Are you one of those people who believe in taking vitamin supplements every morning? These vitamin supplements usually contain certain nutrients and vitamins in high quantities and are mostly used to increase nutrition in your diet. But, do you really need these vitamins? According to a study conducted by the government, the number of adults in the US, who take vitamins or dietary supplements has been increasing over the years. OROGOLD Cosmetics reviews a study that was sponsored by the CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics. This study actually found that more than 50% of the American adults believe in taking a minimum of one dietary supplement every day. With so many people using these supplements, a group of researchers tried to assess the effects of the use of these vitamin supplements to get a clear picture of their dietary intake.
According to Jaime Gahche, the lead author of the study and a researcher working for the National Center for Health Statistics, the data is hardly surprising. She says that it might be interesting to note that not only did the use for calcium and vitamin D supplements increase for women over the age of 60 between 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2002, but there was an increase between 2002 to 2003 and 2003 to 2006 as well. The study found multivitamins to be the most commonly used supplement among the American people and things like calcium, vitamin D and folic acid were very popular as well.
One of the biggest concerns that most experts have is the excessive intake of vitamins. Although none of the medical experts were surprised to see the rise in the use of vitamins over the past decade, many did mention that a healthy diet was the ideal way to get these nutrients, not those pills. Dr. Darwin Dee, a clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, says that the modern day diet already has too many processed foods and this makes it poor in the vitamins that the body requires to keep it healthy. He says that in order to be able to deal with a diet that revolves around junk food, processed food, soda and chips, people have resorted to taking vitamins. Dee advocates that people should forego these vitamin supplements, skip the pill and switch it with fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables to get the necessary vitamin intake. The biggest issue with vitamin supplements is that it doesn’t make sense for everyone because there is no one-size-fits-everyone when it comes to vitamins.
Dr. Donald Hensrud, an associate professor at Mayo Clinic, also advocates that people should stay away from the pill. He says that most people take these dietary supplements as an easy way to get the desired nutrients and maintain optimal health, but this isn’t always true. He says that there is a major lack of evidence when it comes to proving that dietary supplements like multivitamins actually improve the health of a person. Moreover, the data also suggests that most of the people who take these supplements are the ones who already enjoy a good diet and don’t need these pills at all.
Vitamin supplements might be effective, but only for people who suffer from those specific vitamin deficiencies. For example, a vitamin D deficiency can lead to the softening of bones in adults and rickets in children. Similarly, folate is known to help to neutralize pregnancy complications and tube effects. Doctors advise pregnant women to eat food items that are high in folic acid and some women are also prescribed prenatal supplements if the folic intake through the food isn’t enough.
The ideal way to get a dietary fix is to improve your diet and add more fresh fruits and green vegetables in it. A pill can never substitute for a natural diet and it should only be used when advised by your doctor.
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