Food supplements can provide essential vitamins and minerals. Their intakes can be measured through 24-hour recalls of diet or food records (see [glossary term:]).
Supplement labels may be confusing with terms like RDA and UL. To maximize results, it’s wise to purchase formulas tailored specifically to your age and sex — women need more calcium and B12 while men typically require less iron.
Vitamins
Vitamins are organic substances produced by organisms and taken orally for their vital nutritional purposes. While most individuals obtain enough of the required vitamins through diet, some people need supplements in order to meet their dietary requirements.
Most vitamins consist of multiple molecules known as “vitamers,” such as the four tocopherols and eight tocotrienols found in vitamin E. While not chemically equivalent, all these vitamers serve the same function in your body.
The US government has set Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) and Adequate Intakes (AIs) for some vitamins and minerals, with separate RDAs/AIs tailored for various age groups and gender.
Minerals
Minerals play essential roles in nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction and extracting energy from food sources. While some minerals such as iron are necessary in large amounts, others like magnesium, potassium and calcium only require small quantities. Excessive amounts of certain minerals like iron can lead to liver damage and heart disease; excessive magnesium intake could have similar adverse health consequences.
Minerals can be classified as solid substances in their natural state and possess characteristic chemical compositions, with regular, ordered internal structures (crystalline). Furthermore, minerals with various crystal structures but the same chemical makeup such as quartz and stishovite being considered distinct species – for instance both consist of silicon dioxide but have different crystal structures – making the distinction easier to make.
Studies conducted have demonstrated that individuals taking dietary supplements tend to consume higher levels of many minerals, particularly calcium, magnesium and zinc. This raises questions as to whether supplements are helping people meet their nutrient requirements or contributing to excess intake and potential toxicity issues.
Nutraceuticals
Nutraceuticals are nutritional supplements with medicinal applications. Their promise of delaying aging, warding off chronic illnesses and increasing life expectancy has attracted consumers; however, extensive research must be performed on them to ensure both safety and effectiveness.
Dietary supplements and nutraceuticals both seek to improve health and wellness, yet their composition, regulation, and usage vary drastically. Knowing these differences will enable consumers to make more informed choices while also helping manufacturers create products tailored specifically for individual consumers’ needs.
Stephen DeFelice coined the term “nutraceutical” in 1989 to combine nutrition and pharmaceutical; DeFelice defined his nutraceuticals broadly encompassing dietary supplements and functional foods while the European Nutraceutical Association had more restrictive criteria, excluding all food with no specific indication such as gluten-free formulations, low protein foods or herbal products such as whole grains that contain phytochemicals that could potentially benefit health.
Herbs
Herbs are plants used for culinary, medicinal, or aromatic properties. Herbs come in all shapes and sizes: perennials such as thyme, oregano and sage; shrubs like rosemary; annuals (like parsley); woody plants like rosemary or bay laurel; herbaceous varieties with soft stems such as dill, cilantro and mint – the options are almost limitless!
Cooking herbs into dishes helps preserve their health-promoting and antioxidant qualities, so adding them at the end or as you serve will best preserve these effects.
Studies have revealed that patients, pharmacists and health professionals all possess differing perceptions on the safety and interactions between herbs/supplements and prescription drugs, making their safety uncertain to many in this respect. Education of both health professionals and patients must address this concern while more research into herbal supplements for cancer treatment should also take place; Memorial Sloan-Kettering actively takes part in this endeavor through its Integrative Medicine department.
