Do you really need vitamins and supplements?
The body requires certain vitamins for a healthy lifestyle. These are largely available through the food you consume in a balanced diet. Healthy Living this week looks at the controversy of whether the intake of vitamins and supplements is necessary to keep you in good physical shape.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
In the quest to maintain a healthy lifestyle, many people turn to dietary supplements to bolster their health regimen. The importance of vitamins and minerals in the diet has been a lesson passed on to us from an early age.
Marleni Cuellar
“But as adults, there is common divide between people who swear by a daily dose of multivitamins and some who think it’s unnecessary. In order to ascertain the real necessity of supplements to our diet we must go back to the basics.”
Dr. Fernando Cuellar, Internist/Intensivist
“Vitamins are substances that are found in food that are necessary for a proper functioning of all the different bodily functions. It has been made easy in terms of the naming of the vitamins because it follows the alphabet. We also have minerals that need to be considered all the time. These things all come under the umbrella of micronutrients. Meaning the macronutrients are the ones that we’ll get from food meaning the carbohydrates, the fats, the proteins and things like that and the micro are the vitamins and minerals.”
The Food and Drug Administration states that there are in total thirteen vitamins that the body needs. Those are Vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the different forms of Vitamins B. There are also seven minerals the body requires for proper functioning. All of these vitamins, though, are available through a healthy diet. So this leads to the common question: are vitamin and mineral supplements necessary?
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“The word supplement means that it is adding to what is already there meaning that we understand that we should be getting a certain amount of these nutrients from the food that we eat, but for X/Y reasons we’re supplementing adding to our regular intake of these vitamins and nutrients in pill form and different forms so they are actually an addition to. It has indeed sparked a lot of discussion and controversy whether supplements are necessary and useful and even if they’re not harmful and definitely what I’m seeing, and reading and understanding in our literature over the past decade is that more and more the more recognized institutions; the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, and all of the leading investigative groups have now leaned towards recommending supplemental forms of vitamins and minerals.”
Marleni Cuellar
“This recommendation though was not always the common school of thought. The shift came as a result of deficiencies and changes in diet.”
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“I think this change came about I think in the late 90’s, 96, and the nutrient that perhaps blazed the way was folic acid because folic acid was one of the first ones that was resoundingly shown that when there is a lack of it can lead to serious problems and that of course the supplementation during pregnancy and the avoidance of having children born with central nervous system defects: spina bifida. We were thought that it doesn’t make sense but that has changed. It does make sense and although there aren’t strong scientific evidence it is leaning towards that we encourage people to have a vitamin supplement.”
Marleni Cuellar
“Do you think it’s because we have a less healthier diet now?”
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“I would definitely agree with that. We eat more processed foods, we eat more supermarket food. Our lifestyle has changed so unfortunately that has led to us to need to supplement out diet.”
Before you rush to clear the shelves of supplements though, it is imperative to note that excessive consumption of some vitamins comes with its own consequences.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“There are some types of vitamins for example vitamin A. A, you may actually hurt yourself by taking too much. You have different type of vitamins that are called water soluble meaning that it doesn’t matter how much you take your body will get rid of the excess. But you have others that are not water soluble that could concentrate themselves in the tissue and those are the ones who would cause trouble. A is one of them, D, E and K and those are the ones you can run the risk of hurting yourself if you take too much.”
The most common deficiency noted by Dr. Cuellar is that of Vitamin B12.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“B12 is perhaps the most common ones I see. We actually measure it and it relates a lot to anemia, to low blood count so I see that quite often. There’s no substitution for healthy eating. There’s no substitution—it’s not a substitute for good food. So the idea has to be that you pay attention to what you eat and you can supplement it.”
His advice is to discuss with your physician what vitamins are best suited for you. This would be guided by factors such as age, level of activity, gender and any known illnesses. In summary, given the changes in diet and habits it may very well make sense to take your daily dose of vitamins.
Expanding on what the doctor said about processed foods:
When we cook or microwave our foods, we destroy and kill essential nutrients. Vegetables and fruits that have been sprayed with pesticides destroy essential nutrients or produce that have been on the shelf in the supermarket for a certain length of time lose essential nutrients.
That is why we need supplements, i.e. if we are cooking most of our food or buying from the supermarkets. To avoid taking supplements, the best thing to do is buy from your farmer’s market. Shop from the vendors who grow their own produce and haven’t sprayed them with any chemicals. Also, eat a variety of these foods to get all the necessary nutrients.
Also, B12 comes from the soil, which is why we usually get it from eating animals who have ingested soil as they eat grass. Vegetarians and vegans have to take B12 supplements because most of the vegetables they eat, come from soils that have been depleted of B12, especially those grown in industrial farms.
Belizeans are lucky, as many of us are privileged with yard space and access to rich soil and compost. If were were to grow our own organic gardens, or community farms, we would have to rely very little on supplements.
And also to avoid taking supplements, try to eat those organic vegetables from the farmer’s market, RAW — meaning uncooked, to get the most out of their rich enzymes and nutrients.
and try to stay away from white or bleached foods, e.g. white bread, white potatos, white sugar. Eat colorful!!! If it’s white or dull in color, then it’s not going to give you as much nutrients.