Holistic
Health: Supplementing with Vitamins
Holistic Health: Supplementing with Vitamins
By: Dr. George Obikoya
Being healthy is not merely the absence of disease.
Promoting our own health is a major component of our overall health
and well-being. One way by which we can promote good health is to
eat a nourishing and balanced diet. We all know that this is easier
said than done. There are practical issues of modern living that
make the attainment of this lofty objective nearly impossible. The
cheap and quick availability of fast food saves people time and
money, but they pay for it with their health and resultant enormous
medical bills later in life, caused by simply a general lack of
awareness of how to eat healthy. Think about it, the fast food companies
don't exactly make it easy for you by offering organic, vitamin-rich
foods. Instead they are loaded with trans fatty acids with hardly
a nutritional facts panel in sight.
The business of living has become so frenetic we hardly have time
to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, such as preparing and eating
a nice meal. Junk food is in; balanced diets are out, not to mention
the environmental pollution (mercury in the fish, heavy metals in
the water, etc) that is making it hard to find the essential nutrients
in even a “nice meal."
All we can do is hope that we can make up for the nutritional deficiencies
that most of us suffer from by taking vitamin and mineral supplements
- at least we still have one option left. Multivitamin supplements
provide us with significant health benefits and are the easiest
way to solve the deficiency problems in your diet.
Vitamin A, for example, plays an important role in vision, bone
growth, reproduction, cell division and cell differentiation, which
is the process by which a cell decides what it is going to become.
It helps maintain the surface linings of the eyes and the respiratory,
urinary, and intestinal tracts. When those linings break down, bacteria
can enter the body and cause infection. Vitamin A also helps maintain
the integrity of skin and mucous membranes that function as a barrier
to bacteria and viruses.
Vitamin A helps regulate the immune system. The immune system helps
prevent or fight off infections by making white blood cells that
destroy harmful bacteria and viruses. Vitamin A may help lymphocytes,
a type of white blood cell that fights infections, function more
effectively. Some carotenoids, in addition to serving as a source
of vitamin A, have been shown to function as antioxidants. Antioxidants
protect cells from free radicals, which are potentially damaging
by-products of oxygen metabolism that may contribute to the development
of some chronic diseases.
We need vitamin B6 for hundreds of enzymes involved in protein metabolism.
It is also essential for red blood cell metabolism. The nervous
and immune systems need vitamin B6 to function efficiently, and
we need it for the conversion of tryptophan (an amino acid) to niacin
(a vitamin).
Vitamin B6 also helps maintain your blood sugar within a normal
range. When caloric intake is low your body needs vitamin B6 to
help convert stored carbohydrate or other nutrients to glucose to
maintain normal blood sugar levels. A shortage of vitamin B6 will
limit these functions.
Vitamin B12 helps maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells,
and we need it to make DNA, the genetic material in all cells.
Vitamin D’s main role is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium
and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping
to form and maintain strong bones. It promotes bone mineralization
in concert with a number of other vitamins, minerals, and hormones.
Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft, or misshapen.
Vitamin D prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults,
which are skeletal diseases that result in defects that weaken bones.
Alpha-tocopherol is the most active form of vitamin E in humans,
and is a powerful biological antioxidant. Antioxidants such as vitamin
E act to protect your cells against the effects of free radicals,
which can cause cell damage that may contribute to the development
of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that maintains skin integrity,
helps heal wounds and is important in immune functions. It also
has antioxidant properties, helping to prevent cell damage by neutralizing
"free radicals" — molecules believed to be associated
with aging and certain diseases.
Studies have shown that people who eat foods high in vitamin C have
lower rates of cancer and heart disease, though it is unclear whether
taking vitamin C supplements produces similar benefits. A 2001 study
indicates that supplementation with vitamin C, certain other antioxidants
and zinc may slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration
(AMD).
Folate is necessary for the production and maintenance of new cells.
This is especially important during periods of rapid cell division
and growth such as infancy and pregnancy. Folate is needed to make
DNA and RNA, the building blocks of cells. It also helps prevent
changes to DNA that may lead to cancer. Both adults and children
need folate to make normal red blood cells and prevent anemia.
Folic acid is promoted primarily as a nutritional requirement for
a healthy diet to reduce the risk of some types of cancer, birth
defects (eg, spina bifida and anencephaly), and peripheral blood
vessel disease. Pregnant women are advised to take folate well before
they become pregnant to prevent their babies from developing neural
tube defects.
Other vitamins and minerals also have beneficial effects that are
important to supplement our daily diet with. You will be hard pressed
to obtain the optimum value with foods alone, unless you design
your diet from the ground up toh provide proper nutrition. A good
quality, inexpensive multivitamin can help bridge the gap between
the foods we eat that may not be so good and the optimum diet that
our body needs.
A good multivitamin is the foundation of health
and nutrition. Take a look at our scientific reviews of many of
the popular brands for factors such as ingredients, areas of improvement,
quality level, and overall value. If you are looking for a high
quality liquid multivitamin, we suggest that you take a look at
the Multivitamin
Product Comparisons.
Refrences
Giovannucci E, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, et al. Multivitamin use,
folate, and colon cancer in women in the Nurses' Health Study. Ann
Intern Med. 1998;129:517-524.
Traber MG and Packer L. Vitamin E: Beyond antioxidant function.
Am J Clin Nutr 1995;62:1501S-9S.
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