Are supplements necessary if we eat a balanced diet?

Caribbean girl

Caribbean girl

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How many of you take supplements in addition to the food you eat? If what we eat contain all the nutrients we need, is taking supplements really necessary?

I believe that we can get all the vitamins and minerals we need from eating a balanced diet. Sometimes we cannot measure everything we eat in relation to vitamins and minerals, but then again, how do we know what extra vitamins or minerals we really need? We may end up taking supplements which may be giving us more of something, either vitamins or minerals, than our bodies really need. Too much of anything can be just as bad for us as too little.

What are your views on this?
 
It is a good question and if you are in perfect health and don't do an extreme amount of sports that take a toll on the body, then no they are probably not required for someone who eats a perfectly balanced and nutritionally sound diet.

Now try finding that person!

They are not the answer to a bad diet. And they never should be.
They are not the answer to ignorance and plain bad eating.

They are the answer to adding extra into your diet if your body needs it for reasons such as sports (above and beyond the exercise point of view, so if you are a cyclist and commute by bike to work etc).
They are the answer if you have a medical condition that prevents you from absorbing all you can from your food.
They are the answer if you have a medical condition which means you need a much higher than normal dose of something like calcium, boron and magnesium for osteoporosis.

But they need to be considered and taken at certain times of the day. Some need to be taken away from others to aid maximum absorption. Others should only be taken first thing in the morning. And a multivitamin, all in one answer, is not the solution. You need to know what it is you are low in, needing extra of and take only those.
 
No - a mixed diet will answer your needs unless you are pushing your body beyond the limits it was designed for and here I am talking about extreme athletes not just being fit. Supplements taken for medical reasons are simply another name for a drug for that condition {not saying this is bad just that that is in effect what they are] and should be used with a medical reason and with medical understanding.
 
sidevalve said:
No - a mixed diet will answer your needs unless you are pushing your body beyond the limits it was designed for and here I am talking about extreme athletes not just being fit. Supplements taken for medical reasons are simply another name for a drug for that condition {not saying this is bad just that that is in effect what they are] and should be used with a medical reason and with medical understanding.
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I've always taken this view about supplements in sports ,I know some people have their view but ,not required unless your at the top of your game,a good balanced diet and rest ,and I would only take a supplement if advised to by a gp
 
I have quite a few health issues, and the doctors haven't even figured out what the overarching issue is, or it most likely hasn't been discovered as a medical condition yet. It's been this way for years, so I do tend to take some supplements. I am planning to try to get into a normal practice though, mainly of taking a good multivitamin, and adding spirulina, to see how it affects me. I'm hoping it helps with the chronic fatigue and muscle spasms, although if it doesn't address the spasms, I can go back to my calcium magnesium potassium, which does help.

I have seen videos before of these really old people taking huge megadoses of vitamins and minerals, stating that is why they're still so vital and active, but I don't think that's a good idea. If I were in good health, I'd just eat well and skip the extras.
 
I honestly don't use any supplements and it has been this way for ages. In the past I would take them for a while and stop but stop has run into a good few years. Of course there are always different opinions but from the little I have read together with my own reasoning I don't believe they are necessary if you can find the necessary nutrients in the food you eat outside of some medical condition which requires their usage. That said because I am not in the peak of health I should probably use some sort recommended by my doctor.
 
Supplements are not necessary if we can maintain eating a balanced diet. If we eat beans then we do not need protein supplements. Soy beans have important vitamins that our bodies need. We are supposed to eat a lot of fruits to supply our bodies with vitamins. We also need energy giving foods to keep us going. If we can get all these, then we will not need supplements.
 
On the whole, I doubt that peple eating a balanced diet would really need supplements. Some people will need a little extra support in this department, particularly if they are young, old or ill but I do think that a good diet is all you really need.
 
Pardon me but I am averse with supplements. My brother in law who is a physician showed us the lab findings taken that of one food supplement - it was all sugar and flour. It is just the hype that sells those supplements, said my brother in law. But I don't discourage people from taking those supplements because what I was citing may be an isolated case only. Let's hope that other food supplements are real and with health benefits too.
 
I think most people will choose their favorite foods but not a balanced diet. At least I am, so I need supplements to help me achieve the balance, or I will sick because of lacking something.
 
If we are already old even if we are eating a well balanced diet we are not sure if all its nutrients are being absorbed for our body processes. That is why a multivitamin supplement is needed to meet the daily vitamin requirements. Based on our experience my mother who is already 83 years old now is still strong, healthy and looks young and had been taking multivitamins for so many years already. She is okay with supplements. That is why I don't think a certain drugstore or pharmacy will sell multivitamins if it is not safe and had not been approved and sealed by the food and drug administration. On the other hand if we are still young a well balanced diet can just works out fine to make us healthy. So I think the use of supplements is on a case to case basis and depending on the health status of a certain person.
 
It is good to eat each day a well-balanced diet in my own opinion. We may obtain the needed vitamins and nutrients from this diet however the amount is not enough. We can only guess how much we can get from a certain serving but if you supplement your diet with vitamins and other health supplements then I think it is safe to say that somehow we were able to get the recommended daily amount for each vitamin and micronutrient
 
The only time I really took supplements was when I was pregnant because I wanted to ensure my little one got everything she needed. These days though I find that I get enough from my diet alone. I eat a varied healthy diet and that seems to be enough.
 
I don't often eat a well balanced diet, and I tend to be low on Magnesium. That could be because of the antacids I take that deplete Magnesium, and so even if one does eat a well balanced meal, it's important to take into consideration any medications you take, and what effects they are having on your body. In the past, I have taken more supplements, and have felt better overall. I think it's also important, as mentioned above, to ensure that any vitamins or supplements you are taking are high quality, since there seem to be so many fakes around these days.
 
I try my best to eat a balanced diet but with the stress of work I know I can get run down so I take a multivitamin regularly and if I feel a cold starting I will take oil of oregano to boost my immune system.
 
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