Benefits of supplements: Why they’re important

 Normally, most people should be able to get all the nutrients they need from a balanced diet. However, supplements can provide you with extra nutrients when your diet is lacking or certain health conditions (such as cancer, diabetes, or chronic diarrhea) trigger a deficiency. In most cases, a multivitamin/mineral supplement will provide all the micronutrients your body needs. They are generally safe because they contain only small amounts of each nutrient (as measured by the daily value, or DV). Individual nutrients are available as supplements, usually in doses larger than your typical multivitamin. They can be used to treat a deficiency, such as an iron deficiency, or reduce the risk of a medical condition, such as hypertension.

For example, large doses of vitamin B3 (niacin) may help raise "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, while folic acid has long been used to reduce the risk of a birth defect called spina bifida. Antioxidants, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, may reduce the toxic effect of chemotherapy drugs (allowing patients to tolerate larger doses of chemo). Unless a specific deficiency is identified, a supplement is usually not necessary if you eat and exercise properly. The appropriate use of supplements can help you avoid side effects and toxicities associated with overuse. Please go here to this link tongkat ali nederland and know more about benefits of supplements.

One of the more popular supplement choices is the multivitamin, with many people treating it as a one-stop shop for nutrition. If you do not follow a healthy diet and do not plan to adopt one, you probably want to start with a multivitamin supplement. If you already eat a well-balanced diet, you won’t see any real health benefits from taking a multivitamin. Standard multivitamins include 100 percent of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of a variety of vitamins and minerals. However, few multivitamins include all of your body’s nutritional needs, as the pills are physically incapable of doing so. Most leave out calcium, iron, and magnesium. Of course, your body cannot absorb calcium and iron at the same time, so you would receive no benefit from a multivitamin containing those compounds together.

You also see experimental multivitamins, meaning supplements that make dubious health claims, such as those claiming to include antioxidants that reduce your cancer risk. Some of these added ingredients have no real effect while some may provide benefits, but we just don’t know yet, while others actually do harm. For example, many include over 400 IU of vitamin E, an amount that is 18 times above the recommended daily intake and potentially harmful. If you want a multivitamin, just take the standard one and save your money. Finally, we have the multivitamins that you should always avoid: those with proprietary blends of various compounds. If the supplement doesn’t tell you how much it includes for each item, there is no way to use it safely.

Are supplements worth taking? There’s a reason supplements are so popular: sometimes, they work. In addition to a healthy diet, there is evidence that some supplements can benefit your overall well-being with little to no risk,” says Dr. Millstein. Common supplements that may benefit your health include Vitamin B12, which can help keep nerve and blood cells healthy, make DNA, and prevent anemia. Folic acid, which can reduce birth defects when taken by pregnant women, Vitamin D, which can strengthen bones, Calcium, which can promote bone health, Vitamins C and E, which can prevent cell damage, Fish oil, which can support heart health, Vitamin A, which can slow down vision loss from age-related macular degeneration, Zinc.

which can promote skin health and slow down vision loss from age-related macular degeneration, Melatonin, can help counteract jet lag, However, despite the amount of research that’s been done on supplements (since 1999, the National Institutes of Health has spent more than $2.4 billion studying vitamins and minerals), scientific evidence isn’t completely clear. Keep in mind: Most studies suggest that multivitamins won’t make you live longer, slow cognitive decline or lower your chances of disease, such as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. In fact, it’s illegal for companies to make claims that supplements will treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure diseases,” says Dr. Millstein. Also, the products you buy in stores or online may be different from those used in studies, so studies may be misleading.