Have you ever wondered if you eat a healthy balanced diet, whether there is a need to take vitamins? The answer to this question is yes, daily vitamin supplements are important for a healthy lifestyle.
While it is true that eating a healthy and balanced diet is crucial, it may not be enough to get all the vitamins you need...
You see, farming and food production isn't what it used to be. Our farms may seem to produce more food, but the truth of the matter is that the food doesn't have the same nutritional value it once had. Due to issues with soil depletion and erosion, even organic crops don't produce fruits and vegetables with as much nutritional value as they once did.
In addition to this, it is important to remember that the majority of people do not eat an ideal diet. The backbone of the American diet is refined and processed foods, which have been virtually stripped of their nutritional value. White bread, white pasta, white rice – none of these have any nutritional value left in them and they are very difficult for the body to process.
This dietary shift, from whole foods grown in a much more fertile earth, to processed and refined foods has happened within the past 60 years and this is far too fast for the human body to adjust. For this reason vitamin and mineral deficiencies are more common than you might think.
Taking daily vitamin supplements is now a necessary part of living a healthy and balanced lifestyle, but not just any vitamins will do. It is important to be aware of the facts about vitamins because not all vitamins are made equally.
Vitamin pills come in many forms and are made with the vitamins themselves and with other ingredients that are used as fillers and excipients. The excipients are particularly important when it comes to the quality of your vitamin.
The role of the excipient is to keep the vitamin intact until it reaches the stomach where it will then dissolve. However, when your vitamin is of low quality, the excipient can actually prevent the pill from dissolving, which means that the body will not get the benefits of the vitamins inside.
Vitamins can be an important addition to your daily nutritional intake, but only if you take high quality ones.
To test whether your vitamin will dissolve in enough time to be useful, put it in a cup of warm vinegar, which will simulate stomach acid, and keep that vinegar warm by placing it in a larger bowl of warm water. The pill should dissolve within 15 to 30 minutes. If it does not, then it is of no use to you, as it will pass through undigested.
Be sure you know your facts about vitamins. Read the labels; stay away from pills that have poor fillers such as yeast, sugars, and cornstarch; make sure the vitamin is made with natural and organic ingredients; and test to make sure it dissolves in the right amount of time. Then you can be confident that you are getting the vitamins and minerals you need.