Consuming a varied diet provides you with all of the vitamins and minerals your body requires; however, supplements may fill any gaps in your daily regimen.
Supplements may help meet specific health goals, like taking digestive enzymes or folic acid during pregnancy. Others take multivitamins or calcium tablets for overall good health and bone development.
Vitamins
Vitamins are organic substances the body requires in small amounts for essential functions, including fighting infections and maintaining nerve health. Vitamin toxicity (hypervitaminosis) may occur with excessive doses of fat-soluble vitamins like A and E or water-soluble vitamins like C and D; most people can obtain enough through food sources alone.
Vitamin A plays an integral part in vision, bone development and reproduction, epithelium formation/maintenance and maintenance as well as organ/body lining development/maintenance. It can be found naturally in liver, egg yolks and whole milk dairy products from animals; also fruits/veggies such as cantaloupe and spinach; in supplements it usually comes as either retinyl palmitate/acetate (preformed vitamin A) or beta-carotene (provitamin A); it may even come together.
Minerals
Minerals are non-living, crystal clear solid substances found naturally throughout Earth. They can be identified by their crystalline structure, hardness, streaky surface texture, colour palettes and streaky surface textures; hardness; streaked colors and streaky surfaces; streaky colours, colour cleavage or lustre. Minerals can be divided into two groups according to chemical composition – those with similar composition tending to form together and occur in similar geological environments whereas specific gravity and molecular weight classification also make an impressionful statement about them!
Human bodies require various minerals in order to operate effectively, from bone health and tooth enamel maintenance, blood vessel and heart function, enzyme and hormone production and enzyme activation to enzyme regulation and production. There are two classes of minerals: macrominerals and trace minerals; with larger quantities required of macrominerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium sodium potassium while smaller quantities such as iron zinc iodine copper fluoride may also be beneficial.
Antioxidants are compounds found in fruits and vegetables that protect cells against dangerous molecules known as free radicals that damage them, known as free radicals. Antioxidants may also be found as dietary supplements.
Herbs
Herbs add delicious flavor without adding fat, sodium or sugar to meals, while simultaneously improving nutritional value and offering health-promoting properties.
Herbal supplements come in the form of teas, syrups, oils, tinctures or dry extracts. Herbs and spices come with varied flavours; you can divide them up based on how strong or dominant their flavour is; examples of such include bay leaves, cardamom pods, curry (which actually includes many spices), ginger pepper and rosemary as strong or dominant flavors.
As herbal supplements do not meet the same stringent research and manufacturing standards as prescription or traditional over-the-counter medicines, they cannot guarantee to treat specific health conditions. However, some herbs have shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, prevent bacterial infections and improve digestion; some may help weight loss while relieving pain or even helping lower blood sugar levels; cilantro is one example of such an herb with multiple health benefits.
Supplements for specific conditions
Dietary supplements can provide essential nutrients that support overall health and decrease your risk of certain diseases. Such products include vitamins (such as D and E), minerals, herbs or plant products from plants such as herbs or tea trees, amino acids and hormones such as melatonin. Supplements come in many forms such as pills, capsules powders drinks or energy bars to make sure that you get everything that’s required for good health.
Since dietary supplements aren’t subject to regulation like prescription or OTC drugs, manufacturers don’t need to demonstrate that their products are safe before selling them – making it harder for potential safety issues to be detected.
Together with your healthcare provider, you can work to find the appropriate dietary supplements. To assist with this endeavor, keep a record of what dietary supplements and medicine you take. The Office of Dietary Supplements has an online form called My Dietary Supplement and Medicine Record available that you can use – you’ll also find other helpful tools on their website.
