Copyright ©
Donovan BaldwinI am sure you sometimes wonder if you need to take vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements for your health? If you do, which vitamins or minerals should you take?
Most of us are willing to concede there probably is a necessity of having a good balance of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in our daily diet for good health. However, many of us still wonder if it is necessary to use vitamin pills and other dietary supplements to do this.
Can't we get enough of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients we need from our daily diet?
I guess I could concede that a few of us might be in good enough health not to need additional vitamins, minerals, and other dietary supplements, but SHOULD YOU FALL INTO ONE OF THE GROUPS BELOW, you might want to consider adding at least a daily multivitamin supplement to your diet.
By the way, while I DO recommend
natural health supplements, I understand that it is often easier to pop into WalMart and pick up a bottle of Centrum, and I would rather have you at least do that much for your health than insist on only natural health supplements.
Anyway, here's who might want to consider taking a daily multivitamin at least:
1. If you are a woman: Women are very often deficient in such minerals as magnesium, folic acid, zinc, calcium, and in quite a few cases, iron. If you are pregnant or using birth control, you may require additional vitamin or mineral supplements for good health.
2. If you diet for weight loss or follow a fairly limited diet or restricted nutritional regimen for any reason: Important vitamins and minerals are scattered widely across a very broad range of nutritional options (i.e. foods). If you are limiting your intake by volume or by type of food, you are quite likely also limiting your intake of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients vital to your health.
3. If you eat the normal American diet (now common worldwide): Actually, the normal American diet is not very normal at all, nor is it good for your health! It is, however, terribly lacking in the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, hormones, and other nutritional elements a healthy body needs to remain that way. Additionally, if your diet does contain all of these foods in optimal quantities, you are probably eating way too much food and getting too many calories - Catch 22, my friend!
4. If you smoke or drink alcohol regularly: Smoking and excessive drinking (roughly more than two drinks a day - which can be GOOD for you), depletes certain vitamins and other nutrients from the body or diminishes the body's ability to make use of them.
5. If you are one of the many already NOT in good health, physically or mentally: Your body may not be very good at processing the vitamins, minerals, etc. that your are providing in your diet. Also, the EXTRA vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients you provide with supplements may have a positive affect on the condition.
It goes without saying that an appropriate supplementation program, whether natural health supplements or artificial, MIGHT HAVE PREVENTED or lessened the impact of the health problem in the first place!
9. If you, like most of us, eat a lot of junk food or it tends to be a major part of your diet: Once again, you are almost certainly NOT getting the dietary balance of vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional elements necessary for good health. Sadly, many of the constituents of these types of food, particularly refined sugar, actually may leach vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients from your body, or prevent the effective use, tranport, or absorption of these nutrients.
10. If, as with so many people, you cannot afford a steady diet of the foods that you DO realize are most valuable to your health: A simple multivitamn pill costs only a few cents a day! Without changing another single fact of your life, the simple act of taking one can contribute significantly to your health and well-being.
11. If you are over 65 years of age (some would say "over 40"): You have specific deficiencies and needs, as well as a possible array of health problems. Odds are good (or bad) that you are lacking in B-12, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, folic acid, zinc, Vitamin C, and other vitamins and minerals.
As our bodies age (I'm 64, so I can talk), they become less efficient at processing nutrients of all types, so even if your typical diet contains all the nutrients you need, your body is probably not getting the complete benefit from them. I mentioned some possible deficiencies above.
Let's look at only one -
Vitamin D deficiency - as this is very common in folks over 65. This vitamin deficiency may contribute to some forms of cancer (including breast and colon cancer), muscular weakness, joint pain, and the well published one - osteoporosis.
Again, a daily multivitamin can go a long way towards promoting health in the years both before and after age 65.
OKAY, WHO'S LEFT!
12. If you are male, under 65, in excellent mental and physical health, exercise regularly, have a nutritionally rich and diverse diet, do not smoke or drink, and are NOT QUITE CERTAIN that YOUR DIET contains all the vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional elements necessary for good health: You STILL MIGHT want to tilt the odds in your favor with a good daily multivitamin supplement.
EVERYBODY ELSE DOESN'T NEED TO WORRY!
Your health is probably fine. You don't need to supplement your present diet with vitamins and minerals.
About The Author:----------
Donovan Baldwin is a freelance writer presently living in central Texas. A University Of West Florida alumnus (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has blogs on the subjects of
weight loss and health,
hybrid cars and alternative fuels, and
internet marketing and related business topics.
----------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact, icluding links and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
Natural Health Supplements
Labels: minerals, natural health supplements, shaklee, vitamins