Poor work-life balance may lead to chronic stress, which can impact your mental health as well as your physical health. With stress level rising, people start looking for ways to boost their immune system and get proper nutrition. Even despite your best efforts to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, you may be falling short of the recommended daily amount of certain nutrients.
Many people start considering taking vitamin supplements to get their recommended intake of those missing nutrients. Wellness experts say supplements play an important function into your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Supplements can fill the nutritional gap in your diet and promise to improve your health.
Essential Nutrients for Your Body
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. They work in symphony to maintain your general health, support mental and sports-related performance and provide immune system support. They are essential for healthy vision, skin, and bones.
Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet is the best way to get all the vitamins and minerals you need each day. Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, and poultry are the best choices for getting the nutrients your body needs.|
Nothing beats the nutrient power of a healthy diet, however, your body requires at least 30 vitamins, minerals, and dietary components that it needs for proper functioning but cannot manufacture on its own in sufficient amounts.
Hence, adding vitamin supplements is essential. They will enhance the benefits already provided by eating a well-balanced diet, thus helping your body to function properly.
Supplements may be especially beneficial for certain groups of people, including pregnant women, women in menopause, vegans, vegetarians and people with food allergies or even chronic conditions who may need higher levels of certain nutrients or whose diets may restrict the intake of certain nutrients.
According to nutritionists, the best vitamin supplements to take to help meet your nutritional needs include a daily multivitamin, or individual vitamin or mineral such as vitamin A, C and D, zinc, magnesium, and probiotics. Other vitamin supplements include B-complex vitamins, folid acid supplements, minerals such as iron and calcium.
Getting the right dose is crucial. Certain vitamins and minerals can do more harm than good when it comes to your health if you are taking too much or taking them for too long. Your body needs vitamins and minerals in small amounts to work properly and that’s why they are often called micronutrients. So consult with your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you need to take and potential interactions, and always use them exactly as directed on the label, or as prescribed by your doctor.
The Difference Between Vitamins and Supplements
You might be asking yourselves what the difference is, if anything, between vitamins and supplements. Well, the actual difference between the two is that supplements is a broad term used to refer to any product that adds nutritional value to your diet or improve your health, while vitamins are just a type of supplement. Other types of supplements include minerals, herbs, or nutrients like fiber.
Supplements come in a few forms, including pill, powder and liquid. They are not intended to replace your meal. Vitamins and supplements can help you combat a vitamin deficiency or lower your risk of certain diseases. They can protect you when you are experiencing stress, or sleeping poorly. Or you might consider taking supplements to boost your energy levels for better workouts.
Vitamins are organic compounds that play a vital role in the body, and not getting enough of them can cause health problems and diseases. There are 13 essential vitamins that your body needs for proper functioning, including vitamins A, C, B6, and D.
Actually, vitamins fall into two categories - fat soluble and water soluble. While many vitamins, including C and the B-complex vitamins are water-soluble and can pass through your body with relatively mild side effects, fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D and E can build up to toxic levels over time. So you need a fresh supply of these vitamins every day.
Common Essential Supplements and Their Benefits
Here are few examples of common essential supplements you may need:
Multivitamins
There isn’t one specific supplement that is the magic pill for boosting immunity and energy. However, you can consider taking a daily multivitamin if you feel your diet isn’t filled with a colorful array of fruits and vegetables. Multivitamins are supplements that contain a combination of many vitamins and minerals that are not taken in through the diet.
Their nutrient composition varies by brand and product. However, according to nutritionists, there are several ingredients a multivitamin should have. No matter what brand you choose, a multivitamin should contain vitamin D, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, folate and vitamin B-12.
Vitamin A, C and D
You have probably heard that carrots are good for your eyes. Well, that’s true - carrots are full of substances called carotenoids that your body converts into vitamin A, which helps prevent eye problems. Vitamin A can slow down vision loss from age-related macular degeneration.
Vitamin C is also very important for your health. It acts as a powerful antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory activity. Vitamin C helps to fight free radical damage caused by the environment, processed foods, and stress, which eventually causes cellular damage. The best way to get vitamin C is through fresh fruits and vegetables, but you can’t beat the convenience of a vitamin supplement.
Vitamin D is hard to come by in food and while you can get it from sunshine, most people don’t get sufficient, unexposed sun time. So you might consider taking vitamin D supplement instead. Vitamin D strengthens bones and supports a healthy immune system, and supplementation has been shown to protect against respiratory infections.
Zinc
There are several forms of zinc supplements, available in capsule, tablet, and lozenge form that help your immune system and metabolism to function. Also, zinc has a number of additional benefits. It helps speed up the healing of wounds, improve brain function, and helps the treatment of acne and promote skin health. Like vitamin A, zinc slow down vision loss from age-related macular degeneration.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an important mineral that is crucial for your body’s function. People get magnesium from their diet. Foods that are high in fiber are generally good magnesium source. However, if magnesium levels are too low, magnesium supplements are needed. They are available in a variety of forms, including magnesium oxide, citrate, and chloride. Magnesium supplements may help with muscle and nerve function, regulates blood pressure, keeps bones strong, and the heart rhythm steady, and supports the immune system.
Probiotics
Probiotics can be consumed in fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir and yogurt. However, probiotic supplements can come in handy if you want to add an extra boost to your gut health and digestive health, hence maintaining the integrity of your GI tract. Taking probiotic pills can help relieve diarrhea, gas and bloating.
