Nutritional supplements provide essential vitamins, minerals, herbs and other essential nutrients that may be missing from your diet. Most nutritional supplements come in the form of capsules, tablets, powder or drinks; calcium and Vitamin D are especially crucial for bone health while folic acid plays an essential role in reproductive health for women of childbearing age.
Supplements aren’t as tightly regulated as drugs, increasing the chances of mislabeling and contamination as well as too much of certain supplements being harmful.
Deficiency
Body functions require micronutrients in the form of vitamins and minerals for proper functioning; this is commonly referred to as micronutrition. A well-balanced diet often provides sufficient amounts of these micronutrients; however, supplementation may be needed if one experiences nutritional deficiencies.
Nutritional deficiencies can arise for various reasons. These could include poor diet, lifestyle considerations, health conditions or medications being taken as well as some surgical procedures like gastroesophageal bypass operations which may also contribute to nutritional deficiency.
Blood tests that evaluate body nutrient levels can be used to detect deficiencies. These can detect vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as certain diseases like goitre or rickets. Furthermore, food manufacturers add vitamins and minerals during processing to increase its nutritional value; such fortified products could include flour with added iron and B vitamins; iodized salt to combat deficiency issues; or vitamin C added into orange juice in order to combat scurvy.
Malabsorption
Malabsorption occurs when nutrients are not properly absorbed through the digestive tract, potentially due to conditions like celiac disease, pancreatitis or cirrhosis; infections; certain medications; lymphatic diseases like Whipple’s disease, intestinal lymphangiectasia or lymphoma; as well as infections or medications taken or diseases of the lymphatic system such as Whipple’s disease or lymphangiectasia or lymphoma.
Malabsorption may lead to excess fat being excreted in stool, creating a condition known as steatorrhea. Symptoms include light-colored, bulky and greasy stool that floats or sticks to the side of the bowl.
Doctors can treat malabsorption by prescribing a gluten-free diet and vitamin supplements containing high-calorie formulations. They may also recommend lactose intolerance replacement milk for infants as well as protease or lipase enzymes to aid digestion. In cases of extreme weight loss, total parenteral nutrition (TPN) could provide necessary calories directly through veins in the body.
Overdosing
Vitamins and minerals can become toxic when taken in excess, whether through supplement use or an excessive dose of one specific vitamin. A dietitian told AARP that an overdose could also occur through eating too many fortified food items or beverages containing too many fortified nutrients.
Water-soluble vitamins can easily be detoxed by your body, but fat-soluble ones can accumulate and lead to toxic levels in your system. Examples include vitamins A (retinol), E and K which absorb fat through diet and are stored by liver; excessive doses can cause nausea, stomachache and skin rashes while liver or heart damage in extreme cases; to lower risk take a multivitamin daily and store medications away from children’s reach.
Interactions
Nutritional supplements, also referred to as dietary supplements or food additives, are meant to supplement an inadequate diet with essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids or any other nutritional substances.
Physicians should inquire into and record patients’ use of nutritional and herbal remedies in their patient records, while attempting to minimize polypharmacy by only continuing those supplements needed to manage symptoms.
Certain dietary supplements may interact with medications by altering their absorption, effectiveness or side effects. Some interactions have been demonstrated through scientific research (for instance the interactions of high dose supplemental vitamin E with antiplatelet agents like aspirin). Other interactions remain to be demonstrated or are predicted based on in vitro research alone.
Safety
Most basic vitamins and minerals are generally considered safe when taken at recommended dosages; however, supplements can sometimes cause both short- and long-term side effects in some individuals. Roughly 23,000 emergency room visits annually are related to supplements because of toxic components like heavy metals or steroids present within them.
As supplements aren’t regulated like medicines, they don’t undergo safety testing before release to consumers, leaving them open to mislabeling, contamination and false advertising.
Before taking any supplement, play the “name that ingredient” game and read labels carefully to be certain you’re getting what you expect. Be wary of supplements with extravagant health claims (e.g. curing health conditions or burning fat) as these cannot be independently verified by third parties. Especially be wary when it comes to herbal remedies as some have been linked with serious side effects including liver damage and fetal development issues.
