Popping vitamins every morning as you wake up seems to be the ritual of choice. There’s nothing wrong with it, really, since you’re adding more nutrients to your body first thing. Surely? Well, not necessarily. You shouldn’t be popping vitamins or anything for that matter unless you have good reason to. What I want to explore, is whether or not popping vitamins do any favors for your body.
We need to ask for it. Can vitamin supplements really make you healthier? What happens if you’re taking all these supposed vitamins to get healthier and they’re having the opposite effect? To be honest, if you’re trying to turn to a more conscious lifestyle then you should probably spend more time cleaning up what you’re eating rather than popping vitamins. There is no quick fix, remember?
Yes, many vitamins are beneficial and can help you if you really are deficient in a particular nutrient. However, real magic only happens when you consume a balanced diet that provides you with key vitamins and minerals. There’s an overwhelming number of multivitamins packed onto the shelves of every grocery or dispensary store. Which one is the right one for you? That’s what we want to know. Having all these choices is great, but does popping vitamins really work?
Popping Vitamins Is Not Going to Solve All Your Problems
I feel like we have a lot of questions that we need to be asking when it comes to vitamins. I think it’s pretty easy to assume that we all need to be taking a multivitamin each day because that’s what’s been advertised to us for many years. What if you are getting too much of a particular vitamin? Surely that can’t be good for you. And how effective are they? Is popping vitamins worth the money?
Asking these questions is a good thing and we should all be asking questions, especially in this era of social media. We are all easily influenced and sometimes it gets difficult trying to distinguish between what we hear or see is good for us and what we truly need.
One of the main reasons people are compelled to start popping vitamins is to try and make their lives healthier and avoid heart diseases or strokes.
However, you should do your research before buying anything. It might also help to chat to your doctor about popping vitamins, especially if you’ve seen an advert stating that every middle-aged adult should be taking a Vitamin A or Zinc supplement. Just remember that these adverts are generalized and you might not need such supplementation. Besides, the only nutrients that your body truly absorbs are the vitamins and minerals you eat from healthy foods.
According to research, popping vitamins can be beneficial, but the key to vitamin and mineral success is eating a balanced diet. So before spending another penny on vitamin or mineral supplements. Go and have a talk with your physician about your personal dietary plan.
Food Is More Powerful Than Popping Vitamins
Never underestimate the power food has on your body. More importantly, the quality of the food you’re eating because let’s face it, not all food is equal.
Expert nutritionists tell Heart.Org that food should be your top priority and where you spend your money. This is because it provides a variety of vitamins, minerals, and dietary factors that are not found in a vitamin or mineral supplement. In fact, food provides us with many bioactive compounds and dietary fibers that typically aren’t found in supplements. Therefore, popping vitamins won’t allow for full absorption of vitamins. So what’s the point of popping vitamins then?
Science has discovered that popping vitamins on an empty stomach without any food has even less of an impact on your health. This is especially true for some fat-soluble vitamins. Your body can’t absorb these as well as it would if the supplement was consumed with a food that provides fat. Basically, at the end of the day, you still need to eat a holistic and balanced diet if you want to absorb top-quality vitamins and minerals into your body. There’s no point in relying on taking supplements for the rest of your life.
Popping Vitamins Might Have The Opposite Effect
This is a concept that many seem to misunderstand. We all purchase fancy and expensive supplements because we’re under the impression they’ll make us much healthier. This is where ‘they’ hook you! Scientists have done a lot of research on the matter. They’ve found that our bodies don’t digest oral supplements quite as much as they would if they were food.
Take a look at this study, which was conducted by an associate professor at the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston. They learned that people believe that popping vitamins and supplements can improve and maintain health. However, this study provides more evidence that there are no benefits at all. Is this true? I think there’s a reason that we require supplements and popping vitamins might only be necessary for something that you are deficient in. It’s not just popping vitamins for the general sake of it.
The scientists found that it wasn’t clear why nutrients from supplements don’t provide the same benefits they do when they’re found in food. However, experts think that supplement forms might have different effects than their natural forms. This is because the body can limit and regulate the absorption process of nutrients found in food. But with supplements, the body doesn’t have the same regulatory impact.
