Do You Really Need to Take Vitamin and Nutritional Supplements?

It seems everyone is jumping on the vitamin bandwagon these days! Health food stores and pharmacies are doing a booming business selling "nutrients in a bottle" to eager consumers. But, do you really need to take vitamins or can you get all the nutrients you need from foods? There is no simple answer to this question.It depends on your situation. Certain groups of people will have higher than normal nutrient requirements such those who are pregnant while others won't get adequate nutrition from their daily diets. If you fall into one of the following categories, you should consider taking vitamin supplements:

1. You are pregnant or breast feeding.

Women who are pregnant will most likely need to take supplemental doses of folic acid and iron. Folic acid has been shown to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects in newborns which comes from inadequate levels of folic acid in the mother's body. Iron is important for preventing iron deficiency anemia which can cause weakness and fatigue in the mother to be. It's very difficult to get adequate levels of iron from diet alone to meet the needs of pregnancy. If you're pregnant, you should discuss with your doctor what supplement you should be taking.

2. You're a vegetarian or vegan.

If you eat primarily a vegetarian diet, you may be lacking in vitamin B12 which is important for maintaining healthy red blood cells. If you're vegan and don't consume milk products, you may need to supplement with calcium in order to protect your bones. A calcium supplement combined with vitamin D would have additional benefit since vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium. Lastly, if you don't consume any meat products, you may want to consider supplementing with iron. Although iron is present in some vegetables including spinach and beans, levels aren't as high as you find in animal based products. Iron supplementation would be most important during the premenopausal years when you're losing iron with your menstrual flow on a monthly basis.

3. You're primarily a fast food eater.