Vitamins: How To Keep Your Body Healthy By Using Vitamins Safely

Vitamins are an important part of a health diet. Unlike carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, vitamins do not directly provide building blocks or energy for your body; vitamins function as assistants to your body in creating and breakdown down building blocks and storing and releasing energy.

Vitamins come in two basic types: water-soluble and fat-soluble (see the table on the website below)

Quick-Guide to Vitamins by Shoppe.MD Online Pharmacy

If your diet generally follows the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, you will get the recommended daily allowances of vitamins (the amount people generally need). But there are many reasons why these guidelines might not get us the vitamins we need.

* Day-to-day living: In the rush of daily life, it may be hard to eat a consistently balanced diet. Sometimes we skip meals or buy them from sources (like fast-food restaurants) where we do not have easy access to information about nutritional value.

* Pregnancy: If you are pregnant (or breastfeeding), you may need to significantly change your vitamin intake. Folic acid is crucial to the brain and nervous system development of, but at the same time an excess of other vitamins (including vitamin A) can cause serious fetal injury.

* Seniority: Seniors often have difficulties eating or digesting certain foods, including those that can provide vitamins

* Diets: Being on low-calorie diets or diets that restrict certain types of food can significantly impact getting enough of all kinds of vitamins.

So for many of us, vitamin supplements will be helpful in getting and staying healthy. But like anything else we do for our health, it's as important to know the risks as the benefits.

* The "Too Much of a Good Thing" Trap: Vitamins in the proper doses are good for you. But many vitamins are toxic in large quantities, so taking more than enough may be a bad idea. Excess vitamin A can lead to nausea, vomiting, and peeling skin, and over the long-term can lead to significant damage to bones, brain and nerves. It can also be very dangerous for a developing fetus. Vitamin E can cause a rise in LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and like all fat-soluble vitamins, is stored in the liver, so if you take a little bit extra every day, the impact can show up over time. Even vitamin D, the bone-building vitamin, can actually encourage bone loss if taken in excess.

* Vitamins are not food: Vitamins are sometimes called "micronutrients." Small doses can keep us healthy. However, they are not a substitute for the food that your body needs to make energy and rebuild damaged tissue. Diets that severely restrict or eliminate proteins, fats, or carbohydrates can impair functioning, and vitamins cannot make up for that.

* Fetuses and children are not grown-ups: Children have special vitamins for a reason - their bodies need different things than adults do. Treat children's supplements like any other medication; they may taste like candy, but letting your child take more than the recommended dose can have significant consequences. To keep a fetus growing steadily and correctly, a vitamin discussion should be part of your regular prenatal care.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines

U.S.D.A. " Food Guide Pyramid," www.usda.gov/cnpp/pyramid2.htm

"Getting enough vitamins. Do you need to supplement a healthy diet?" Mayo Clinic Womens Healthsource. Volume 3, Issue March 7, p 4-5, 2003

Kmietowicz , Z. "Food watchdog warns against high doses of vitamins and minerals," British Medical Journal Volume 326, Issue1001, 2003

Oakley, GP and Mandel JS, "Folic acid fortification remains an urgent health priority," British Medical Journal, Volume 329, Issue 7479, p1375-1376, 2004

Copyright (C) Shoppe.MD and Ian Mason, 2004-2005

Ian Mason, owner of Shoppe.MD, your source for Online Prescription Medications, drug information and support forums.

Ian is a fat-to-fit student of health, weight loss, exercise, and several martial arts; maintaining several websites in an effort to help provide up-to-date and helpful information for other who share his interests in health of body and mind.

---

Fish Oils And A Plethora of Chronic Health Problems

I recently heard of an older couple that eats salmon... Read More

Vitamin Supplement Ratings ? Proof Of Popularity

Vitamin supplement ratings quite clearly show just how popular nutritional... Read More

Glyconutrients For You?

Simply stated, the Greek word glyco refers to "sweet." Hence,... Read More

Health Benefits of CoQ10 - A Powerful, Important Heart Compound

Coenzyme Q10 (also known as ubiquinone, but most widely referred... Read More

Beyond Macronutrients and the Importance of Vitamin Supplements

Most healthy eaters are familiar with the three macronutrients that... Read More

Pulling The Roots Of Disease

"Anybody who tells you that disease has only one cause,... Read More

Glyconutrients: A Breakthrough Discovery

The science of Glycobiology, touted by the Massachusetts Institute of... Read More

Shopping for Supplements -- Living Healthy and Saving Money

When it comes to personalized weight loss programs and their... Read More

The History And Usefulness Of Coenzyme Q10

Throughout my childhood I was aware of the importance of... Read More

Easing Arthritis Pain with Glucosamine & Chondroitin Supplements

If you suffer from arthritis pain, chances are you've heard... Read More

Vitamin B-2

Riboflavin is a common name for vitamin B-2 and was... Read More

The Need For Supplementation

When I began to study nutrition, I too believed that... Read More

Dietary Supplement Vitamin

Dietary Supplement Vitamin - why is it important?Dietary supplement vitamin... Read More

Will Your Vitamins Be Banned?

Imagine this scenario by the end of next August...You contact... Read More

Discovering MSM

MSM is a wonderful supplement with a low toxicity rating... Read More

How Effective are Oral Hyaluronic Acid Supplements?

There is a paradox of sorts when dealing with injections... Read More

Ftiness Supplementation

Fitness Supplement ? what is it?The term "fitness supplement" is... Read More

The History of Hyaluronic Acid Treatments

While HA has dramatically increased in popularity and use within... Read More

9 Vitamins & Supplements to Improve Your Memory

Does this describe you: You walk into the living room... Read More

Nutritional Supplement

Nutritional Supplement ? what is it?So what is a nutritional... Read More

Vitamins for Your Healthier LIfe

VITAMINS:Vitamins are major for Healthy life. Vitamin D may reduce... Read More

The Fountain Of Youth

Aging, a steady declineThe History of the world is filled... Read More

Advanced Creatine Cycling Schedule

Many people find that after a few weeks, the gains... Read More

Know Your Bodybuilding Supplement - L-Arginine

Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid that the body cannot... Read More

Know Your Bodybuilding Supplement - L-Tyrosine

L-tyrosine is a non-essential amino acid that plays a role... Read More

Side Effects of Hyaluronic Acid Products

Currently, there are no known side effects for most hyaluronic... Read More

Take Back Your Life

It seems today that for every mood swing, inconvenient behavior,... Read More

Increase Your Production Of Nitric Oxide

What Is Nitric Oxide (NO)?Nitric oxide (NO) is produced by... Read More

Grreen Power

It's green, it's valuable, and it can vastly improve your... Read More

Vitamin Benefits ? What You Need To Know

Parents always tell their children to take their vitamins. Every... Read More

Using Natural Remedies For Constipation

There are two basic types of constipation - organic and... Read More

What are Phytochemicals (Phytonutrients)?

Don't be overwhelmed by this big word, ... Read More

Vitamin E

Three Important Nutrients - Vitamin E, Selenium, and Sodium and... Read More