Pros and cons of Food Supplements

Food supplement also known as dietary supplement or nutritional supplement is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provides nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals amino acids, fatty acids and substances such as enzymes, glandular, organ tissue or metabolism and other stuffs that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantity in person’s diet. Benefits of vitamins and supplement minerals Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients that serve a specific purpose and benefit the body in a unique way. For example, vitamin A support vision and bone growth, whereas vitamin strengthens the immune system and help repair DNA. Vitamin and mineral deficiency can impair the body’s ability to protect and heal it’s self While some supplements do provide benefits to certain users, each persons body can react differently, side effects of supplements can be experienced when using too much of a product, but some people will suffer serious side effects when only using a small ,recommended or less amount Consumers should bear in mind that Food Supplements are not intended to diagnose, prevent, cure or treat disease, and that taking vitamin doses don’t makeup for an unhealthy diet, and vitamins are an insufficient substitute for nutrients from fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains, but a general multivitamin and mineral supplements can be a good safeguard. How safe are food supplement? It’s always better to take any food supplements after weighing the pros and cons of it, While trying to cure some ailments with supplements, many people encounter additional problems Dangerous Dietary supplements side effects can also be experienced when used with other supplements, drugs or when undergoing a medical procedure, some supplements are marketed as ‘almost no side effects’ yet when combined with others or taken often can become toxic. While excess of some supplement is passed through urine, a number of dietary supplements go through the liver for processing and can be toxic to the vital organ. Vitamin A is known to cause severe liver damage when the usage is too high Or when taken at a high dosages for an extended period of time Before you start taking food supplements first ask yourself, do I need this supplement? Is this supplement safe? Does this supplement interact with any drug or food am consuming? Some of the known threats for high vitamin intake include various child poisoning from excessive intake of iron; tissue damage from high intake of selenium; liver damage from high intake of niacin; diarrhea, bone damage and birth defects from high intake of vitamin A; nerve disorder, bone pain numbness, and muscle weakness from high intake of vitamin B6; urinary tract problems from high intake of vitamin C, and kidney and bone deformity from high intake of vitamin D It is always wise to talk to your doctor regarding the need and appropriate dosage before you swallow that food supplement pill. Martin.bishop18@yahoo.com