Nutritional Supplementation

Eating a perfectly balanced diet of foods from the four basic food groups (grains, fruits/veggies, meats, and dairy) gives us all the nutrients we need.  Take a minute to think about what you ate over the past 24 hours.  Did you eat from each of the food groups?  Did you eat the correct number of servings of each?  I would guess that a large majority of you did not get the adequate amount of the nutrient-rich foods that our bodies need.  In our fast paced lives filled with convenience foods, we aren’t always eating as the food pyramid advises and instead, we are starving our bodies of much needed minerals and vitamins.  In light of this, we should consider the use of nutritional supplementation to fill in the gap of the nutrients we are missing on a daily basis. 

Do you get leg cramps at night?  Do your nails peel or split regularly?  Does your hair feel dry and brittle?  Do you have skin problems?  Are you forgetful? These are some signs that you may be lacking important vitamins.  I came across a website that I found useful in relation to this topic (it also has information on nutrition, weight loss and other related topics).  It asks you a series of questions and then suggests the best supplements for you. You can try it out for yourself by visiting: http://nutrition.about.com/library/healthydietquizparts/bl_women_supplem...

Be cautious when you get any information on the web, especially health-related information, to make sure it is from a credible source.  This site appears very thorough and credible, but I always suggest following up with your physician prior to making any significant changes in your diet or nutrition supplementation.  You may think taking a single vitamin is harmless, but it may be interfering with your medications or causing harm to you in another way.  For instance, fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) may accumulate in your body and cause toxicity.  You should know the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for these vitamins and be careful to not exceed them.         

On the other hand, the amount of vitamins you think you are getting from taking a vitamin may actually be less than what is listed on the bottle.  In many cases, vitamins are not fully digestible in the synthetic capsular form.  In general, better quality supplements yield greater absorption in your body. However, they are still not digested fully.  Nothing can fully replace what you get from eating healthy foods; all vitamin supplements are imperfect substitutes for the real thing.

So, aim at improving your diet first, but if your diet falls short on vitamins and minerals, look for high quality nutrition supplementation to fill the gap.