Health Supplements

A health supplement is a compact form of nutrition you take when the nutrition from food itself cannot suffice the body's needs. Although a health supplement should not be taken without a doctor’s prescription or unless advised by a nutritionist/dietitian.

It can be in the form of pills, capsules, tablets, liquids, or even powders. These supplements are a concentrated form of either one or a combination of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fibres, herbs, or enzymes. 

• To fill the nutrition gap: Supplements are only meant to bridge the nutritional gap. In conditions like following a ketogenic or a low-carb diet where the nutrient requirements of our body are not fulfilled through diet, supplements need to take the front foot in order to forbid any nutritional deficiencies.
• Nutrient Absorption Declines with Age: As age increases, the body’s capacity to break down and absorb nutrients decreases the need for health supplements to avoid any nutritional deficiencies.
• Foods are Losing Nutrients: Science has developed all the fields of life through its discoveries and inventions, how could farming have been left out? Modern techniques of farming that take away the nutrients from crops, end up making them less nutrient dense than they should have been.
• Poor eating habits: Eating habits like eating after long periods of starvation, eating a lot of junk and processed foods, and foods contributing to poor digestion can lead to malabsorption of nutrients hence, the need to take supplements.
• Exercise increases Nutrient Needs: Being physically active can use up all your stores of energy and nutrients, thus requiring more of it. Therefore, athletes and people with active lifestyles require higher amounts of nutrients.
• Vegetarians and vegans: Vegetarians and vegans are both dependent on a plant-based diet which limits the number of nutrients that they can consume through their diet.

Health supplements should only be used as precautionary measures. Below mentioned are some that we require on a daily basis depending on lifestyle and eating pattern:

Vitamins -

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E

Minerals -

• Selenium
• Zinc 
• Calcium

Although supplements are required every now and then, we should be aware of the risks if we are ever to use them. Knowing which ones to take and which ones to avoid is extremely important. Some of them that are not supposed to be overgorged are mentioned below - 

1. Calcium and Vitamin D - increases kidney stones.
2. Vitamin E - may lead to stroke
3. Beta-carotene - increases the risk of lung cancer for smokers
4. Vitamin K - interferes with the anti-clotting effects of blood thinners
5. Vitamin B6 - if taken for a longer time it can cause nerve damage impairing body movements 

Popping a pill or two every now and then without a doctor's recommendation is not recommended. Since some chemicals in those pills could hinder the uptake of other nutrients or the functioning of several processes in your body. No matter how many supplements you take, they will never replace a balanced diet. Hence, instead of replacing nutrients that we obtain from a diet with health supplements should not be the primary solution. Instead, we should try and incorporate foods that can help with it.