The food guidelines state that an average person should intake all the nutritional needs required by the body for its proper functioning. The fresh food you eat is supposed to be loaded with nutrients for good health, such as magnesium, calcium, and Vitamin A and C, but many older adults do not get enough nutrients from their diets.
The increase in processed food consumption has degraded the nutritional quality of the food. The refined content added sugar and many other mineral oils and preservatives associated with several chronic diseases. Eating natural food and a well-balanced diet may still fall short of all the necessary nutrients. The ability to absorb nutrients from natural foods has drastically degraded in the past with increasing age since the energy requirement slows down.
Dietary supplements are a natural way to bridge the gap between the essential requirements of the diet. Nutrients that come from food are way beyond important, but can we take all the food that is rich in the supplements that our body needs?
Generally, supplements are required by everybody to fulfil their required nutritions, but these categories of people especially need them:
- Pregnant or trying to conceive
- 50 or above
- Poor appetite and cannot intake all the nutritional food
- On a diet that does not include all the food requirements
- Suffering from chronic conditions such as food allergies, food intolerance, diarrhea etc.
- Surgery on the digestive tract affects the intake of several food items.
Things to watch out for before taking any supplements:
Avoid Heavy doses: Having more than the required recommendation and need might increase the chances of any side effect in the body.
Keep the check of your food: If a particular diet is followed, it may already have sufficient amounts of a particular type of vitamin that you might want to skip from your supplements to avoid the excess.
Read the description: Labels can tell you the active ingredients, the required nutrients, the serving size and the amount required each day.
Inform the physician: Supplements should be prescribed since the combination might be harmful with the prescribed dosage.
Report the issue: Any serious illness or allergy that is caused by the consumption must be immediately reported to the doctor.
What are herbal supplements?
Herbal therapy is known to be therapeutic to integrate the emotional, mental and spiritual levels. The usage of herbs does not involve the action of drugs that might cause any severe health effects. Herbal supplements are known to contain more than one herb.
Common dietary supplements are inclusive of vitamins, while herbal health products are derived from botanicals and substances from a natural source.
Researching before purchasing any herbal supplements is very important since numerous products are available in the market that use the same synthetic variant. Invest in a recognised herbal supplement store that gives you the value of your money on the natural herbal supplements that will benefit you in various aspects, be it a hangover or a gut issue.