Health and Fitness Hints

You can not skip your daily servings of fruits and vegetables and take vitamins or minerals supplements instead. Dietary supplements aren’t meant to replace real food, as they can’t provide the nutrients and benefits of whole foods.

However,
dietary supplements can still play a role in your health by complementing your regular diet if you are not getting enough nutrients due to poor eating habits or some health condition.

Vitamins and minerals also called micro nutrients are substances your body needs in small but steady amounts for normal growth, function and good health. Your body can’t make most micro nutrients, so you must get them from the foods you eat and in some cases, from dietary supplements. Whole foods are your best sources of vitamins and minerals. They offer three main benefits over dietary supplements:

*Whole foods provide a variety of micro nutrients your body needs. An apple for example provides some vitamin A but also vitamin C, calcium and iron.

*Whole foods provide dietary fiber. Fiber can help and prevent certain diseases.

*Whole foods such as fruit and vegetables contain natural substances called phytochemicals and antioxidants. They may help to protect against diseases and slow the oxidation process from damaging cell tissue.

There are a large number of people who don’t receive all of the nutrients they need from their diet. Simply they don’t eat enough a variety of healthy foods or they are on restrictive diets. For such people, dietary supplements can provide the vitamins and minerals their eating habits often don’t. Pregnant women and older adults have special nutrient needs and may also benefit from dietary supplements such as vitamins and minerals.

Breakfast cereals, Sports drinks, and many other processed foods claim to be packed with vitamins and minerals that will rev up you energy levels and health. You’ve seen the TV ads. This or that Amazing new cereal boosts athletic performance or the new dietary supplement, a miracle substance that will make you thinner, smarter, or better at whatever you do. You do know dietary vitamins and minerals are good for you.

But which and how much your body really needs? And is it possible to get too much of a good thing? The best way to get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals is from food. Although there’s usually nothing wrong taking a basic multivitamin, If you decide to take vitamins or minerals, consider these factors:

* Check and read the labels carefully. Product labels can tell you what the ingredients and active ingredients are the serving size and the amount of nutrients in a serving.

* Avoid dietary supplements that provide mega doses of vitamins and or minerals. Choose those brands that contain no higher doses than 100% of the RDA for any vitamins or minerals - that provides about 100 percent of the Daily Value (DV) of all the vitamins and minerals, rather than one which has, 500 percent of the DV for one vitamin and 20 percent of the DV for another.

* Look for ‘USP’ on the label. This ensures the standards for strength, purity, and dissolution established by U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP).

* Look for expiration dates. If a dietary supplement doesn’t have an expiration date, don’t buy it. If your supplements have expired do not use them.

* Store dietary supplements in a dry, cool place and away from children.

If you do choose to take supplements remember that some vitamins or minerals if taken in excess can build up in the human body and cause problems. However special groups of people, athletes, body builders, pregnant women and the elderly do have special nutritional needs. Use your supplements wisely.

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