We all have heard about supplements, may have also used them, and have even recommended them to friends or family. But still, many of us whenever think of supplements often consider them bad. We run away from these dietary supplements because either we don’t have proper guidance or we are afraid of the counterfeit products available in the market. Along with this, most often people have such fear in their mind that supplements will have an abysmal impact on their health. But we must understand that Dietary supplements are an alternative to fight the nutrient deficiency or nutritional gap that we face due to our fast pace lifestyle and adulteration on every step of food processing. However, we should understand that they are the path to help and achieve a balanced diet. Namit Tyagi, Nutritionist, and Co-Founder of health and wellness brand Neuherbs India has told Onlymyhealth some reasons why supplements are beneficial for different stages of life or different health goals. Read this article to know.
Are supplements bad for you?
Here are some points that advocate in favour of supplements and that they are not as bad as you think.
General Health
Nutrition is vital for the growth and development of every living being. Either it is plant, animal or human everyone requires nutrition to fulfill the need of their body for survival. But in today’s modern fast-paced lifestyle, where we don’t have enough time to eat or arrange a balanced meal it becomes challenging to manage everything from food. And when the body does not gets or doesn't absorb the necessary amount of a nutrient from the food it can lead to nutrient deficiencies which will give space for an ample number of health problems in our body. These problems include digestive diseases, skin disorders, defective growth, and even neurological disorders. Here comes the role of dietary supplements, which are an easy source of nutrients that our body requires to fight with the respective diseases. Take the example of iron deficiency supplements or vitamin D3 or calcium deficiency supplements; which are often recommended by doctors in the case when blood reports show a certain decline.
Athletes
Everybody’s body works differently, and lifestyle also varies from person to person. According to lifestyle change and other factors, nutrition requirements also change from time to time whether it’s about micronutrients or macronutrients. Athletes have a performance-driven lifestyle where they require a good amount of nutrients to meet the need of their bodies so that they can achieve the goals or targets. But to fulfill their meal requirements it becomes difficult or fussy to manage this because having 6 meals a day plan is difficult while managing our job goals and in a 24hr day cycle where we have to manage time for a sound sleep also. So in that case, liquid energy and nutrient shake supplements are considered a boon. It just simplifies the meal plan providing the right amount of nutrition to support the daily activities and performances.
Weight Loss
Whenever weight loss comes in our mind we always think of dieting but even though having a proper planned diet many times we do not achieve the results that we have worked hard for. We try to cut our meals, favourite recipes or even try hard to hit the gym. In these cases, our metabolism may play an important role. To simply, metabolism is the rate at which your body expends energy or burns calories. So to enhanced results, we can add metabolism boosters to our diets. Green tea, Green Coffee Protein-rich supplements, Apple cider vinegar, or metabolism-boosting spices like Ginger, grains of paradise, and cayenne pepper may help your body burn more calories or fat.
Also Read: How To Lose Belly Fat With Garlic Water, Tips & Tricks For Flat Tummy
Weight Gain
The science behind weight gain is the concept of calories. Weight gain requires an increased intake of calories. But again due to lifestyle patterns, we are not able to manage these calorie requirements. To fulfill these requirements we need to struggle hard and binge on empty calories which not only results in unwanted bulk and it can also impact our health. In these cases, the mass gainer comes to help you out. It is a balanced nutrition source, which helps you to fulfill the calorie requirements along with providing balanced macro and micronutrients.
Also Read: High Doses of Vitamin D Supplement Harms Bone Health
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is the best and important phase in every female’s life. And we know that in this phase we not only need to take care of our body growth and development but also need to take care of the little baby inside the womb. To fulfill this nutrition in the body doctors always recommend iron, calcium, vitamin B12 and other multivitamins as per the body statistic of the mother. They also recommend having balanced nutrition with a good amount of protein. However, supplements alone won't suffice, you need to have proper diet.
Also Read: Taking Supplements or Muscle Tonics In Excess May Harm The Kidneys
During medications
We all suffer from cold, cough and fever almost every year. And above 40, many people are suffering from different diseases or nutrition deficiencies where we often take medication. For example thyroid, diabetes or hypertension are common nowadays in every country. The reason could be anything but these medications somewhere affect our gut health. It affects the microbiome of our gut which is the good gut bacteria and is the main flora to maintain our gut health or even immunity. To maintain this balance of healthy bacteria we need probiotics supplements.
Conclusion
To conclude the points, supplements are not as bad as we all think or have perceived. When taken in a prescribed amount to fulfill our nutritional gap or to achieve our targets they can be the best source on which we can rely on 100% faith. We just need to have proper guidance over what our current body’s status is and what are the nutrients our body requires as per our lifestyle.
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