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Vitamin Supplements
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Published: August 22, 2006
It's a grand bazaar when it comes to vitamin supplements these days.
There are individual vitamins; multivitamins geared toward the needs of men, women, children and senior citizens; vitamins with and without iron or other minerals; and the list goes on.
What, exactly, is a vitamin, and why is it important to your health?
A vitamin is a nutrient, an organic compound helping living things to maintain normal health and development. Vitamins occur naturally in foods and beverages.
For instance, Vitamin K, which helps blood clot, comes from leafy green vegetables like spinach.
Another vitamin, D, helps prevent rickets and is found in fish oil. It can also be formed inside the body when a person is exposed to sunshine.
Most of the time, a diet full of brightly colored plant foods, whole grains and meat or other protein sources should provide all the nutrients a person needs.
However, some people might need more because of special circumstances. This includes vegetarians, dieters, smokers, elderly people whose bodies do not process foods efficiently, women of childbearing age and "junk-food junkies."
These folks might benefit from taking vitamin supplements. But which ones, and how much?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) require dietary supplements to display nutritional values on their product labels. They must show the Percent Daily Value (%DV) of each nutrient contained in one serving. The Percent Daily Value is simply the percentage of the USDA's recommended daily allowance (RDA) of a nutrient. A product label showing the mineral zinc, for example, as having a Percent Daily Value of 150 percent means you are receiving one and a half the nutrient’s recommended dose. (An easy-to-read table listing the RDA for essential nutrients can be found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutritio n/AN00284.)
Some prominent nutrition writers feel supplements play an important role in maintaining good health. Jean Carper, whose "Eat Smart" column appears in the USA Weekend Sunday magazine, believes everyone should take a daily multivitamin supplement.
"It's impossible to be sure you get enough vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to ward off deficiencies, let alone enough for 'optimal" health,'" Carper says on her website, www.jeancarper.com. "Most Americans lack even the low recommended doses of basic nutrients, making them needlessly vulnerable to accelerated aging and chronic disease."
Dr. Andrew Weil has written extensively about nutrition and diet. In his book, “Eating Well for Optimum Health,” he recommends taking C, E and B-complex supplements daily. His reasoning is that the RDA bar was set too low for E, and that many Westerners do not maintain diets allowing them to consume enough C and B-complex vitamins.
Both Carper and Dr. Weil market dietary supplements under their own names; however, they urge readers to get as many nutrients as possible through food, and not to rely solely on supplements to meet all their nutritional needs.
Some people think that if a little is good, a lot more must be even better. That is not true when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Excess doses can damage the body.
Vitamin C, for instance, has been regarded as a kind of "wonder drug" ever since Dr. Linus Pauling recommended taking megadoses to thwart a cold. Because it is water-soluble (meaning it is broken down, stored in and eliminated from the body through water), people believed for years it was not possible for the body to store dangerous quantities.
However, Dr. Weil points out that newer studies show too much Vitamin C can cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Ever get an upset stomach after drinking a lot of orange juice? It might be your body's way of telling you it cannot process any more C at the time.
Fat-soluble vitamins like A and D are stored in and eliminated through fat – and most of us know how hard it is to rid fat from our bodies! Too much Vitamin D, for example, can damage the liver, which has fatty tissue.
Your best course of action is to read the labels on all dietary supplement packages. Keep yourself up-to-date on the latest developments and recommendations. Newspapers, websites and magazines often report the results of clinical tests involving vitamins and minerals in an easy-to-understand fashion. Then ask your doctor for advice on taking supplements. You might even find that your doctor takes them himself and can speak from first-hand experience.
There are individual vitamins; multivitamins geared toward the needs of men, women, children and senior citizens; vitamins with and without iron or other minerals; and the list goes on.
What, exactly, is a vitamin, and why is it important to your health?
A vitamin is a nutrient, an organic compound helping living things to maintain normal health and development. Vitamins occur naturally in foods and beverages.
For instance, Vitamin K, which helps blood clot, comes from leafy green vegetables like spinach.
Another vitamin, D, helps prevent rickets and is found in fish oil. It can also be formed inside the body when a person is exposed to sunshine.
Most of the time, a diet full of brightly colored plant foods, whole grains and meat or other protein sources should provide all the nutrients a person needs.
However, some people might need more because of special circumstances. This includes vegetarians, dieters, smokers, elderly people whose bodies do not process foods efficiently, women of childbearing age and "junk-food junkies."
These folks might benefit from taking vitamin supplements. But which ones, and how much?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) require dietary supplements to display nutritional values on their product labels. They must show the Percent Daily Value (%DV) of each nutrient contained in one serving. The Percent Daily Value is simply the percentage of the USDA's recommended daily allowance (RDA) of a nutrient. A product label showing the mineral zinc, for example, as having a Percent Daily Value of 150 percent means you are receiving one and a half the nutrient’s recommended dose. (An easy-to-read table listing the RDA for essential nutrients can be found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutritio n/AN00284.)
Some prominent nutrition writers feel supplements play an important role in maintaining good health. Jean Carper, whose "Eat Smart" column appears in the USA Weekend Sunday magazine, believes everyone should take a daily multivitamin supplement.
"It's impossible to be sure you get enough vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to ward off deficiencies, let alone enough for 'optimal" health,'" Carper says on her website, www.jeancarper.com. "Most Americans lack even the low recommended doses of basic nutrients, making them needlessly vulnerable to accelerated aging and chronic disease."
Dr. Andrew Weil has written extensively about nutrition and diet. In his book, “Eating Well for Optimum Health,” he recommends taking C, E and B-complex supplements daily. His reasoning is that the RDA bar was set too low for E, and that many Westerners do not maintain diets allowing them to consume enough C and B-complex vitamins.
Both Carper and Dr. Weil market dietary supplements under their own names; however, they urge readers to get as many nutrients as possible through food, and not to rely solely on supplements to meet all their nutritional needs.
Some people think that if a little is good, a lot more must be even better. That is not true when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Excess doses can damage the body.
Vitamin C, for instance, has been regarded as a kind of "wonder drug" ever since Dr. Linus Pauling recommended taking megadoses to thwart a cold. Because it is water-soluble (meaning it is broken down, stored in and eliminated from the body through water), people believed for years it was not possible for the body to store dangerous quantities.
However, Dr. Weil points out that newer studies show too much Vitamin C can cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Ever get an upset stomach after drinking a lot of orange juice? It might be your body's way of telling you it cannot process any more C at the time.
Fat-soluble vitamins like A and D are stored in and eliminated through fat – and most of us know how hard it is to rid fat from our bodies! Too much Vitamin D, for example, can damage the liver, which has fatty tissue.
Your best course of action is to read the labels on all dietary supplement packages. Keep yourself up-to-date on the latest developments and recommendations. Newspapers, websites and magazines often report the results of clinical tests involving vitamins and minerals in an easy-to-understand fashion. Then ask your doctor for advice on taking supplements. You might even find that your doctor takes them himself and can speak from first-hand experience.
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