Do you only take Berocca or zinc supplements when you are sure you are about to catch a cold? We explore whether this is the right way to stay healthy.
What’s your go-to remedy when you’re feeling exhausted? Maybe you start bingeing on special defense and orange juice, or abandon any plans you’ve made and choose to stay in bed (just in time for stitches, etc.).Or maybe you’re like a strong team of women who stock up on B-vitamins and zinc supplements once you’re cold.
For a few months, you might feel fine, dude, not even the cod liver oil capsules go through your lips, and then you’ll be hit with a wave of illness or fatigue, and after a few weeks, you’ll be taking every supplement to go. It makes sense: when we feel good, we don’t feel like we need any additional nutritional support. But is it necessarily the right thing to do with the nutrition only when we’re tired?
“I think we intuitively know when to supplement,” says registered dietitian Marjolein Duty van Haeften.”We often forget to take our supplements when we’re feeling good, and then we’ll take a little dip and we’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to go back and eat them.’”
Daniel O’Shaughnessy, director of nutrition and certified functional medicine practitioner, agrees: “I guess people do reach out more when they’re exhausted or in a public panic — like during Covid, when people want to More often immune supplements.”
The problem, according to O’Shaughnessy, is that not everyone is educated enough on supplements to take when you’re feeling healthy to support normal function.
As kids, many of us also got multivitamins and cod liver oil at breakfast, and if you’re anything like me, you continue to take certain supplements as standard — when someone in the office takes supplements like zinc or vitamin C If you catch a cold while taking the medicine or feel a little bad when you wear it. If you have a few sleepless nights, you might buy a month’s supply of magnesium.
O’Shaughnessy confirms that you can take a daily multivitamin “if your diet is unhealthy.”In fact, we’ve said before that complex foods are not necessarily the best way to get essential nutrients. If your diet is plant-based and whole-food-based, the chances that you’ll need to take a multivitamin are low. However, if you are vegan, you may need to continue taking certain vitamins and minerals, such as iron, B12, and omega-3. If you’ve been tested and know you’re anemic or have any deficiencies, you’ll want to supplement with these nutrients whether you’re feeling lethargic or not.
The NHS warns against taking supplements for long periods of time. Excessive water-soluble vitamins such as C and B vitamins are easily excreted by the body, but taking very high doses of vitamin B6 (more than 1.2mg in women) can be dangerous, while too much B3 (niacin – more than 13.2mg in women) mg) may cause liver damage.
However, fat-soluble vitamins are different. They can build up in the body, causing toxicity. Taking large amounts of vitamin A can be fatal, too much vitamin D (over 600 IU) can cause irregular heartbeats and increased calcium levels in the blood, and vitamin E reduces our blood’s ability to clot properly. So, you really want to see how much you’re consuming and make sure you’re not just blindly taking a series of supplements that contain the same nutrients.
But if you’re feeling exhausted, a supplement is the best option? Along with rest and a balanced diet, O’Shaughnessy says he recommends taking vitamins C and D (the latter being the only supplement the NHS recommends most of us to take during the winter months).
“I also like to take beta-glucan, which comes from a fungus and has some immune-supporting properties,” he says. These beta-glucans are a type of soluble fiber thought to help activate immune cells and prevent infection.
While there’s probably a lot you can do to make yourself feel better (resigning is not an option), there’s nothing wrong with taking supplements only when you’re feeling a little grim. But once you’re out of the woods, it might be worth asking your GP to check if you’re really lacking anything and figure out how you can make up for any lower levels in a sustainable time. It’s important not to take supplements blindly, so if you do, be sure to evaluate after a few months to see if you still need to take them.
Post time: May-26-2022