Health & Fitness
Health Supplements: Good or bad?
Facts about calcium supplements, multi-vitamins, fish oil supplements and protein supplements.
This is such a controversial subject. Haha, at least for me and others i've talked to. There are so many different kinds of supplements: Protein, fish oil, calcium, your basic multi-vitamins.
People take them for a couple of different reasons, but I think it's mostly to build muscle and to make up for nutrients not had through food.
Something you need to know is that the Food and Drug Administration does NOT regulate supplements and vitamins/minerals. No one does. I've actually read that several times on the back of my multi-vitamin bottle, but I never paid much attention to it, and I didn't know it applied to ALL supplements and vitamins. I figured if they're on the shelf at the store, then they must be safe right? Not exactly. Because they're not regulated by anyone, companies can say that there's a certain amount of a vitamin or mineral in their supplements, and it doesn't have to be accurate at all.
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They can also use fillers, toxins and chemical compounds in them. Also, it is possible to get too much of a vitamin or mineral through supplements, but you really only need to worry about the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Any others that are taken in excess will be flushed out. But you don't need 1000% of anything. B Vitamins don't give you energy. B vitamins help your body use the energy you give it through food, so drinking an energy drink with ridiculous amounts of caffeine, sugar and B Vitamins isn't doing you any good unless you're eating good food too. It will no doubt give you a boost, but it'll be because of the caffeine and sugar, not the B Vitamins.
Protein powder and supplements alone don't help build muscle either. I know guys swear by it, but a well-fed athlete doesn't need them. Purified protein supplements can cause calcium to spill into the urine which can cause osteoporosis. Most adults only need between 46 and 56 grams per day, but most Americans get well over that. I know I do. This increases the kidneys' workload. People with healthy kidneys don't have to worry about it damaging the kidneys or causing kidney disease, but people with kidney stones or kidney disease on high protein diets could make the health of their kidneys decline even faster.
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I prefer and recommend to other people to get Omega-3s (which is what you get from fish and fish oil) from food. Eight ounces of fish per week will do the trick, and if you don't like fish, there are a few foods that are fortified with Omega-3s. sells a cereal called Optimum Blueberry Cinnamon that has 500 mgs of Omega-3s per serving and it's really good. sells Soy and Flaxseed Tortilla Chips that also have 500 mgs per serving. Again, really good with salsa. Men need 1.6 grams per day and women only need 1.1 grams per day. That's almost half of what you need. Not too hard right? But if you don't like any of those options and it's just easier for you to just take a fish oil supplement, just remember, the FDA doesn't regulate supplements. If you look carefully and do your research I'm pretty sure you could find a reliable manufacturer to buy them from somewhere.
Calcium supplements can play an important role for aging adults who are less able to absorb calcium or who are experiencing bone loss just because their bodies are getting older. But for those who are younger and either don't like milk products or can't tolerate them, there is something else you need to be aware of. Not all kinds of calcium supplements are easily absorbed into the body. So even though you're taking the recommended daily amount, you're probably not absorbing it all, so it's not doing you as much good as you might think. Taking a calcium supplement alone isn't giving you all of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs to build strong bones.
You also need Vitamin D, Vitamin A, magnesium, phosphorus and protein. All of these are found in FOOD! Vitamin D is in tuna, salmon and enriched cereal. You also get it from the sun! Vitamin A is in cooked carrots, baked sweet potatoes, cooked spinach, apricots and cantaloupe. And so on. If you do need to take a calcium supplement though, Calcium Citrate is best absorbed into the body.
Last but definitely not least, multivitamins. If people eat varied and relatively healthy diets, they don't need a multi-vitamin. You especially don't need the ones that have 1600% of anything. You don't even need 300%. Your body can only use 100%. Check the labels on the foods you eat. You'll be surprised at the percentages of vitamins and minerals that you're getting. And if you're seeing lots of zeros, you might want to consider small changes in your diet.
My point is, all of these things are available in lots of different foods. Don't be so quick to jump to supplements. You'll be missing out on the other health benefits that come from eating those foods such as fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals. You'll be doing your body and your health a favor.