The Definition of Food Supplements

Nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, are best derived from food sources. However, you might find it difficult to eat a balanced diet on a regular basis, especially if you have special food considerations, like allergies, that make certain items off-limits. Food supplements can help you get the nutrients you lack from your regular diet. However, they're not intended to replace healthy meals and snacks. Consult with your doctor or registered dietitian before taking any food supplements.

Form and Function

Food supplements support your diet when certain nutrients are absent. Supplements come in tablet or gel-capsule form, as well as powders added to water. Almost 40 percent of adults in the U.S. take a multivitamin -- the most common dietary supplement -- according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Other food supplements include meal replacement bars and shakes. These are sometimes used for weight loss. Ensuring your daily nutritional needs are met may also decrease the risk for chronic illnesses.

Common Ingredients

Multivitamins contain the most comprehensive list of ingredients. These include vitamins A, B complex, C and E, as well as important minerals like zinc and iron. You may only need a single supplement if you’re deficient in one nutrient. Examples include iron, vitamin C or vitamin B-12. Some food supplements even support certain life stages. For instance, a doctor may recommend a folic acid supplement for pregnant women, or a calcium-vitamin D combination for seniors.

Other Types of Supplements

Not all supplements offer nutritional value. Products made with tea, herbs and other botanical ingredients shouldn't replace regular nutrients. Read herbal supplement labels carefully -- many are falsely marketed as methods of disease prevention without any evidence to back these claims. These products don’t contain essential nutrients, so they're not effective dietary supplements.


Food supplements are supposed to help, but take it with a limit as excess is bad for your health.

The Power Of Vitamin C

Your body uses large amounts of vitamin C to combat infections, colds, and disease. Vitamin C is also used by your body in all kinds of healing situations such as preventing cancer, healing wounds and more...

No other vitamin seems to have so many favorable effects on the body than this incredible pill. Vitamin C is not readily stored in your body and therefore needs to be replenished on a daily basis. I think the other important reason to supplement with extra vitamin C is because most people don't get enough in their daily diet.

Actually, getting enough vitamins and minerals in general is a big problem with most people's health. Why is that? Well, because much of the soil we grow our food in today has been stripped of its precious vitamins and minerals leaving our food with much less nourishment than it contained twenty years ago.

Today, you would need to eat much larger servings of a single food in order to extract the proper nutritional value our bodies demand. If you don't get an adequate amount of vitamin C in your system then your health begins to suffer greatly.

What Does It Do, And What Scientific Studies Give Evidence To Support This?
Your body uses large amounts of vitamin C to combat infections, colds, and disease. Vitamin C is also used by your body in all kinds of healing situations such as preventing cancer, healing wounds, and reducing damage from pollutants like drugs and cigarette smoke.

Tests also shows that vitamin C helps ease upper respiratory infections, reduce bronchial restriction, and impaired breathing with allergies and asthma. Most importantly, extra C improves healthy immune system functioning. Research also suggests that it creates healthy blood vessel functioning and helps keep arterial walls clear from blockage - which in turn reduces your risk of heart disease.

High levels of vitamin C also suppress your body's release of cortisone. Cortisone is a hormone released from your body whenever you are under stress. Cortisone ultimately decreases your testosterone levels and throws your body into a catabolic state (your body begins using your muscle for fuel).

"For weight lifters that are interested in putting on more muscle vitamin C could prove to be helpful in maintaining as much muscle as possible."


It would be great if vitamin C alone were the cure all pill we needed to fight every disorder... but the truth is that vitamin C interacts with thousands of other nutrients to carry out it's healing functions. For example, in order for large doses of vitamin C to be effective in preventing a cold it must first interact with large doses of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, zinc, folic acid, and choline.

Remember, one nutrient never acts all by itself - it is the complex interaction of many nutrients that allows your body to work most effectively to maintain optimum health. That's why taking a daily multi-vitamin, multi-mineral packet is also a very good idea.

How Much Should Be Taken? And Are There Any Side Effects?
It's true most of the literature on vitamin C supplementation is very favorable, however, one recent study presented by James Dwyer of the University of Southern California is singing a different tune. Dwyer suggests that extra supplementation of vitamin C might cause carotid arterial wall thickening, and consequently promote future cardiovascular problems.


This study was presented by Dwyer to theAmerican Heart Association meeting in March 2000. However, most leading experts agree that Dwyer's study lacks serious detailed proof. To the contrary, many more highly detailed studies over the last thirty years have all suggested vitamin C helps reduce chronic disease and mortality, including cardiovascular disease.

So how much vitamin C do we need? It all depends on how many free radicals your body is generating... from all the literature I have read it seems that athletes and smokers need 4-10 grams of extra vitamin C per day.

I would say most normal people living a healthy lifestyle who are interested in obtaining benefits of vitamin C need an excess of 1 - 3 grams per day. No studies have showed toxicity with high intake of vitamin C, however, your body will reach a point where high levels can cause diarrhea.

If you develop lose stools while taking high levels just back off your dosage until you discover your tolerance level.

There are also many different kinds of vitamin C supplements like rose hips, ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, and acerola - all claim to be more usable by your body, but the truth is they are all efficient forms of vitamin C.

Most fruits and green leafy vegetables have a good amount of vitamin C in them. For example, a small orange contains about 65 mg of vitamin C, and any kind of Kiwi or Guava fruit is an excellent source containing up to 180 mg in an average slice. If you decide to get your daily intake from fruit be careful to monitor your overall sugar intake.

10 Reasons to Take Nutritional Supplements

Many people still question the importance of taking supplements at all. Here are ten reasons to consider supplementing your diet with high-quality nutrients:

1. Current commercial agriculture techniques leave soil deficient in important minerals, causing the food grown in this soil to share the same mineral deficiencies.

2. Many foods are shipped long distances and are stored for long periods of time, both of which cause the depletion of vitamins in these foods, including the important B-complex and C vitamins.

3. Food processing, cooking, and preserving leads to nutrient depletion in our food supply that makes it difficult to obtain adequate nutrition from foods alone.

4. Many fruits and vegetables are genetically bred to improve visual appeal and crop yields, not nutritional value, which frequently results in lesser nutritional values than our ancestors’ food supply.

5. Erratic eating habits, insufficient chewing of food, eating on the run, and stress contribute to poor digestion, making it difficult for our bodies to extract all the nutrients it needs from food.

6. Pharmaceutical drug use has escalated over time. Most medications deplete essential nutrients, making people more vulnerable to deficiencies.

7. Specific times in life and health conditions may result in higher needs of certain nutrients. For example, folic acid needs tend to be higher during pregnancy, while menopausal women may be vulnerable to calcium deficiencies.

8. Increasing levels of environmental pollution in our air, water and food may cause our bodies to use more nutrients than normal to detoxify and eliminate harmful substances. This is especially true of the antioxidant vitamins, some of which include: the “ACE Vitamins:” Vitamins A, C, and E.

9. We all have genetic weaknesses, including higher needs of some nutrients, higher rates of depletion for certain nutrients, and an increased likelihood of genetic expression of some illnesses if vitamin or mineral deficiencies are present.

10. Many nutrients have been proven to prevent or aid in the treatment of health conditions like high cholesterol, arthritis, birth defects, and cancer. Check out my articles on the vitamins and minerals that help prevent cancer.

Of course, you should always consult a qualified health professional first to avoid any drug-nutrient interactions. And avoid supplements with sweeteners, colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, or fillers. Children should always take supplement formulas designed for their needs.