From bodybuilding products to daily vitamins, you should understand that supplements are not regulated similarly like medicines by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Hence, ponder the risks and health advantages before consuming dietary supplements.
What Are Dietary Supplements?
Dietary supplements contain nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. They provide an extra amount of nutrients to the body, alongside that offered by food. They are available in the form of juices, powders, tablets, capsules, etc.
In recent times, supplements have obtained immense importance, due to lowering food quality and less time for cooking and eating. Dietary supplements are derived from both natural foods and synthetic products.
Like every other thing, dietary supplements also have their pros and cons. Inappropriate use or excessive or less use of these supplements can cause unfavorable results. To know more about the benefits and risks, let’s read this blog!
Best Dietary Supplements and Their Benefits
1. Essential Mineral Supplements
Minerals are crucial for appropriate body activities and thereby, you should keep up with precise levels of all minerals in the blood.
- Calcium Supplements – The body needs this significant mineral for healthy teeth and bones, muscle contractions, and proper heartbeat. Sufficient blood calcium aids weight loss. Individuals with insufficient blood calcium levels are susceptible to body ache, weaker teeth and bones, and lots of other health issues.
- Iron Supplements – Iron is required for boosting muscle strength, keeping up with normal hemoglobin levels, enhancing concentration levels, boosting immunity, and lowering fatigue. Low iron levels can cause anemia (iron deficiency) that’s a prevalent and serious condition. It leads to low energy levels and the person loses immunity and all strength gradually. Iron deficiency is mostly seen in women because of many reasons. Most importantly these reasons incorporate childbirth and monthly cycles. Furthermore, the need for iron is extremely high at the time of pregnancy and lactation. It should be fulfilled for both baby and mother’s good health.
- Chromium Supplements – These supplements aid insulin sensitivity, weight loss, muscle development, and metabolism.
- Zinc Supplements – These are required for the body’s defense mechanism. It is necessitous for good memory, powerful immunity, and senses like the taste. It is advantageous to treat different health conditions like male infertility and low sperm count, and it increases testosterone levels also.
- Potassium Supplements – These helps regulate muscle contraction. Fluid balance hinders hypertension and promotes weight loss.
- Iodine Supplements – These supplements help produce thyroid hormone, which, as a result, helps in the brain’s growth, promotes weight loss, and regulatesthe metabolism of the body.
2. Protein and Amino Acid Supplements
You can find several types of protein supplements in the market, including soy, whey, pea, casein, and blend protein. These are advantageous for your body as they help gain strength and muscles, support weight loss or gain, enhance immunity and muscle recovery, boost skin and hair quality, and store and transport different nutrients.
Amino acids are proteins’ building blocks and adding amino acid supplements helps in lesser muscle wasting and quicker muscle recovery.
3. Fatty Acids (Omega 3, 6 and 9 Supplements)
Omega 3, 6, and 9 supplements are necessitous for cardiac health, healthy hair and skin, healthy pregnancy, immunity, and keeping up with proper cholesterol levels. Studies say that Omega 3 is advantageous for athletic performance and post-workout muscle recovery.
4. Vitamin Supplements
Vitamins are highly required for development, growth, and proper functionality of the body.
- Vitamin D Supplements – Vitamin D promotes healthy teeth and bones, prevents body ache and different diseases.
- Vitamin B9 (Folate) Supplements – These promote the formation and maintenance of new body cells. Proper levels in blood help prevent anemia and cancer.
- Vitamin B7 or H (Biotin) Supplements – These are needed for the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. They are also required for healthy hair and skin.
- Vitamin B12 Supplements – These supplements help maintain proper DNA and a healthy nervous system.
- Vitamin C and E Supplements – Vitamin C helps in wound healing, collagen production, and repair. Vitamin E helps in preventing allergies, respiratory infections, and skin disorders.
- Vitamin A and K Supplements – Vitamin A supplements are necessitous for good vision. Vitamin K helps clot blood.
5. Probiotics
Probiotics are useful for lowering allergies, activating healthy bacteria in the body, preventing diarrhea, and maintaining healthy skin.
6. Carbohydrate Supplements
Carbohydrate supplements help fulfill your daily need for carbohydrates.
7. Others
Some other different supplements are also there, like Arginine (helps produce nitric oxide in the body), Glucosamine (advantageous for joint pain), Coenzyme Q10 (antioxidant), Spirulina (high protein), and Ginseng (boosts immunity and strength). Supplements are very useful if you utilize them properly.
Risks Associated With Dietary Supplements
Some common side effects and risks associated with dietary supplements are as follows:
1. Inadequate or excessive use of any supplement can be dangerous. Consumption of a supplement in a high dosage for a long time may lead to toxicity.
2. Including unwanted dietary supplements in your diet can cause unfavorable interactions with other supplements, foods, and different nutrients in the body. A few of them are:
- Antioxidants (polyphenols) found in green tea capsules or green tea can prevent iron absorption in the body. Its longer use can lower your hemoglobin levels.
- In diabetic patients, Ginseng has a hypoglycemic effect. It may lead to very low blood sugar levels in them if the patients are on insulin or diabetes medicines.
- Protein-rich foods and supplements interact with the medications of Parkinson’s diseases, such as Levodopa, Syndopa, etc. Thereby, you must avoid proteins 3 to 4 hours before and after taking these medicines.
- Vitamin K foods and supplements interact with the blood thinner medications like Warfarin, Acitrom, etc. and hinder their impact.
3. If you consume lots of supplements together, they might react with one another and have a negative impact or might just have a lowered impact.
4. Maximum dietary supplements comprise ingredients instead of what you think to consume. Those ingredients can be shells of capsules, preservatives, etc. So, always check those ingredients carefully. If you consume them in too much quantity, it can harm your health. Even maximum herbal supplements also contain these constituents.
Conclusion
Dietary supplements are extremely advantageous if you know why you should consume them and their proper dosage. If you use them excessively without knowing their different needs, they may be harmful to you.
For the maximum quality and safety, select supplements tested and approved by an authentic entity like Pigi. Do not use expired supplements.
