Generally, dieticians and doctors will advise you to just eat a healthy and well-balanced diet in order to fulfill your nutritional needs. But truth be told, how many of us actually go out of our way to eat foods such as whole grains or vegetables from all the different subgroups? This is usually where our health can get an extra helping hand from supplements. However, if you’ve ever visited the pharmacy, the dizzying array of different types of supplements can be enough to intimidate those who come in just wanting a casual browse.
For those who know people that are more health conscious, it is likely that you’ve seen the bottles of vitamins lining their cupboards. With everything from fish oil to melatonin, you can’t help wondering if they really need them all as long as they’re keeping to their seemingly ultra-healthy diet and exercise routine. While having an extra dose of vitamins doesn’t exactly do a lot of harm to a body, it can still be taxing on your liver to process an excess amount. This means that you have to be selective about what type of supplements you choose to ingest in order to maximize the benefits. So what exactly does your everyday diet lack that your body might need?
For The Vegans And Vegetarians (Vitamin B12)
As people are becoming more socially and ecologically conscious, many are opting to change their dietary habits to become more plant-based. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since plant-based diets often have a lower carbon footprint and are usually relatively healthy, even though many types of junk food can technically be considered vegan. However, while plant-based diets still have means of providing adequate protein, they unfortunately are often lacking in sources of vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 is found in meat, dairy products, and eggs, which means that it is often lacking in vegan and vegetarian diets. B12 is important for a variety of functions: it helps to keep your blood and nerve cells healthy, and also plays a role in Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) replication, which contains the genetic material of all your cells. If a person is experiencing a deficiency in vitamin B12, they may experience various systems, including but not limited to fatigue, weakness, and numbness in the extremities.
A typical adult requires about 2.4 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B12 per day. However, the body stores around 1000 to 2000 times the amount of vitamin B12 in your body as you’d typically eat in a day. This means that vitamin B12 deficiencies often only present symptoms many years later. Factors that may further inhibit the body’s ability to absorb vitamin B12 include surgeries that may have removed part of the stomach (since that lowers the amount of hydrochloric acid in the body), those with small intestine disorders such as Crohn’s disease (as they generally have issues with absorption of nutrients), and people with pernicious anemia (as they do not produce enough of the intrinsic factor needed to absorb vitamin B12).
For The Picky Eater And Heavy Drinker (Zinc)
Although many of us likely know this metal from high school chemistry exams, it may surprise you to know that zinc is actually a fairly important nutrient for the human body. Zinc is a trace nutrient that can be found in many different foods including shellfish, nuts, and oats. It is vital for the regulation of the immune system, prevents muscle degeneration, and helps with wound healing. Additionally, zinc is also required for the activity of over 300 enzymes in the human body, which carry out a variety of functions.
Unlike some other nutrients, the human body is unable to naturally produce zinc. This means that it’s important to have a diet that contains enough zinc or to take zinc supplements. Additionally, the body is unable to store zinc, which means that consistent intake of zinc is important. While zinc deficiency is not particularly common in first world countries, it is still possible for mild zinc deficiency to occur in people who are suffering from gastrointestinal diseases such as Crohn’s disease (which inhibits the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine), people with chronic kidney disease, and people who drink a lot of alcohol (since alcohol lowers the amount of zinc in the body).
The symptoms of a mild zinc deficiency include decreased immunity, thinning hair, decreased appetite, and mood disturbances, amongst others. Since zinc can generally be found in a wide variety of food and most fortified foods have zinc in them, zinc deficiency is mostly found in the impoverished populations of countries. More serious cases of zinc deficiency can cause delayed development and growth, skin rashes, and impaired wound healing.
Eating a balanced diet is important, but sometimes it can feel impossible to fit all the major food and vegetable groups onto your dinner plate. Supplements can lend a helping hand to ensure that all your vitamin requirements are being met and help your body to function optimally.