Sunday, May 15, 2011

Needs of Vitamin Supplements at Various Stages of Life

Many people have always complain of being 'stressed out' or 'tired all the time'; it might be due to lacking of vitamins in the body. Vitamins are important nutrients for optimum health as they help our body to maintain and develop many of its functions. Cell metabolism, protein and blood depend upon some vitamins. Most of vitamins are not stored by the body so a vitamin rich diet is the best way to maintain the requirements of vitamins in the body. For different stages of life, different vitamins are required as the vitamins need changes at all stages of life. Many people have confusion about which vitamins to take. Nowadays, more and more research is continuously evolving about nutrition. In this article, you will find about vitamin supplements that required at various stages of life.

Needs of Vitamin Supplements at Various Stages of Life


Few people would contradict the common sense of at least getting a multivitamin every day. Vitamin supplements are not hard to get, dangerous or expensive. At almost any grocery store, you can find them in large quantities. Some people who are in a modify stage of their lives such as adolescence, childhood and the elder ones must pay attention towards their vitamin levels or at least have someone who pays attention for them. Actually, specific vitamin supplements are particularly intended for these stages of life as the demand is bigger and there are some vitamins that are vital for health during those changeover periods. As per the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the elderly, the pregnant and those with chronic illnesses all might require evaluating and adjust their vitamin intake.

According to report from the American Medical Association, most children get the necessary amount of vitamins through diet, but children that are underfed or have sicknesses that might put them at risk or consume restricted diets, may require supplements. If elder people go through healthy eating, then they may not require extra vitamins but those that are frail, homebound or with chronic diseases might require a multivitamin. Vitamins B12 and vitamin D might be suggested by physicians as the body metabolizes these vitamins in a different way on aging.

The "sunshine vitamin," vitamin D’s deficiency can cause soft bones or rickets in children. In adults, the deficiency of vitamin D can cause osteomalacia or bone loss (osteoporosis). Vitamin D promotes bone mineralization and helps the body to absorb calcium. The health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) offered recommendations for vitamin D in November 2010. These recommendations were popular in the science world because they seemed low in comparison to what most health care professionals were counseling.

Vitamin D utilized by more than 900 genes and deficiency of it can be related with raised risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, hypertension and obesity, as per V. Tangpricha, M.D., Ph.D. of Emory University of Medicine. Many health care professionals also give it as a defense against many forms of disease.
Because of low levels of vitamin D in our diet and avoidance of the sun, levels of vitamin D are declining by 50 % even in healthy populations. An obese person have to intake vitamin D more as belly fat holds onto vitamin D and causes fewer of it to be obtainable to the body. The correct dosage to obtain daily depends on blood values of person. 1,000 IU per day is the basic amount to start. New guidelines of the Endocrine Society will be expected to come out on June 6, 2011, and it is forecasted that they will suggest between 1,000-2,000 IU per day.

Women require entirely different vitamins and supplements than men as they are responsible for giving birth and their bodies are different from men. Woman needs different vitamin supplements during various times in her life. Vitamin supplements are different for nursing mothers, pregnant woman, pre-menopausal and post-menopausal woman. As women age, calcium and vitamin D3 are included in their vitamin supplements as their body does not have sufficient of these vitamins to maintain healthy bone so they have a higher occurrence of osteoporosis than men.

Women’s bodies are undergoing vast hormonal changes from pre-menopause to post-menopause. Also during pregnancy, woman is sharing her nutrients and vitamins with another growing body and so she requires including iron and calcium. Most of physicians recommend expectant mothers to take a vitamin supplement early in the pregnancy to make sure that both she and the baby get all of the vitamins and nutrients they require.

Many researches are done on multi-vitamins but all are unsatisfactory at best. You may not require a multivitamin unless you have a medical issue needing a certain supplement or are eating below 1,500 calories per day. Unless you are a pregnant or a woman of child-bearing age, iron is not necessary. Women having age over 40 and men of any age should ensure their multivitamin is iron-free.

At least 400 mcg of folic acid is present in most of multi-vitamins so take them only 3 times in a week unless you are planning to get pregnant or you are pregnant. Foods contain folic acid in good amount so many individuals are getting too much amount of folic acid on a regular basis. Overdosing of folic acid can raise the risk of breast, colorectal and prostate cancers.

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