| Why take vitamin and mineral supplements | | | | But what about the so called...minerals? Aren't |
| This is an open-ended question. Medical science | | | | they necessary for healthy living too? They |
| tells us that certain vitamins and minerals are | | | | certainly are. We need to meet certain daily |
| BASIC to our living healthy lives. But these learned | | | | requirements for potassium, magnesium, calcium, |
| people also tell us that the best source for what | | | | sodium, iodine, and zinc are basic to good health. |
| we need is the food we eat. If everyone ate well, | | | | But physicians warn that too much of a good |
| we would be healthy. Unfortunately we do not | | | | thing can be very harmful to our health. Seems |
| always eat what is needed to provide a healthy | | | | like moderation is the key here as it is with |
| balance. | | | | anything else we put into our bodies. |
| So we turn to vitamin and mineral supplements. | | | | The human body is a masterful piece of |
| But in doing so are we just throwing out money | | | | engineering. It can manufacture some of the |
| down the toilet, literally! | | | | vitamins we need-like vitamins D and K. The rest |
| Today's grocery stores and pharmacies are | | | | SHOULD come from food. But alas, that is not |
| stocked full of every imaginable supplement you | | | | always the case. How many vitamins and minerals |
| can think of. So what should we take and how | | | | are in a slice of pizza or a Big Mac? |
| much should we take? No easy answer is readily | | | | Vitamins A & D |
| available for that question. | | | | Each vitamin listed above has a specific job so if |
| The Bare Essentials | | | | your intake is low in certain vitamins, some body |
| Vitamins and minerals are the building blocks of | | | | functions will suffer. Low intake of vitamin D for |
| our bodies. You could say that this is nature's way | | | | example can result in poor bone growth leading to |
| of rebuilding the cells, tissues and bones that | | | | a disease known as "rickets." Low intake of |
| make up the human body. The National Institutes | | | | vitamin A can result in poor eyesight or night |
| of Health tells us that vitamins are substances | | | | blindness. |
| that your body needs to grow and develop | | | | Our best source for vitamin D is |
| normally. There are 13 vitamins your body needs. | | | | sunlight-something that you won't find in a bottle. |
| They are vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B | | | | But for a skin cancer survivor like me, I can't |
| vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic | | | | take the chance of overexposure to the beneficial |
| acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate. | | | | rays of the sun. If I want my bones to stay |
| Are multi-vitamins the answer? | | | | healthy I must turn to supplements. How about |
| But don't run off to the super market or health | | | | you? |
| food store and buy a bottle of each one. The | | | | Let the Buyer Beware |
| answer that has been with us for decades is the | | | | I don't pretend to be a healthcare expert. I'm just |
| multi-vitamin, which combines all (or most of) the | | | | trying to live a normal, healthy life. But the old |
| vitamins we need every day. The problem here is | | | | saying, "Let the buyer beware," holds true for |
| that multi-vitamins in tablet-form only deliver | | | | vitamin and mineral supplements. The American |
| about 20% of what is supposed to be in them. | | | | public spends about $70 Billion a year on vitamin |
| I was recently introduced to a nutritional | | | | and mineral supplements, which makes this a very |
| supplement that is in liquid form. The | | | | competitive business. Countless manufacturers are |
| manufacturer has clinical proof that it delivers up | | | | all trying to grab a portion of this incredible |
| to 80% of what is promised. You'll find out more | | | | market. In other words, rip-offs abound, so be |
| about liquid multi-vitamins later. | | | | careful of what you buy. |
| What about the mnerals? | | | | |