Should you use dietary supplements?
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/07/01
Some considerations arose in the midst of reading an article about supplements. Are they for you?
The article was from the Mayo Clinic. The prominence of dietary supplements make the possible effects on the body of importance for any health conscious person. With a healthy diet, a normal and prime of life person will not need them. Then this leads to questions about what ifs. What if is you are not having a healthy diet or cannot maintain it for some reason? What if you are not prime of life?
These seem like legitimate questions altogether and associated for that matter. This then leads to some further questions. A nutritious diet prior to the age of 65 should be fine without supplements. However, once you do reach the are of 65, your ability to absorb a few nutrients such as calcium, vitamin b-12, and vitamin D can be limited.
That is, a multivitamin may be in order. It can improve immune function and decrease the risk of possible infections, apparently. No joke.
Then there is the case of the person who eats junk food or few good foods. A multivitamin will not fill the gap, especially regarding micronutrients, but you can work to impact our bad health habits a bit with some supplementation in that case. However, if you want the best health outcomes, a lot of fruits and vegetables connected to a general diet of healthier foods is ideal. I prefer the Mediterranean myself.
Other people may have some specific dietary needs. Those may, sometimes, only be covered with a single vitamin-mineral supplement.
“If you’re a vegetarian who eats no animal products from your diet, you may need vitamin B-12. And if you don’t eat dairy products and don’t get 15 minutes of sun on your skin two to three times a week, you may need to add calcium and vitamin D supplements to your diet,” the article recommended.
Then there are cases of women who have gone past menopause. Those women will need to get sufficient calcium and vitamin D with the bone loss acceleration and the increased need for calcium. Then the ability to absorb the relevant nutrients (calcium and vitamin D) decrease at the same time, which makes this a more difficult and harder process altogether.
The article continued, “Some health conditions and treatments make it difficult to digest or absorb nutrients. Examples include a disease of your liver, gallbladder, intestine, pancreas or kidney, or a surgery on your digestive tract. In such cases, your doctor may recommend that you take a vitamin or mineral supplement.”
The final note in the suggestions was that there may be medications that could interfere with the ways in which your body abords nutrients. Those were “Antacids, antibiotics, laxatives, diuretics or other medications.”
If you start today and stick to a life of healthier eating, unless over 65, you do not necessarily need supplements. But always consult with your medical professional.
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