Should People Take Vitamin Supplements Every Day?

Vitamin Supplements Versus A Healthy Diet

fruit and veg from pixabay,com

It is tempting to think reaching for the vitamin bottle is the answer to everything but it is overdone these days. With a good balanced diet vitamin supplements shouldn't be needed all the time. Here are my thoughts on how to improve the vitamin intake in your food.


While vitamin supplements have a place, adding Vitamin C in winter can greatly help in warding off colds for example, they should not be taken consistently every day. Because they are so common and so easily obtained it is tempting to think of them as a 'fix all' remedy. However vitamins are complex chemical compounds and can have detrimental effects on the body.

Just like everything you digest, vitamin supplements can be overdosed; this site can give you some indication of some of the side effects of vitamin supplements.

http://www.1stholistic.com/Nutrition/hol_nutr-toxic-dosages.htm

There are times when the body may well need some help but supplements should only be taken under medical guidance and then only for brief periods of time.

Instead of reaching for the vitamin bottle think first of all about your diet. Nothing can really substitute for a healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Research shows five to eight portions is the ideal in a daily diet. (no more than three of these should be fruit).

Think also about how preparation and cooking practices affect nutritional value. 

1. The most nutritional value lies within a centimetre of the skin so if you can possibly kept the skin, well cleaned, do so.

2. Soaking vegetables robs them of vitamins so should not be soaked to clean or left soaking in water before cooking. It is easy enough to dry peel vegetables and simply rinse them at the end.

3. Don't overcook vegetables; vegetables are best eaten either raw or lightly steamed. Something like two-thirds of the nutritional value of vegetables can be lost in the water.

4. Use the water from cooking vegetables as stock for casseroles and soups.

5. Add bean sprouts to salads and so on, these have essential minerals not found any where else.

6. If for some reason you feel you could do with a boost of a particular vitamin or mineral, take time to investigate which natural foodstuffs are best sources.

Websites like http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/guide/vitamins-and-minerals-good-food-sources are great for finding out food values.

  

A good healthy diet will give you everything you need in the way of vitamins and supplements. Take time to find out what suits you best, what a healthy diet means and how you can best, easily and cheaply make changes that will be make a huge difference in your life.