Do I need a supplement? Supplements adorn the shelves of chemists and supermarkets. They pop up in advertisements across the spectrum. You can buy them online. There is a multitude of supplements available. But, do we really need them?

Supplements are not a replacement for food, and most cannot be ingested without food. They cannot be taken in place of a good diet, but their beneficial effects will be optimized if combined with a balanced intake of nutritious foods. The choice to take supplements is a personal choice. Information I found suggest supplements aren’t all they are made out to be and that there is debate over their effectiveness.

People suffering from chronic conditions or who smoke or drink regularly may need to take supplements to ensure optimum health. Micronutrients work in conjunction with one another, and taking large doses of any one supplement can upset the balance within the body.

A good vitamin and mineral supplement will ensure that you are getting the correct amounts of each, according to the relationships between them. Extra supplements should only be taken on the advice of a registered nutritionist or medical practitioner.

Where supplements are taken to discourage the course of illness—for example, vitamin C for colds or flu—it is safe to take larger doses than usual. Read the packet for further information.

Most supplements (view @ amazon) come in a variety of forms, to allow for individual needs. They are also prepared with different quantities of the active ingredients, so read the label carefully to ensure that you are getting the correct quantity for your needs.

While diet is the key to getting the best vitamins and minerals, supplements can help. The key is to ensure they’re taken in addition to healthy diet choices and nutrient-dense foods. They’re supplements, not replacements. Only use supplements if your healthcare professional has recommended them.

Popping vitamins and mineral supplements might feel virtuous, but it actually carries surprisingly few health benefits and could even do harm, according to some researchers.

Common supplements include vitamins, minerals and herbal products, also known as botanicals. People take these supplements to make sure they get enough essential nutrients and to maintain or improve their health.

You should be able to get most of the vitamins and minerals you need from your diet without having to take supplements.

WHICH SUPPLEMENT?

Powders

Many supplements come in powder form, which will usually
provide you with extra potency, with no binders or additives. This is useful for people with allergies, or those who find it difficult to swallow a tablet.

Powders are particularly useful for children—sprinkle a little powder in their breakfast juice, or stir it into some yogurt or dessert.

Capsules

Capsules are convenient to take and easy to keep. Fat-soluble vitamins are
normally taken in capsule form, but many contain vitamin and mineral powders which allow a higher potency. Garlic and evening primrose oil are commonly available as capsules, and the capsules can be broken apart and applied externally as necessary.

Liquids

Liquids are appropriate for people who have difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules. Many children’s formulas come in liquid form for easy administration.

Liquids can be mixed with food or stirred into drinks. Liquid supplements can also be applied externally.

Tablets

Tablets Many supplements come in tablet form and these are the most
practical for many people because they can be easily stored and they will keep for a long time. Check the label to see what is added to your tablets in the form of binders or fillers, which are added to preserve or bulk out the active ingredient.

Chelated

Supplements work in different ways, and you will need to understand some of the key words that appear on the labels in order to choose which are most suitable for you.

Chelated is a term which appears on mineral supplements, and it means that the mineral is combined with amino acids to make assimilation more efficient.

Most nutritionists recommend taking chelated minerals because they are 3 to 5 times more effective.

Time Release Formulas

Time-release formulas are created with a process that allows them to be
released into the body over an 8–10-hour period. These are particularly useful for water-soluble vitamins, any excess of which is excreted within 2 or 3 hours of taking the supplement. Time-release formulas are reputed to provide stable blood levels during the day and night.

So why do so many people take supplements if the health benefits are negligible or nonexistent for the average, healthy person? “People often think of them as something extra they can do to be sure their basic nutritional needs are covered,” says Dr. Manson. There’s also a possible placebo effect to taking supplements, she adds. “People feel healthier if they do something they believe makes them healthy.”

health.harvard.edu

The message here is that supplements prescribed by a doctor are helpful for people with certain medical issues. Otherwise, it’s best to get your vitamins and minerals from food and not a pill.

Big Business

Over-the-counter dietary supplements are big business — more than 90,000 products generate about $30 billion every year in the United States. Older adults make up a big part of these sales, too. A survey of almost 3,500 adults ages 60 and older published Oct. 1, 2017, in The Journal of Nutrition found that 70% use a daily supplement (either a multivitamin or individual vitamin or mineral), 54% take one or two supplements, and 29% take four or more.

Health Benefits

Even though supplements are popular, there is limited evidence that they offer any significant health benefits.

There are many misconceptions about vitamins and the health benefits they offer. Vitamins play an important role in keeping the body healthy.

Vitamin supplements are frequently misused and taken without professional advice. They are often used as a form of medicine to treat ailments such as colds, or to counteract lifestyle issues such as stress. Contrary to popular belief, vitamins aren’t drugs or miracle cures. They are organic compounds that participate in various metabolic functions.

Proper balance and adequate levels of essential nutrients is important for a range of complex processes in our body. When vitamins are taken as supplements, they are introduced into the body at levels that could never be achieved by eating even the healthiest of diets.

Instant Fix

Simply taking a vitamin pill is not an instant fix for feeling run down or lacking in energy. It is the combination of a whole range of compounds (most of which we probably don’t even know about) in plant foods that gives us the protection. When you artificially remove one of them and provide it completely out of context, it may not be as effective and, in the case of some vitamins, can have negative effects.

Many people mistakenly believe that since small amounts of vitamins are good for you, then large amounts must be better. In the case of vitamins, it is better to follow the rule of ‘less is more’.

Vitamin Deficiency

A vitamin deficiency takes weeks or months before it will affect your health. For instance, it would take months of no vitamin C before you developed scurvy. An occasional lapse in good eating will not harm you, if your usual diet consists of a wide variety of fresh foods.

Many people think that vitamin C helps prevent the common cold. Despite exhaustive research across the world, there is still no strong evidence to prove this.

In developed countries like Australia, vitamin deficiency is rare, but the inadequate intake of some vitamins is not so rare and has been linked to a number of chronic diseases. There is ongoing research to study the effects of taking vitamin supplements to prevent chronic disease, and evidence around nutrition and diet is constantly changing.

Miracle Cure

Vitamins are not drugs or miracle cures. Vitamin supplements can’t replace a healthy diet, but a general multivitamin may help if your diet is inadequate.

This leaves me sitting on the fence. But I’ll save some money and just buy real food and leave the supplements to others. Like, subscribe, comment.