Although nature intended for us to receive the needed vitamins and minerals through food consumption, the changes that have been occurring in people's lifestyles, working environments, free time and rest hours, have tremendously altered their dietary habits and thus, the quantity of vitamins and mineral supplements received. In order to resolve this recent negative development, physicians and researchers have been advising people to take vitamin and mineral supplements. But although governments set guidelines of how much of each vitamin and mineral people should take in order to stay within the safe range, many people believe these levels are too low and consume larger doses of vitamins thinking that they are doing good with this extra vitamin and mineral intake.
Unfortunately, this is not the case and there is worse. Some people justify their poor eating habits and try to provide sound arguments against eating properly during the day, by saying that they orally take a few vitamin and mineral pills to cover their bodies' needs. These people are catastrophically wrong. Not only they do not receive their normal amount of energy through food, they can cause even bigger harm by consuming pills that have not been advised by their doctor. Even if one follows a balanced diet it is not advisable to consume more than the directed dose of vitamins and minerals, but taking extra vitamins and minerals within the guidelines are considered safe.
The Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA's) for each vitamin and mineral have been set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences. The recommended doses were based on studies completed more than 25 years ago to see how much of each vitamin and mineral the human body needed and how much people received from foods. But exactly because the guidelines are now more than one quarter of a century old, some people think that the RDA's need to be increased as they consider them antiquated. In fact, in recent years some RDA's, such as Vitamin C, have been increased. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been slow and hesitant to increase others because of studies that indicated taking more is not always better.
Vitamins are nutrients required for essential metabolic reaction in the body and along with minerals are extremely important substances in fighting disease and curing many ailments. Until the 1900s, vitamins could only be obtained by eating food, but many people today believe vitamins can stop the aging process, prevent or even heal cancer, grow back hair, ease arthritis, prevent Alzheimer's disease, and many other health related conditions. People are spending absolutely billions of dollars on vitamin and mineral supplements believing they can cure all their illness.
Researchers are now studying if taking supplements above the recommended levels is actually harmful and the results have shown that while some vitamins are harmful if taken above their recommended levels, others are not. For instance, overdosing yourself with Vitamin E (at more than 1,000 mg) it is possible to cause bleeding. Also, Vitamin C used to be thought of a safe vitamin to take megadoses of and many people take a lot thinking it can cure a cold and prevent cancer. But the FDA disproves of such practices and supports that too much vitamin C can cause diarrhea. The best approach to vitamin and mineral supplements is to only take what is a prudent dose. In case you think you need to take more for some reason, then it is best if you consult with your doctor who is familiar with your exact health history and can give you expert advice.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 July 2006 )
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