Dietary supplements
A precondition for good health is correct and diversified nutrition. Correct nutrition can satisfy all the needs of the body for vitamins, minerals and other substances.
Today, however, people consume a lot of processed and fatty food, little fresh fruit and vegetables, and they do not take sufficient number of meals during the day. For all this, there is a scarcity of vitamins, minerals and other components in the body, which are necessary for good health, and the incorrect nutrition is substituted with an intake of dietary supplements.
Dietary supplements are ingredients which supplement normal nourishment, and they are concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals and other substances with nutritious and physiological effects. Thus, they are additions to nutrition, and not drugs. Dietary supplements reach the market in the form of tablets, capsules, syrups, granules etc.
Vitamins
Vitamins are organic substances which play an important role in the functioning of the body, since they participate in numerous metabolic processes. The body cannot synthetize vitamins (except for vitamin D and B12), and we therefore need to take them with food. A person can take necessary quantities of vitamins by consuming fresh fruit and vegetables. If, however, such food is not part of the diet, there are vitamin tablets in the market which contain recommended daily doses of vitamins, separately or in combination. Vitamin daily recommended doses are written on every product.
Minerals
Minerals are nonorganic substances which, together with vitamins, participate in metabolic processes in the body, as well as being a construction component of the body. To remain healthy, the body needs around 18 minerals, and yet only 7 of them have been studied comprehensively, and recommendations have been given for their use. They are: calcium, magnesium, iron, selenium, zinc ,iodine and phosphor.
With correct nutrition, a person can fully satisfy the daily mineralrequirement. Minerals exist in all food of animal and vegetable origin.
Dietary supplements are only needed in some acute and chronic pathological states. For example, in fractured bones, it is necessary to increase the calcium intake so that the bone could heal correctly and fast. In osteoporosis, calcium products should be taken constantly, because it has been found thatincreased calcium doses have a beneficial effect on stopping the osteoporosis process.
Advice:
- With correct nutrition, a person can satisfy all body needs for vitamins and minerals.
- If you want to use any dietary products, consult your pharmacist.
- Take the form that is the easiest to use: tablets, capsules, syrup, sizzling tablets, etc.
- Vitamins and minerals are taken during meal, except for iron products which are best taken on empty stomach.
- It is not necessary to take every day the recommended doses of all vitamins and minerals, so if you forget to take a product one day, take a normal dose the next day. Do not increase the dose above those recommended by the producer on the packaging.
Herbal products should be taken in a continuity, during 2 to 3 months, than cease taking them for a month, and then repeat the cycle.
