The Health Benefits of Using Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements have become very common nowadays. They come in the form of pills, extracts, capsules, powders, tablets or even liquids. They can also be synthetic or natural. Here are a few health benefits of using supplements.

They Supplement Diet

As the name suggests, dietary supplements add to the nutritional value of the diet. They help you get the nutrients that you may be missing in your diet. That is why they are actually considered to be a subset of food in many countries. Where you have all the nutrients that you need in the diet, they ensure that you get more of a specific class of nutrients and minerals to get a certain desired effect. Perhaps that is why there are supplements for every type of nutrients.

To be precise, there are vitamin supplements, mineral supplements, protein, and amino acid supplements, and essential fatty acid supplements, to name but a few. A case in point, if you are looking for more proteins in your diet, then you will need to take one or more protein supplements.

Lowers the Risks Diseases

Dietary supplements reduce the risk of catching certain diseases such as osteoporosis or arthritis. This is because they have antioxidant properties that help them keep disease-causing microorganisms at bay. Vitamin C supplements are particularly helpful in preventing chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and heart diseases.

Supplements also help older people meet their nutritional requirements. The vitamin and mineral requirement among older people is different from that of younger people. It is harder for older people to get all the nutrients that they need from the food they take, and that is why there are several deficiency diseases among senior citizens. For instance, people over 50 years of age need more calcium for stronger bones and teeth, vitamin D, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12. They may not easily get enough of these nutrients from food.

Supplements fill the nutritional and hormonal gaps in menopausal and pregnant women. A pregnant woman may not get the recommended daily amount of certain nutrients from food because she eats for two people. She needs dietary supplements to fill this nutritional gap and ensure that her fetus is in the pink of health as well. Menopausal women also tend to have hormonal imbalances which can easily be corrected by dietary supplements.

Help with Food Allergies

If you are allergic to certain foods, nutritional supplements should be your greatest friends because you need a balanced diet to remain healthy. Being allergic to a specific class of food does not mean that you don’t need it in your body. A dietary supplement of that class of food comes in handy in this case. It is worth noting that nutritional supplements are not for everybody. Though they are available without the doctor’s prescription, you should always consult your doctor to confirm whether the consumption of a specific dietary supplement is advisable or not. Additionally, supplements should be used for supplementary purposes only. They should never be used in place of food.