Vitamins
for Active Adults
Vitamins for Active Adults
By: Dr. George Obikoya
Not many people today can boast they are in perfect health. Indeed,
many are so used to feeling “not at my peak” they have simply accepted
it as normal. Indeed, many consider 21 to be your prime and after
that it is all down hill. It doesn't have to be that way. Life has
become a continuous struggle for people today. You have to hurry
to get dressed for work and get your child ready for school. You
have to pick your child up from the day care and rush back to work
to finish an assignment and be ready for the board meeting the next
day. The salesman is juggling with the steering wheel and his cell
phone as he struggles to negotiate the curve on the highway yet
not miss an important call that might clinch a major sale. On top
of all these hassles, we find or are unable to find little time
to eat and eat well.
The scenarios described above will probably be familiar to most
of the readers of this article. They are the reasons for the common
complaints many of us have of feeling tired and lethargic, lacking
stamina, having low energy levels, frequently catching colds/sore
throats, having digestion or stomach problems, suffering from high
blood pressure, allergies and breathing problems, and having poor
skin or lifeless hair, aches and pains, and poor concentration and
memory. As benign as some of these ailments sound, they can be persistent,
slow you down, and compromise your quality of life. By themselves,
they are annoying and bothersome and because they happen over time,
many people do not pick up on them easily.
Regardless of whether you are striving to advance a career; developing
your own business; training hard to excel at a sport; juggling your
life as a working parent; or just trying to keep up with your grandchildren,
your health needs to be in excellent form for you to have the energy
to continually succeed.
Nutritional deficiencies and lifestyle factors are major causes
of many people's persistent health problems. In particular, most
people lack essential nutrients, including vitamins, trace minerals,
antioxidants, enzymes and essential fatty acids, which are vital
for good health. Indeed, many of these nutrients are now known to
prevent major diseases including heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s
disease and other disabling diseases that tend to show up in your
40s, 50s and 60s. These nutrients can be found in a high-quality
liquid multivitamin.
We need many of these vitamins and nutrients in combination to continually
rebuild old and damaged cells, especially those of our immune system,
which protects us from infections such as colds and the flu, diseases
of various kinds including heart disease and cancer, and against
the many toxic chemicals we are exposed to daily in our food and
environment.
The established link between abnormal homocysteine levels in the
blood and heart attacks exemplifies the valuable role vitamins play
in helping us prevent disease. Homocysteine is a by-product of methionine
metabolism, methionine being one of the amino acids that constitute
proteins, the basic foundation of life. Under normal circumstances
homocysteine is metabolized by a series of chemical reactions and
poses no problem to health but people that suffer from heart disease
often have raised levels of homocysteine in the blood. Research
has shown that if you have raised blood levels of homocysteine you
are at risk of developing heart disease and subsequently having
a heart attack. The evidence suggests that high levels of homocysteine
may damage coronary arteries or make it easier for blood clotting
cells called platelets to clump together and form a clot.
Further studies showed that three of the B vitamins: vitamin B6
, folic acid and vitamin B12, all have a positive effect on keeping
blood homocysteine levels normal, thereby preventing heart disease.
The enzyme that helps to break down homocysteine in the body hence
needs vitamin B6 to be able to function properly.
Folic acid and vitamin B12 are also linked to homocysteine metabolism
because the blood levels of homocysteine increases when the levels
of these vitamins decrease, which can make you prone to developing
heart attacks. Without proper levels of B12 and folic acid (of which
the average person usually gets LESS than even the US RDA, which
is an amount that is far less than we actually need), we run the
risk of developing high homocysteine levels, and thus greatly increasing
our chances of developing heart disease and having heart attacks.
Remember, heart disease is the NUMBER ONE KILLER
in America today, more than accidents, homicides, stroke, colds,
infections - anything else, even cancer.
Research with large population groups have shown that the majority
of people have what is termed a 'subclinical deficiency' of vitamin
B6, folic acid and vitamin B12. This is a wake-up call for all of
us. Subclinical deficiency means that people are not getting optimum
amounts of these vitamins. They get just enough to avoid having
major symptoms but that means that if they were a car engine, they
would only be running on three out of their four cylinders, or maybe
even just two. They may not exhibit symptoms actively but think
about it. What are the symptoms of a heart attack? You fall over
and are quite likely to die. You need to take action BEFORE you
get to that point. Unfortunately, most people do not and this reason
is a major one that heart disease continues to be the number one
killer.
You probably have an actual deficiency (as opposed to just a subclinical
deficiency) of these vitamins if you have the following symptoms.
For vitamin B6 deficiency, you will probably experience a variety
of disturbances of the nervous system functioning, including seizures,
chronic pain, depression, headache, carpal tunnel syndrome, and
Parkinson's disease. Vitamin B6 is needed for the synthesis of neurotransmitters
such as serotonin and dopamine, required for normal nerve cell communication.
Lower levels of serotonin have been found in individuals suffering
from depression and migraine headaches. Alcohol abuse can result
in neuropathy, abnormal nerve sensations in the arms and legs. A
poor dietary intake contributes to this neuropathy and dietary supplements
that include vitamin B6 may prevent or decrease its incidence.
With a folic acid deficiency you may suffer from depression and
may even develop pernicious anemia. Women who are on a folic acid
deficient diet are more prone to give birth to babies with serious
neural tube defects. With a vitamin B12 deficiency you may also
develop pernicious anemia.
The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for these 3 vitamins are:
Folic acid: 400 mcg / day for adults
Vitamin B12: 3 mcg / day for adults
Vitamin B6: 3 mg / day for adults
Contrast that to most high quality multivitamins, that have at least:
Folic acid: 800 mcg / day
Vitamin B12: 500 mcg / day
Vitamin B6: 50 mg / day
In order to avoid subclinical deficiency, and help
ensure optimum health, it is highly suggested that you get levels
of vitamins B12, B6 and folic acid at at least the US RDA, if not
the amount supplied by most high-quality liquid multivitamins. Remember
that these vitamins are water soluble, so they are eliminated from
your system quickly. Therefore it is advised that if you choose
to supplement with these vitamins, you do so daily.
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.
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