How often do you hear that you are deficient in vitamins? Or about the fact that carrots contain keratin, beef liver contains iron and milk contains vital calcium, and therefore these products must be included in your daily menu? Yes, this is correct and necessary, because the diet should be balanced and filled with essential elements and vitamins.
According to statistics from the Robert Koch Institute, 60% of the German population is deficient in vitamin D. A similar situation is observed in America, Japan and Russia. People have a lot of reasons not to think about their health and neglect proper nutrition: someone spends the whole day at work and does not find the strength to cook and someone cannot afford to buy healthy products due to their relatively high cost.
Perhaps an excellent solution would be to take special complexes of vitamins and minerals – we will find this out later in the article.
What do we know about minerals and vitamins?
Most often, an average person associates the words “vitamins” or “minerals” with usefulness and they are not mistaken! These are trace elements that the human body needs. They help maintain health and overall tone.
Scientific fact: most vitamins are not synthesized by the body – we get them through food. And the word “trace element” means a clear dosage in small sizes, which means that an excess of vitamins and minerals will do more harm than good.
The challenge is to strike the right balance between excess and scarcity. This can be achieved with a diet rich in a variety of foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats and slow carbohydrates. To fill the deficiency, you can take certified vitamins from trusted supplement manufacturers.
We highlight the following useful properties of dietary supplements:
Improved immunity
Inadequate sleep, stress, bad habits, past illness are the causes of weakened immunity. Vitamins of groups A and B as well as vitamin D will contribute to its increase.
Reproductive system support
Male and female bodies need animal proteins, or rather the vitamins they contain. For the prevention and support of the reproductive system, vitamins E, C and D, omega-3 fatty acids as well as such minerals as magnesium and calcium are very important.
Overcoming fatigue
Most likely it is a lack of iron. It creates red blood cells in the body, which contain hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen in the bloodstream. With an iron deficiency, your hemoglobin levels drop, reducing your oxygen levels and your energy.
Vitamin D supplementation or alternative sunlight
Vitamin D is produced from sunlight, but not everyone can afford a daily walk in the sun – some due to busyness, others due to intolerance to ultraviolet rays. Vitamin D supplements are the best option.
Stabilization of the condition of nerves
Stress is always a source of body weakening, since during this period a person is actively losing vital vitamins and minerals. In this case, the best solution would be to take an additional source of magnesium, the lack of which provokes PMS, migraines and insomnia.
Read more: WHAT ARE DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS AND VITAMINS?
Difference between vitamins and minerals
At first glance, vitamins and minerals are similar things. These substances are often grouped together, but belong to different categories of nutrient chemistry-biological compounds.
Vitamins are organic compounds that can be destroyed by various sources such as light, air and heat. There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble.
Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water. On average, the human body consists of 60% water, so this type of vitamins is perfectly absorbed into the bloodstream, and the excess is eliminated during urination. This group includes vitamins B and C.
Fat-soluble vitamins do not dissolve in water. They are absorbed along with foods high in fat. This group includes vitamins A, D, E, K.
Minerals are inorganic compounds that retain their chemical structure even when exposed to light, air and heat. They are divided into two types: basic and trace elements. The basic ones include calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, magnesium and sulfur. Trace elements include iron, zinc, iodine, chromium, selenium, fluorine, molybdenum, copper and manganese.
Trace elements that play a large role in the body
Trace elements that are constantly present in the body are called essential or vital. They play an exclusive role in ensuring life.
Iron, iodine, copper, chromium and others are minerals that are vital for the body to function properly and maintain overall tone. All of these substances can be obtained from a varied and healthy diet. If you do not have this opportunity, you can try taking vitamin complexes from trusted supplement manufacturers.
Essential nutrients for your body
Irreplaceable food substances are substances necessary for normal human life, but synthesized in insufficient quantities or not at all reproducible. A person can get such substances only from food.
Essential nutrients are different for different types of living organisms. For example, most mammals are able to synthesize ascorbic acid in the body, completely covering the metabolic needs for it without external additional sources. Therefore, it is not considered indispensable for these animals. The same cannot be said about the human body which needs external sources of ascorbic acid.
How to choose the right supplements and vitamins
Consult your doctor
As mentioned above, an excess of vitamins can cause unpleasant consequences, which will lead to the fact that you will have to resort to serious treatment. Therefore, vitamins and minerals should be taken responsibly and you should consult a doctor before taking them.
Buy supplements only from pharmacies or trusted supplement manufacturers
Vitamins also have their own certification and testing for food safety. You should not buy supplements in unverified places, otherwise there is a chance of getting a fake or low-quality product.
Study the product
For greater confidence, it is worth studying additional information about who produces the food supplement, in what dosages it is recommended to take it, and what contraindications there are for its use.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we want to say that vitamins and minerals are not medicines, and therefore one cannot expect from them what they are not able to do.
You cannot substitute eating well with pills, but you can create a balance in which a healthy diet and nutritional supplements complement each other.
You should also beware of counterfeits and low-quality product forms. In the matter of taking vitamins and minerals, you should focus primarily on your well-being. But at the same time, it will be important to undergo examinations on time and consult a doctor.