Watch Out For Deficiencies First Before Popping Vitamins
Bear in mind that this study only used people who were in good health condition. Therefore, the findings don’t necessarily apply to people who are deficient in certain nutrients. Moreover, the study looked at more than 27,000 U.S. adults aged 20 or older. Each person answered questions about their dietary supplement use and their diets.
Apparently, more than half said that they use at least one supplement. Then more than one-third used a multivitamin. Interestingly, those popping vitamins were more likely to be female and white and have higher levels of education and income. They were also more likely to eat a healthy diet and be physically active.
I find this ironic, because surely if you’re eating a healthy and balanced diet, you don’t need to be popping vitamins. Yet, people seem to want to take them in any case. The study also discovered that Vitamin C is the most commonly used supplement, followed by vitamin E, calcium, and vitamin D.
When Do We Need Then?
The key is to know exactly what your body needs or what it is lacking. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to start popping vitamins in the morning. If you don’t know, then visiting your doctor is a great place to start. Generally, when you’re deficient in a specific nutrient, you’ll notice the symptoms manifesting themselves physically. Whether it’s by increased levels of fatigue or feeling cold, weight loss or weight gain, depression, etc. The study does state that if you’re healthy, supplements aren’t recommended. However, if you’ve been diagnosed as deficient in a certain nutrient, don’t stop taking it without talking to your doctor.
The point is that you should only be supplementing what you are lacking, especially if it’s not something you can easily get from your diet. More importantly, you need to realize that you can’t cure all your ailments through one nutrient. There is a reason for popping vitamins, but no reason to senselessly pop them. If anything, get rid of those multivitamins.
It seems pretty common for those people who are living a more conscious lifestyle to experience certain deficiencies. Especially people who are living a vegan lifestyle. This is because they often lack essential vitamins in their diet like vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids. Most vitamin B12 is only obtained through animal products. In addition, popping vitamins, especially vitamin D, might be crucial for some who don’t get to see the sunshine very often. Doctors explain that it’s a global problem. In fact, there’s no consensus among health experts as to how much vitamin D people should take.
Keep Popping Vitamins Balanced
Once again, I feel that when it comes to popping vitamins we need to be cautious. We must be aware of creating balance. Our bodies are highly sensitive and some people believe that more is always better. This is not always the case with our bodies. The systems in our bodies work hard to maintain a very delicate balance, and taking too much of any one nutrient can knock that balance off entirely.
At the end of the day, we are all better off getting the most out of vitamins and minerals from food. Doctors explained that there is no single supplement that can replace all of the amazing plant compounds contained in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
You need to eat as much of this as possible. This is because the nutrients in these foods work synergistically to help keep you healthy and fight disease. More importantly, don’t take a supplement because it’s in the health aisle. Especially supplements like antioxidant ones such as A, C, and E. There is no scientific evidence that suggests that this will eliminate the need to reduce blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol or stop smoking.
Once again, try not to depend on popping vitamins to save your health. However, there may be a need for popping vitamins. There isn’t enough science out there to suggest that healthy people benefit from popping vitamins or mineral supplements more than the daily recommended allowance.
Certain people have claimed that using these supplements can lower rates of cardiovascular disease and/or lower risk factor levels.
But it’s still very uncertain in these studies whether or not popping vitamins is the reason for this.
Popping Vitamins and Omega-3 Fatty Acids
If you’re going to start popping vitamins then I’d suggest popping these. We all need omega-3 fatty acids in our diets and sadly, most of us don’t get enough. Not all of us are able to eat healthy, fatty fish like trout, salmon, herring, and mackerel two times per week.
Experts have learned that regular consumption of fish is associated with decreased risk of heart disease. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends that patients without documented heart disease eat a variety of fish, preferably omega-3-containing fish. Doctors state that we need to do this at least twice a week. Sometimes fish is really expensive and other times it’s not very accessible depending on where you’re based. If you’re vegan, eating fish is a big no as well.
Therefore, an omega-3 supplement is highly beneficial for most.
The bottom line: Popping vitamins won’t replace eating a healthy diet. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix or easy way out. You cannot substitute a balanced, nutritious diet that limits excess calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and dietary cholesterol. All studies have shown that this form of conscious consumption will reduce coronary heart disease risk in healthy people and those with heart disease the most.
Want to know more?
Summer means hot and warm weather, where there’s more sunshine and vitamin D freely available. We need to take advantage of this to get outdoors.
