Health Supplements

With our busy and active lifestyles, good nutrition from diet alone is often not enough to prevent us from becoming depleted. This is where health supplements are useful as they can top up our stores and protect us from becoming run down.

When choosing the right health supplements for your needs, there are a few things you should take into consideration.
•Do you eat at least 3 serves of red meat per week? (And ham sandwiches don’t count – we’re talking about steak here!) Red meat is a valuable source of iron, zinc and B vitamins. Vegetarians and vegans often worry about low iron levels, but it is actually zinc and B vitamins which can become more rapidly depleted.
•Do you eat at least one serve of dairy food per day? A good nutrition consultant can advise us on non-dairy sources of calcium, but how many of us are eating enough calcium-rich foods on a daily basis? Dairy is also a rich source of other nutrients such as magnesium and vitamin D, so if we are not consuming milk-based products we might also need to find other sources of these nutrients or choose health supplements high in these ingredients.
•Are you physically active? Good nutrition and diet can only get us so far if we are burning through vitamins and minerals at an increased rate. Physical exercise can deplete our bodies of B vitamins, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc to name just a few. Health supplements containing these nutrients can help to top up our stores prior to exercise and prevent serious losses.
•Are you stressed? When we are stressed or busy our bodies have an increased need for B vitamins and magnesium. Low stores of these nutrients may lead to symptoms such as anxiety and nervous tension. If we are burning the candle at both ends or going through a stressful period, even those with a good nutrition regime may benefit from topping up with health supplements.

But there are so many health supplements available – how do we choose a good one?

Many people don’t know that health supplements contain different types of vitamins and minerals which can vary greatly in both quality and effectiveness. Many multivitamins contain vitamins produced from 100% synthetic ingredients and inorganic minerals produced solely from rock or metal. These health supplements may be poorly absorbed, and what seems like good nutrition levels on the label are pointless if the product cannot be effectively absorbed into the body where it is needed.

The best option is to choose health supplements made from natural vitamins and organic minerals. These ingredients have higher absorption rates, resulting in increased amounts reaching the bloodstream. For more information on natural vitamins and organic minerals, click here.