplements in individual form and too much of them, extremely large doses could be unsafe.
Theoretically, your diet is supposed to be sufficient to provide 100% of your recommended daily allowance of the basic vitamins and minerals, but the person who eats a balanced diet with adequate vitamins and minerals every single day is rare in today's fast-paced world. There are many multivitamins available, and it may take some research to decide which kind is best for you. If you start taking a multivitamin supplement and experience any side effects, it is a good idea to stop taking them and see if the problem goes away. If so, you should ask your doctor to recommend a multivitamin supplement.
There are about a dozen different vitamins and minerals recognized as important for humans to consume. If you are shortchanged on any of them for a significant amount of time, you could begin to experience deficiency symptoms. And again, multivitamin supplements can prevent these types of deficiencies, but are still no substitute for a healthy diet and lifestyle, one that includes good nutritious food and exercise, too. - 17268
About the Author:
Taking multivitamin supplements over a period of time will enhance your body's general health condition. Visit www.discount-vitamins-and-supplements.com for a huge collection of multivitamin supplements products available at your fingertips.
posted by X - Men at
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