Dietary Supplements: Types, Nutrition and Benefits

It is very important to have all the essential nutrients in your body so that your body can function effectively and thus help you to build up a strong immune system so that you can fight against any harmful disease caused by micro-organisms. Moreover, when you age, there are chances that your overall health might deteriorate, and your body might become prone to harmful diseases. So, it is quite crucial to derive all the essential nutrients for proper body functioning and to stay fit and healthy.

The important nutrients that one must consume consist of different types of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and so on. All these nutrients are present in a nutrient-rich, balanced diet. But there are some groups of people, mostly aged individuals, who require more nutrients or in greater quantities. It might also happen to them that their bodies cannot get the desired amount of nutrients that are essential for the benefit of the body. In such cases, doctors and health care experts advise them to consume dietary supplements that are rich in these health beneficial nutrients. These health supplements not only provide them with the required amounts of nutrients but also help to keep them healthy and fit.

Everything To Know About Dietary Supplements:

Dietary supplements can be defined as components that consist of essential health nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acids, antioxidants, and other health beneficial extracts that help to keep your body healthy when consumed and thus help you to intake all the essential nutrients that could not be absorbed into your body easily through food sources. Dietary supplements are mostly consumed in the form of capsules, tablets, or in liquid forms such as syrups that are consumed orally.

Though the food that you have in your regular diet is a crucial way to get the healthy nutrients that are required by your body, it is quite certain that consumption of dietary supplements regularly cannot substitute the nutrients derived from food. Foods should be consumed regularly in the form of a balanced diet. Dietary supplements are some of the additional health care options that will take good care of your health and body.

But one thing that should be always kept in mind is that dietary supplements should be taken only with proper advice from your medical expert to get rid of the health hazards and the adverse health effects that might occur from the supplements.

Which Type Of Dietary Supplements Should You Take? Here Are Some Points

• Vitamins: Vitamins are some of the most important nutrients that are quite important for carrying out some major functions in your body, such as helping in proper growth and development, regulation absorption and proper metabolism, digestion, promoting neurological functions, and many others. There are two broad types of vitamins, such as:

• Fat-soluble vitamins: As the name suggests, these vitamins are soluble in fats or lipid-like substances. Examples of these vitamins are vitamins A, D, E, and K.
• Water-soluble vitamins: These are another class of vitamins that are soluble in water. Such vitamins include Vitamin C and Vitamin B complex.

• Minerals: Apart from vitamins, minerals help in maintaining essential functions of the body such as growth, bone health, fluid balance, and so on. These substances are found in nature, on earth, and through the food substances that we consume in our everyday diet. Some important minerals are zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, and so on.

Most dietary supplements are rich sources of vitamins and minerals. People are advised to have these Dietary supplements regularly in specific doses so that they can replenish the nutrients that are lacking in their bodies.

Though dietary supplements are quite nutritious in content and are beneficial for your overall health, there are conditions in which they might lead to adverse health effects. There are different downsides to using dietary supplements because they can cause health problems too and, in some cases, they might prove to be harmful and life-threatening, mostly some vitamin supplements such as vitamin A, vitamin D, and mineral-rich dietary supplements such as iron.

Thus, it is quite clear that there are both pros and cons of having dietary supplements in your regular diet. So, it is very crucial to know what the good effects of dietary supplements can be, what disadvantages they can create on your overall health, and most importantly which dietary supplements you should avoid and which one you should include in your diet. It is still recommended that before having the dietary supplements first consult with your health care expert and try to make sure whether it is necessary for you to take the supplements, and which one is appropriate for you so that you do not develop the adverse effects of these dietary supplements.

Health Benefits Of Having Dietary Supplements:

Increases Your Nutritional Intake:

As it is mentioned earlier that dietary supplements are quite rich in nutritional contents and thus if you consume these healthy components regularly, then you are bound to derive more nutrients than your body used to get simply from the foods you had in your diet. When you have dietary supplements, this means you are taking in the vitamins or minerals that your body is currently lacking or the nutrients that cannot be properly absorbed and well metabolized in your body. Only consume dietary supplements if your body is lacking some nutrients and have those supplements that contain those nutrients which are not present in adequate quantities in your body.

The list of health supplements that you must consume is given below:

Magnesium:

Magnesium is an important mineral that should be present in optimum quantities in your daily diet so that you can carry out all the physiological functions effectively. Those functions include the following:

• Regulate the functions of the nervous system by calming down the overexcited nerves and thus reduces the chances of occurrences of neurological disorders such as stress, anxiety, and so on. This recovers other problems such as sleep disorder or insomnia, nerve function, and so on.
• Magnesium is a key component that helps in the synthesis of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), protein substances, and bones
• Magnesium reduces high blood sugar levels and thus lowers the risk of developing disorders like diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes
• Magnesium helps in the synthesis of energy and reduces senses of exhaustion and fatigue
• This mineral helps in maintaining proper health of the bone joints and prevents the fragileness of bones, particularly among aged people.

Zinc:

Zinc is an important mineral that is important for stress management and for regulating related body functions. When a person is under stress, the amount of zinc goes down. Besides, there are other functions of zinc too. They are as follows:

• Boost up your immune system, so that you can fight against any infectious diseases or other health problems.
• Provides necessary nutrients to your body such as carbohydrates, protein, energy, fat, and so on.
• Helps in the quick healing of wounds, mostly after surgery or after getting hurt.

Iron:

Iron is the most crucial mineral that your body will need. Without iron, the body will not be able to produce enough hemoglobin, the pigment that is responsible for getting the red color of your blood and this helps to carry oxygen through the blood. Enough amount of iron in your body lessens the risk of developing disorders like anemia. Iron also helps in better functioning of the brain and increases energy production in the body.

Calcium:

Calcium is an essential nutrient that regulates bone and teeth health. This mineral is particularly essential for aged people who have greater tendencies to bone fracture and related ailments. Calcium should be consumed through supplements to resolve problems like reduction of bone densities and curing teeth problems.

Vitamin D:

Vitamin D is an important vitamin that is essential for bone health. Vitamin D is essential in your body for the following reasons:

• Prevents you from getting sick by boosting your immune system
• Prevents fragileness of bones and hair loss
• Reduces pain in bone joints in areas like the neck, back, and so on.

If You Are Suffering From A Disease:

Dietary supplements are required to cure illnesses as they provide you with a good number of health benefits and prevent the oxidative functions caused by disease-causing free radicals and thus help to lower the chance of falling ill quickly.

Adversities Of Using Dietary Supplements:

Though there are several health benefits of having dietary supplements, there are some adversities as well. Some of them are as follows:

• There are chances of intoxication from dietary supplements which might become fatal from excessive or unnecessary usage
• Overuse of vitamins such as Vitamin D might lead to hyper-calcemia
• There might be chances of liver damage from excessive use of dietary supplements and chances of getting other ailments such as diarrhea, nausea, dehydration, low blood pressure, irregular heart rate, dizziness, fever, chills, headache, and so on.