Health is wealth and health must come first in order to gain more wealth. But how do we get a healthy body in our daily life? Aside from the regular healthy exercise that we usually do, we should also take vitamins and minerals in order to be healthier. So how do we easily get the vitamins and minerals needed to our body? Are you more into whole foods or to synthetic vitamins?

Here are the details that will let you decide whether to get your needed vitamins and minerals in natural way or to stick on your synthetic vitamins.

Based on what I have researched from Mayo Clinic Healthy Lifestyle, Supplements are not intended to replace food and it can’t reproduce all the nutrients and minerals from the whole foods. There are actually three main benefits that we can get from the whole foods. These are the Greater Nutrition, Essential Fiber and Protective substances.

Whole Foods, Greater nutrition

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Whole foods are complex, containing a variety of the micronutrients your body needs.

Essential fiber

Whole foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes, provide dietary fiber. As part of a healthy diet, fiber can help prevent certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and it can also help manage constipation.

Protective substances

Many whole foods are also good sources of antioxidants — substances that slow down a natural process leading to cell and tissue damage. It isn't clear that antioxidant supplements offer the same benefits as antioxidants in food. Some high-dose antioxidant supplements have been associated with health risks.

Food Supplements/Synthetic Vitamins

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People who are predominantly healthy and who eat lots of healthy foods might don’t need to take supplements but people most specifically those pregnant women who were advised to get specific grams of vitamins in order to be fit they are the one who really need to take supplements.

Moreover:
Women who may become pregnant should get 400 micrograms a day of folic acid from fortified foods or supplements, in addition to eating foods that naturally contain folate.
Women who are pregnant should take a prenatal vitamin that includes iron or a separate iron supplement.
Adults age 50 or older should eat foods fortified with vitamin B-12, such as fortified cereals, or take a multivitamin that contains B-12 or a separate B-12 supplement.
Adults age 65 and older should take 800 international units of vitamin D daily to reduce the risk of falls.

Food Supplements may also suitable to those who:

• Don't eat well or consume fewer calories than needed
  Are a vegan or a vegetarian who eats a limited variety of foods
  Follow any other type of diet that restricts an entire category of foods
• Don't obtain two to three servings a week of seafood, which supplies omega-3 fatty acids for heart health
  Have limited milk intake due to lactose intolerance or milk allergy, or simply don't consume enough dairy foods
• Have heavy bleeding during your menstrual period
• Have a medical condition that affects how your body absorbs or uses nutrients, such as chronic diarrhea, food allergies, food intolerance, or a disease of the liver, gallbladder, intestines or pancreas
  Have had surgery on your digestive tract and are not able to digest and absorb nutrients properly
  For better supplements it is important to see a doctor and talk about what is recommended for you and how much dosages you need to take.

Take note of the following information in choosing and using food supplements

• Talk to your doctor. Supplements can cause harmful effects if taken in certain combinations, with certain prescription medications or before surgery or other medical procedures.
• Check the label labels can tell you what the active ingredient or ingredients are, which nutrients are included, the serving size and the amount of nutrients in each serving.
• Watch what you eat. Vitamins and minerals are being added to a growing number of foods, including breakfast cereals and beverages. If you're also taking supplements, you may be getting more than you realize of certain nutrients. Taking more than you need is expensive and can raise your risk of side effects.
  Avoid more doses. Taking more than the recommended daily values (DVs) can increase your risk of side effects. Children are especially vulnerable to overdoses of vitamins and minerals.

Take note also of some supplements safety alerts. There are some food supplements in the marketplace that are unsafe to use.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is on tract in reviewing supplements that are harmful to our body so better to check with this organization for any updates. We must also take note that FDA doesn’t have the complete control of these other food supplements that are currently available in the marketplace.

Best ways to get the needed vitamins to your body

Natural Vitamins and Food Supplements

A question was also raised from ConsumerLab.com. The concern was about taking natural vitamins are better than synthetic vitamins. Consumerlab.com was able to discuss the best ways to get our needed vitamins in natural way and the advantages and risk in taking dietary food supplement. The page also mentioned the different types of vitamins and minerals that should be taken directly from the foods because it may cause high risk of kidney failure if these vitamins were taken directly from synthetic form of vitamins. It also discussed the percentage of absorption from the natural foods that we ate.
From Dietitians of Canada page, they were able to discuss the functions and food sources of some common vitamins. It also displays a table that shows types of vitamins associated with complete functions and its sources.

References:

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/supplements/art-20044894
• https://www.consumerlab.com/answers/is-it-better-to-get-vitamins-from-foods-or-supplements/natural_vs_synthetic_vitamin/
• https://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health/Nutrition-A-Z/Vitamins/Functions-and-Food-Sources-of-Common-Vitamins.aspx

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