Vitamin supplements can be an easy, relatively inexpensive way to ensure healthy eating and obtain possible long-term health benefits. Vitamins and minerals, particularly in a fast paced, work-based life, are easily neglected when lunches are more likely to come from a drive-thru than a garden. Supplements can be a simple and effective way of maintaining one’s daily recommendation of essential vitamins without having to interrupt one’s daily routine – a way to have your vitamins and eating your French fries, too. Self-education, though, is essential regarding vitamin supplements: the Food and Drug Association does not regulate anything labeled “herbal” or “supplemental”; therefore, it is up to you and your physician to make yourselves aware of any potential side effects or drug interactions the supplements may have on your health.
The three principal reasons people take vitamin supplements are; to make up for a perceived lack of essential vitamins in their diets, to increase the amounts of specific vitamins to enhance physical fitness or for bodybuilding purposes, and to prevent or ease the symptoms of an illness. Vitamin supplements can be beneficial to all three pursuits. Some of the more popular examples of helpful vitamin supplements include:
- Vitamin A: This is the one your parents told you about when you didn’t want to eat your carrots at dinner. Vitamin A, in food or in supplemental form, is essential to maintaining good eyesight. Along with many other vitamins, it also works as a supplement to other vitamins and minerals, enhancing their healthy effects and improving immune system function.
- Vitamin B12: This vitamin plays a large role in promoting a healthy circulatory system. Unfortunately, older individuals may lack the stomach acids necessary to digest the vitamin; and vegetarians, in not consuming animal products, are avoiding the primary source of the vitamin in most diets. B12 deficiencies can cause tingling sensations or numbness, fatigue, and even depression: for many, daily supplements can be a simple way of abating these negative effects.
- Vitamin C: A natural antioxidant, vitamin C has also been shown to be important in maintaining ocular health and lowering the risk of heart attack. Although the vitamin’s illness-combatant capacity is negligible, the human body tends to compromise its vitamin C resources in times of infection due to colds, viruses, or surgery: therefore a supplement may be advantageous during those times to avoid a vitamin deficiency.
- Vitamin D: This vitamin, along with vitamin C and calcium, plays an important role in maintaining bone health. Vitamin D supplements are frequently improve the health of post-menopausal women, seniors, and others at risk for osteoporosis, by preventing accelerated bone loss.
- Vitamin E: Along with vitamin C, vitamin E has been shown to be a powerful natural antioxidant. The benefits of antioxidants are numerous, but the most notable is the effect they have on your skin, keeping it healthy and young-looking. That’s why you always see lotions containing Vitamin E, although the vitamin is more effective when ingested. Potential supplemental benefits also include increased immune system strength and cardiovascular health.
Many other vitamins are available in supplemental form; and when combined, they can have their most optimal effect. To avoid taking upwards of half a dozen pills a day, you may want to consider taking a single daily multivitamin. These, along with individualized supplements, are readily available at many drugstores, health food stores, supermarkets, and through online distributors. Just remember to consult your physician to avoid any potential complications or overdosage which could result in a vitamin reaching toxing levels in your body.
By Rachel Campbell