Are There Any Reasons to Take a Multi-Vitamin?
Why is it that obtaining optimum health is so confusing? Everyday you’ll read conflicting information about all sorts of health products and diets. The same goes for vitamins. It’s fairly safe to say that a daily multi-vitamin will help prevent symptoms of vitamin or mineral deficiencies.
With so many tasks to fit into every day life, it can be difficult to make sure that our diet is full of all the nutrients necessary to our health. Also, the thought of preparing a meal from scratch after a hard day’s work means that many people eat out at restaurants and fast food outlets instead. While convenient, the truth is that people are losing control of what they eat. Restaurant food offers portion sizes that are often double and even triple what they should be. Preparation methods generally involve using artery-clogging oils, and other saturated fats.
But eating out isn’t the only problem. Stress wreaks havoc on the body, and often works to diminish whatever nutritional value people are getting from their food. It’s difficult to escape stress, and eating on the run, and eating at odd times during the day. Plus, be honest, just how often do you skip meals because you’re just “too busy”?
Nutritionally-void foods, stress, insufficient exercise, and generally poor eating habits spell disaster when it comes to eating a balanced diet. Yet these are the very reasons why so many people are choosing to supplement their diets with multivitamins.
If the above scenario sounds like the way you live your life, there’s a good chance you’ll benefit from a daily multivitamin supplement. It’s usually not necessary to first consult with a doctor. If your health overall is good, and you’re not taking any medication, a multivitamin that meets recommended daily allowances will be sufficient.
What Happens to Excess Vitamins?
In general, over-supplementation isn’t much of a problem with water-soluble vitamins such as B and C. If your body experiences too much of these vitamins then they will be passed via your urine. It’s still a good idea to check what the symptoms of over-supplementation are, for instance vitamin C can cause diarrhea. Just look at these diarrhea statistics.
Fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A and D, are different in that the body will store excess amounts. But still, even at levels that are slightly higher than the recommended daily allowances, there shouldn’t be any adverse effects. Excessive consumption however is not advisable and may even trigger health complications.
Vitamins Are Found in Many Foods Already
As with many things in life, when taking a multivitamin supplement, moderation is key. Please be aware that a lot of the food you are eating already is probably supplemented with vitamins, cereals and orange juice for instance. As always, contact a doctor or nutritionist if you are at all unsure.
Once you have decided that a multivitamin supplement makes sense, the only thing left to do is go out and buy some. Multivitamin supplements are available in tablet or pill form and liquid form. I’ve also bought it in powder form which you’re supposed to mix in with a drink, unfortunately it made me want to GAG! With so many brands available, you may want to take time to read the labels or look for a familiar manufacturer. Select the form you’re more likely to take on a regular basis and you’ll be one step closer to having a healthy body!
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May 7th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I’m never sure whether to take a multi vitamin. I’m worried that we get too much and that they’re made from non-natural ingredients.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
And here was I thinking that the time where the doctors hated vitamins and claimed them all to be quackery was long gone.