THE MINUS SIDE OF MULTIVITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS

Which do you prefer: Tossing some tablets of multivitamins supplements into your mouth, or sitting down to eat a natural and balanced meal?

Well, modern lifestyle tends to dictate what option we choose.

Contemporary lifestyle has actually driven many people to prefer multi-vitamins supplements. They believe that popping some tablets of multivitamins supplements into their mouths is all they need to do to obtain their needs for all the vital nutrients their bodies require daily to function optimally.

These individuals believe that all the vitamins and minerals contained in the meals they should be eating can also be obtained from the multi-vitamins supplements they reach out for and toss into their mouths.

No, that isn’t possible.

In this article, I want to show you why you should make every effort to get your vital nutrients – vitamins and minerals, from the actual meals you eat. This is one of the habits you must cultivate and pass on to your children.

Poor food and feeding culture passed on from parents to children are responsible for the poor health condition of people all over the world today. This worrisome situation is more prevalent in the advanced and highly industrialized nations.

For instance, the Fast Food culture in America accounts for the staggering percentage of obese and diabetic individuals in that society. A 2015 study in Cornell University Food and Brand Lab suggested that the amount of food eaten by Americans, especially fast foods, contributed to obesity and insulin resistance in the adult population.

Now, the majority of these people, precisely 77% of US adults, take dietary supplements of various descriptions.

It’s generally believed that one would obtain their bodies’ requirements for essential vitamins and minerals from those synthetic supplements they toss into their mouths after meals.

However, research studies have revealed that multi-vitamins supplements do not possess the kind of nutrients – vitamins and minerals, our real foods contain.

No, you cannot get the same nutrients from those chemical formulations that would be as good as what you get from eating real diets or meals.

In other words, multivitamin supplements can’t give you the nutrients that are as good as what comes from consuming real foods.

Persuading my friends and others I have had to counsel on their diet lifestyles to get the vitamins and minerals their bodies need from the food they eat hasn’t been easy.

I had thought one particular friend understood what I was driving at, until she made the following response.

“Oh, Godwin, I take my supplements religiously.”

“Really?”

I have understood from conversations that most people, especially professionals and career individuals, don’t realize that it is far better to get vitamins and minerals from the ordinary or natural diets they consume, and the fruits and vegetable juices they drink.

And come to think of it, our bodies utilize the vitamins and minerals from real foods better and more efficiently than the ones obtained from multi-vitamin supplements.

I don’t know about you, but any of us who has ever swallowed a multivitamin or a mineral supplement can tell you that their tastes make them undesirable, when compared to the tastes of our natural meals and fruit juices.

Another fact we should pay attention to is that these supplements are also difficult for our bodies to break down and absorb. This makes it difficult for someone in need of quickly boosting their vitamin and mineral deficiencies to get the benefits of these supplements.

By consuming enough nutrient-dense food to get our required nutrients means that our bodies would easily process and utilize them without any waste.

In other words, our bodies don’t usually utilize the vitamins and minerals in synthetic supplements efficiently. Our bodies reject these “foreign” vitamins and minerals, which eventually get wasted. This is not the case with our natural foods or diets.

On the other hand, our bodies process nutrients throughout the course of the day, when we rely on what we eat for vitamins and minerals.

Therefore, the ‘once a day’ approach of obtaining vitamins and minerals from supplements becomes an abnormal situation.

Now, we need to realize that most of these supplements available in the drug stores today make use of fillers and binders that hold them together. In addition, the coatings on these supplements are what our bodies hardly need and would hardly absorb.

Some people even react to these dyes and fillers used in manufacturing multi-vitamins pills. These dyes and fillers are chemicals that has the potential to harm some people, whereas the body immensely benefits from the dietary fibers in fruits and vegetables.

Most times, it’s the “skin” of a vegetable, like the potato, that is the most nutritious part. However, the coatings of multi-vitamins and mineral supplements cause stomach upsets, which makes it difficult for a user to take it the next day.

In most instances, combining supplements can lessen their effectiveness, in addition to the stomach trouble they bring to some users. These people also have to always deal with the unpleasant tastes and smells of some supplements.

On the other hand, a variety of fruits and vegetables add to the flavor of a nutritious meal, in addition to their fibers helping in digestion.

If you are desirous of losing weight, eating fresh foods is vital to a weight loss plan.

Similarly, consuming fresh fruits and vegetables enhances hair growth. In addition, the skin becomes healthier, the teeth remain strong, which adds to one being more attractive.

In any case, fruits and vegetables are the original and usual nurishment the body needs daily to thrive. You can simply reach out for an orange, apple, banana, grapes, or quickly put a few vegetables together for a salad to take to your workplace.

Therefore, when you’re looking for healthy, well-balanced, and reliable nutrition, don’t reach for a bottle of multi-vitamin supplement, reach out for the real food!