ALL NATURAL ADVANTAGE

Natural Healthcare And Advice

14 Good Reasons Why You May Need Nutritional Supplements

Many people believe that eating a well balanced diet provides all the vitamins and minerals necessary for good health. In ideal circumstances, this is the case, but in reality there are many reasons why you may need vitamin supplements to cope with living in our stressful environment.  

1.            Poor Digestion

Even when your food intake is good, inefficient digestion can limit your body’s uptake of vitamins. Common symptoms of poor digestion: pain after eating, indigestion, bloating, flatulence, nausea, loose stools or constipation, fullness after eating small amounts of food, etc.

2.     Coffee, Tea and Spices

Consuming an excess of irritants such as coffee, tea or pickles and spices can cause inflammation of the digestive lining, resulting in a drop in secretion of digestive fluids and poor vitamin and mineral absorption from food.

3.    Alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol is known to damage the liver and pancreas, which are vital to digestion and metabolism. It can also damage the lining of the intestinal tract and adversely affect the absorption of nutrients, leading to sub-clinical malnutrition. Regular heavy use of alcohol increases the body’s need for B-group vitamins, particularly thiamine, niacin, pyridoxine folic acid and vitamins B₁₂, A and C as well as the minerals zinc, magnesium and calcium. Alcohol affects availability, absorption and metabolism of nutrients.

4.    Fad Diets

Questionable diets that miss out whole groups of foods can be seriously lacking in vitamins. Even the popular low fat diets, if taken to an extreme, can be deficient in vitamins A, D and E. Vegetarian diets, which exclude meat and other animal sources, must be very skilfully planned to avoid vitamin B₁₂ deficiency, which may lead to anaemia.  

5.    Convenience Foods  

Regular consumption of convenience foods high in refined carbohydrates, such as sugar, white flour and white rice places greater demand on additional sources of B-group vitamins to process these carbohydrates. Convenience foods are also much higher in salt, fat, and especially in artificial colours, flavours and preservatives, which places a heavy load on the liver to detoxify and excrete these chemicals from the body. This in turn depletes the body quickly of additional vitamins and minerals essential for your well-being. An unbalanced diet contributes significantly to such conditions as irritability, lethargy and sleep disorders. 

6.             Antibiotics

Some antibiotics, although valuable in fighting infection, also kill off friendly bacteria in the gut, which would normally be producing B-group vitamins to be absorbed through the intestinal walls. Such deficiencies can result in a variety of nervous conditions, therefore it is highly recommended to supplement with B-group vitamins when on a lengthy course of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and / or use pure Lactobacillus supplements.

7.       Stress

Chemical, physical and emotional stresses can increase the body’s requirement for vitamins B2, B5, B6 and C. Air pollution increases requirements for vitamin E.

8.         Premenstrual Tension (PMT)

Research has demonstrated that up to 60 percent of women suffering from symptoms of premenstrual tension, such as headaches, irritability, bloatedness, breast tenderness, lethargy and depression can benefit from supplementation with vitamin B6.

9.         Light Eaters

Some people eat very sparingly, even without weight loss goals. U.S. dietary surveys have shown that an average woman maintains her weight on 7560 kilojoules per day, at which level her diet is likely to be low in thiamine, calcium and iron.

10.         Oral Contraceptives

Oral contraceptives can decrease absorption of folic acid and increase the need for vitamin B6, and possibly vitamin C, zinc and riboflavin

11.         Pregnant Women

Pregnancy creates higher than average demands for nutrients, to ensure healthy growth of the baby and comfortable confinement for the mother. Nutrients which typically are required in higher demand during pregnancy are the B-group vitamins, especially B1, b2, B3, B6, folic acid and b12, A, D, E and the minerals calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and phosphorous. One study has shown that as many as 80 per cent of pregnant women surveyed had dietary intakes below two thirds of recommended daily allowances. Professional assessment of nutrient requirements during pregnancy should be sought.

12.         Teenagers

Rapid growth spurts such as in the teenage years, particularly in girls, place high demands on nutritional resources to keep up with the accelerated physical, biochemical and emotional development in this age group. In one study covering a total of 24,000 families and 86,000 individuals, showed that between 30 – 50 per cent of adolescents aged 12 to 16 had dietary intakes below two-thirds of the recommended daily averages for vitamin A, C, calcium and iron.

13 .         The Elderly

The aged have been shown to have a low intake of vitamins and minerals, particularly iron, calcium and zinc. Folic acid deficiency is often found, in conjunction with vitamin C deficiency. Fibre intake is often low. Riboflavin (B2) and pyridoxine (B6) deficiencies have also been observed. Possible causes include impaired sense of taste and smell, reduced secretion of digestive enzymes, chronic disease and perhaps physical impairment.

14.          Illness

The challenge of infection places a high demand on the nutritional resources of zinc, magnesium and vitamins B5, B6 and E. surgery increases the need for zinc, vitamin E and other nutrients involved in cellular repair.  

For advice or to book a consultation call (03) 8802 7687 or email me. 

Disclaimer

This website has no financial connection to the supplement or health products industry.

The information on this website is provided as a guide to your healthcare options only.  The All Natural Advantage website makes no statements, representations or warranties about the accuracy or completeness of, and should not be relied on as a sole source of information.  We take no responsibility or liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for any expenses, losses, damages or costs you might incur as a result of the information being inaccurate or incomplete in any way, and for any reason including but not limited to, you deciding whether or not to choose specific treatment based on the information.

Please contact me or another qualified health professional before embarking on any health treatment program

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Last modified: 05/28/08