Before making decisions about whether to take a supplement, talk to your healthcare provider. They can help you achieve a balance between the foods and nutrients you personally need. Vitamin and mineral supplements can be useful in certain situations, for example when your doctor has diagnosed a particular deficiency.

Getting our nutrients straight from a pill sounds easy, but supplements don’t automatically deliver on the promise of improved health.  There are so many different products, often sold by huge companies with advertising budgets to match, that it can be difficult to determine what’s marketing spin, and what is actually necessary for optimum health.

Why is it better to get nutrients from food rather than supplements?

When considering health, you may want to improve your diet before thinking about taking supplements. Research has shown that food offers three primary benefits over supplements. This is because nutrients are most potent when they come from food they are accompanied by beneficial nutrients, such as hundreds of carotenoids, flavonoids, minerals, and antioxidants that aren’t in most supplements essential fibre to manage constipation and help prevent certain diseases, and protective substances like “phytochemicals” that occur naturally and can help prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes.

We require a variation of nutrients every day to stay healthy, involving calcium and vitamin D to protect our bones, folic acid to produce and maintain new cells, and vitamin A to preserve a healthy immune system and vision. We can get the source of these important nutrients from fruit, vegetables, fish, and other healthy foods contain nutrients and other substances not found in a pill We can’t get the same synergistic effect from a supplement.

The average diet leaves a lot to be desired. Research discovers our plates lacking in a number of necessary nutrients, including calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and D. It’s no wonder that more than half of us open a supplement bottle to get the nutrition we need. Many of us take supplements not just to make up for what we’re missing, but also because we hope to give ourselves an extra health boost, a preventive buffer to ward off disease.

For those of us who live demanding lives it’s easy to just grab a coffee on our way to work, a pastry in your lunch break and a processed meal for your evening meal. But how does lack of variation in your diet affect your health? A poor diet can lead to a range of nutritional deficiencies, which present themselves in various ways. 

The dietary supplements market, which includes vitamins, herbs, enzymes, amino acids and minerals is booming within the UK. The forecasts value of the vitamins and supplements market from an expected £421 million in 2016 to £475 million (best case) and £439 million (worst case) in 2021.

The covid pandemic has led to more individuals looking to boost their immune system with the expectation of fighting the disease. Sales of immune boosting vitamins such as Vitamin D boosted by 29.8% over the four weeks leading up to lockdown being implemented on 23 March 2020, a tendency that continued after lockdown measures were eased.

What you need to know before taking a vitamin or mineral supplement? 

Supplements have to be fully digested to work. If your stomach acid levels are low due to stress, poor diet or you smoke, you might as well flush those tabs down the loo. Cheap supplements are more difficult for your body to process, the top of the rang versions will be marked bisglycinate cheaper versions will say oxide or carbonate on the label. 

Vitamin C is the Go to when we have a cold coming on. Nutrients work in teams, so while vitamin C does boost your immune system, it needs iron to be properly digested.

Many of us take our vitamins in one go, thinking we are doing our health a favour. However, taking excess of water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C and B will be simply flushed down the loo. Your doses should be split by taking them 2-3 times a day to get any benefit.

Are there any risks in taking supplements?

Yes. Several supplements contain active ingredients that have strong biological effects in the body. This might make them unsafe in some situations and hurt or complicate your health. For instance, the following actions could lead to harmful, even life-threatening consequences.

• Combining supplements
• Using supplements with medicines (whether prescription or over-the-counter)
• Substituting supplements for prescription medicines
• Taking too much of some supplements, such as vitamin A, D, or iron. Some supplements can also have unwanted effects before, during, and after surgery. So, make sure to inform your healthcare provider, including your pharmacist about any supplements you are taking.

Getting our nutrients straight from a pill sounds easy, but supplements don’t automatically deliver on the promise of improved health. 

Deficiencies caused by a poor diet:

• Iron deficiency 
• Iodine deficiency 
• Vitamin D deficiency 
• Vitamin B 12 deficiency 
• Calcium deficiency 
• Vitamin A deficiency 
• Magnesium deficiency

Poor diet may also be to blame for symptoms like:

• You’re Always in a Bad Mood
• You’re Fatigued
• You’re Constantly Cold
• You’re Depressed
• You Can’t Remember Anything
• You’re Always Sick
• You have week muscles & no Energy
• You have dry brittle hair
• You’re Gassy All the Time
• You’re Constipated
• You’re Always Hungry

The hype and excitement over supplements:

There’s so much hype when it comes to supplements, about their potential benefits, such as vitamin D as a possible protection against a long list of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, depression, and even the common cold. Omega-3 fatty acids have been plugged for warding off strokes and other cardiovascular events. And antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and beta carotene were seen as hopeful silver bullets against heart disease, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease. So, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. Although it’s true that vitamins and minerals are crucial to health, it’s not factual that taking them in pill, capsule, or powder form, particularly in mega doses, is required, or without risks.

When used correctly, certain supplements could improve your health, but others can be ineffectual or even harmful. For example, research linked daily doses of more than 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium to a greater risk of death from cancer. Additionally, the data showed that individuals who took in adequate amounts of magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A and K had a lower risk of death, but only if they got those nutrients from food rather than supplements.

Some supplements are important when trying for a baby : It is recommended, when trying to conceive for a baby that you take 400 micrograms of folic acid supplements. Folic acid can help to prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. 

Vegans and vegetarians:

Vegans and vegetarians should get all the nutrients the body needs with good planning and a good understanding. However, certain food choices are not always enjoyed, so there for supplements could be recommended Vegetarians need to make sure they get enough iron and vitamin B12, and vegans enough calcium, iron and vitamin B12. Women are thought to be at particular risk of iron deficiency, including those on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Vitamin D:

It is recommended during autumn and winter, that you may consider taking a vitamin D supplement if not sourced from your diet. As the sun is not strong enough for your body to make vitamin D. Because  it’s difficult to get enough vitamin D from food alone, everyone including pregnant or breastfeeding women should take a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D during autumn and winter.

Before taking supplements consult a pharmacist or your doctor first:

Before you take any supplements for disease prevention, it’s important to know whether the potential benefits outweigh the risks. To make that conclusion, you need to look at the results of well-designed studies. A recent randomised trial in men suggested multivitamins have possible benefits for cancer prevention. For many of the other popular supplements, including vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, results from randomised controlled trials should be available within the next five years.

Until then, be judicious about your use of supplements. If you’re lacking in a particular nutrient, ask your doctor whether you need to look beyond your diet to make up for what you’re missing—but don’t take more than the recommended daily intake for that nutrient unless your health care provider advises it.