The vitamin and supplement industry is a biggie, isn’t it? Like, you name it and you’ll find it on a supermarket or health food store shelf and if you believe all the advertising supporting them, you’ll already be convinced that you need them. Well chances are, you don’t.
Generally speaking, if you are eating the right balance of fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and meats with some full cream dairy products thrown in, you will have no need of vitamin or mineral supplements because you will be getting the recommended daily intake from your food. This is really good, yeah? Well of course it is! Vitamin and mineral intake via the foods we eat is the best way to ingest them because they are in their most natural form and that is definitely good. Toss an egg or two into the daily mix and you’ll have it down pat! Seriously, that’s how easy it is.
Or you can open a bottle and toss some of the contents down your throat. That’s easy too, but is it the best solution? The sups on the shop shelves though are not all that natural and according to a recent study, possibly not all that reliable either because the study found that a surprising number of them didn’t contain what they said they did. However, of the ones that did, the amount per day that you would be ingesting should you follow the recommended dosage on the bottle/packet could lead you to overdosing. Now that may not sound all that bad because vitamins and minerals are good for us, right? Yes they are but remember that little warning about too much of a good thing? Good, because taking too much of them is definitely bad for you. The same goes for antioxidants. In the right form and at the right levels they are very useful but overdoing it negates the benefits.
So how do you know if you need to use supplements? Well, if you diet consists of meat, meat and more meat but without the salad or the veggies on the side you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be missing out on just about every vitamin and mineral known to man. Ditto if your dietary intake doesn’t go past the confectionery aisle. Or your local fast food outlet. If this is you, then it’s a given you are denying your body the things it needs to keep you fit and healthy but now that you know that (and you do because I’ve just told you so!) there is something you can do to counter the lack.
You can a) change your diet to include the foods you need to keep your vitamin/mineral levels up to speed, or b) stuff yourself full of powders, pills and other supplements to counter the damage of the lousy diet. So…will it be fruit and veg or cupboard full of bottles? The fresh stuff will cost you a lot less and you’ll be getting the goodies naturally and even better, one can’t overdose on fresh fruit and veg, no matter how much we consume, as opposed to way to many vitamin and mineral pills and liquids. Way Too Many! You should think about that. Ditto using a lack of culinary skills as an excuse. Anyone can learn to cook and that includes you and your health and lifestyle will definitely benefit from your efforts.
It’s really easy when you know how.