Vitamins and minerals are vitally important nutrients, and most can obtain all they require through a balanced diet alone. Some individuals opt for supplementing with dietary products.
As supplement consumption can be of critical importance, its use should be factored into short-term instruments (such as 24-hour recalls or food records) used to estimate usual diet intakes. This can be accomplished by modeling supplement use variable as a covariate variable.
Vitamins
As you walk down the vitamin aisle at your local drugstore, the alphabet soup of labels can make it hard to discern exactly what each supplement does. RDA (recommended daily allowance) and DV (daily value) numbers on these products indicate how many nutrients exist per serving tailored specifically for women, men and/or specific age groups.
Vitamins are organic substances that play multiple crucial roles in metabolism, organ specific metabolism and normal development. Since the body cannot synthesize these essential substances themselves, they must be obtained through diet. A deficiency can result in various deficiency syndromes.
Vitamins include water-soluble (vitamin C and the B vitamins), fat-soluble (A, D, E and K) and multivitamins. Our bodies store most fat-soluble vitamins in liver cells or fat tissues while using nine water-soluble vitamins immediately; any excess amounts are excreted through urine. Vitamin supplements should never be taken at high dosage without prior medical supervision from a provider.
Minerals
Minerals are essential elements to body function, such as zinc. Zinc supports your immune system against invading germs while helping your blood carry oxygen more effectively – you’ll find it in meats, fish, beans, nuts and leafy vegetables.
Many people can obtain all of the essential minerals through eating a healthful diet that includes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Some processed foods are fortified with additional minerals as well as individual vitamin/mineral supplements on the market.
Overall, minerals intake fluctuated over time and was strongly affected by sociodemographic factors; calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium intake increased, while iron, potassium copper zinc selenium intakes declined; nonetheless most intakes exceeded Recommended Dietary Allowance and Adequate Intake levels for most of these nutrients.
Herbs
Herbs have long been used both medicinally and to add flavor to foods, with phytochemicals found in herbs stimulating immune systems, lowering high cholesterol concentrations, protecting from chronic diseases, and providing protection from cancer and other ailments. Diets rich in culinary herbs have even been shown to lower risk.
People often turn to herbal preparations themselves in order to treat anxiety, depression, colds, aches and pains, infections, insomnia, menopause symptoms, stress or weakening of muscles. Echinacea, St John’s wort, arnica ginger and ginkgo are among some of the more widely-used herbs for treating these conditions.
Since herbal and supplement consumption is steadily on the rise, few studies have attempted to accurately track how much was being taken and track any interactions with medications. By creating nutritional biomarkers for herb and supplement intake, more comprehensive assessments of their impact could be performed on human health.
Supplements for Menopause
Women navigating their menopausal transition may look to herbal supplements or botanicals to soothe symptoms like hot flashes. Many of these products are sold as “natural” solutions; however, little evidence supports their efficacy or safety. Perimenopausal women tend to use Birth Defect Screening devices (BDS), yet many do not inform their healthcare providers about it.
Evidence indicates that herbal supplements such as black cohosh, yam, red clover and soy (i.e. isoflavones) have estrogen-like effects which may help ease menopausal symptoms. However, such herbs can have side effects or interact with medications so should only be taken under medical advice from healthcare providers.
Zinc can help ease symptoms associated with menopause and perimenopause, such as hot flashes. Zinc-rich foods include poultry, pork, beef and fortified breakfast cereals – women should aim to consume 8mg daily of zinc supplements.
