Researchers have found that nutrients in food may be linked to lower risks of death, while excessive intake of certain supplements may have the opposite effect. Supplement intake leads to an increase in the level of total nutrient intake.
Dietary supplements
include vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, and enzymes. Generally speaking, the results are clear in terms of supplements versus food.Getting nutrients from healthy foods is the best way to keep your vitamin and mineral levels high. While supplements should never replace healthy foods, there are times when they are required. Supplements are not meant to replace food. They cannot replicate all the nutrients and benefits of whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
On the one hand, says Chakravarty, supplements are specific extracts of nutritional components for a healthy diet. When you eat natural foods, there is much more nutritional power in foods that the supplement does not contain. Vitamin and mineral supplements should contribute to a nutritious diet, not replace healthy foods altogether. Here are some reasons you should avoid relying on pills and powders for your nutrient intake.
Getting our nutrients straight from a pill seems easy, but supplements don't necessarily deliver on the promise of better health. Some can even be dangerous, especially when taken in higher than recommended amounts. Eating a variety of foods is an important way to stay healthy. Foods contain nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and water, as well as many different vitamins and minerals, and other compounds that can keep you healthy.
The body uses all of this to keep muscles, bones, organs, and other tissues healthy and strong. Eating a combination of nutritious foods can also reduce the risk of many diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Most studies don't show a clear link between taking supplements and preventing illness, unless those diseases are caused by a nutritional deficiency, so if you're in good health, you'd better get nutrients from food. The study is observational, meaning that any relationship between nutrients in food and certain diseases is merely an association and does not imply causation.
In addition, a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that diets rich in foods that contain certain nutrients can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, but consuming the same nutrients in supplement form does not have the same health benefits. While most professionals recommend getting nutrients from healthy foods rather than supplements, there are conditions and stages in life when supplementation may be necessary. Experts recommend that healthy people get their vitamins and minerals by eating nutrient-rich foods instead of taking supplements. Nutrients occur naturally in a complex combination and often depend on the reactions of other food components to function properly.
Fruits, vegetables, fish, and other healthy foods contain nutrients and other substances not found in a pill, which work together to keep us healthy. However, often, many people turn to supplements and vitamins for an extra boost, as they provide additional nutritional support, but not all. People of any age who don't eat entire food categories, such as vegans and strict vegetarians, may also consider vitamin B12 supplementation, Rumsey suggests, because vitamin is only naturally found in animal foods such as meat, milk and dairy products, and eggs. We know that there are several vitamins that are marketed to consumers that contain nutrition equivalent to servings of vegetables and fruits in quantities x, but we are not convinced that this is the best way to receive vital nutrients.
Your doctor can tell you what nutrients you may need to supplement and can tell you the appropriate dose and the appropriate form or source to take. .
