As a nutritionist, I often receive questions on health supplements, with the most common being: ‘I hate vegetables, can I just eat vitamins instead?’ This school of thought, among many others, reflects the rise of the booming health supplement industry – a global industry that is projected to be worth over USD 278 billion by 2024! Today let’s take a look at whether health supplements are really worth the money. Here’s the low-down.
Why do we need vitamins and minerals?
Vitamins and minerals are essential to our daily bodily functions and survival. Every day our bodies produce skin and muscle and cells. Did you know that we generate 100 billion red blood cells every day and about two million of them every second! They carry nutrients and oxygen throughout the body, alongside the numerous nervous instructions that shuttle along thousands of miles of brain and body pathways and from one organ to another – issuing the instructions that help sustain our lives. To do all this requires some raw materials. So we need these micronutrients in the same way as we need the macronutrients of carbohydrates, protein and fat! They keep us alive and keep us healthy.
So why do we need health supplements?
These days, almost every meal that we purchase has gone through some form of processing. Processed foods are all around us, from ‘healthy’ frozen meals at the supermarket, to fried noodles at the food court. But no matter how healthy we try to be, many of these foods will undergo production processes such as pasteurisation, which result in the loss of essential vitamins and minerals. This is why we encourage adopting a diet with a variety of wholefoods that are as natural and unprocessed as possible. It is also why many argue we need to supplement out diets with multivitamins and other health supplements. To ensure that our bodies are getting enough essential vitamins and minerals for its daily functions.
What are health supplements, really?
‘Take these vitamins! It helps to heal your weak joints!’ You may have heard something along these lines, but it is often far from the truth and can mislead many. The truth is that health or dietary supplements are not designed to cure, prevent, or treat the symptoms of illnesses. They are designed to SUPPLEMENT your daily diet and enhance your general health. Examples of health supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, and amino acids that typically come in tablets, powders, drinks and more.
How much am I paying for health supplements?
Multivitamins typically range from SGD $30 – 60 (est. USD$20 – 45) or more for a bottle / canister of about 60 tablets. But do we really reap the full benefits of these multivitamins? Let’s find out.
Supplements can complement our diets
At Active8me we are not against health supplements. There are many groups of people who may require additional vitamins and minerals. For example, pregnant and lactating women may need iron, folic acid and calcium supplements. Strict vegetarians may require vitamin B supplementation, and menopausal women may require calcium supplements.
With a proper basis and foundation (eg following a blood test and proper clinical analysis from a doctor), we are all in favour of supplements. They can compliment our diets.
The key question, however, is WHERE you get your vitamin and mineral supplementation from. It is ALWAYS better to get the necessary vitamins and minerals from actual food and not pills ! Let me give you an example. As a nutritionist, I have worked in a lab and on one occasion, I had to test the quality of vitamin C. What I found was rather shocking – the actual bioavailable vitamin C (the amount that actually gets absorbed in the body) was way less than the amount stated on the label! So beware of marketing and promised benefits, and always remember that getting your required nutrients from real food and not supplements is the aim.
Tips on how to be a smart shopper
It is no doubt that the health supplement industry constantly preys on our health fears and worries with various ads that can often be misleading. So here are some useful tips on how to be a smart shopper when it comes to supplements:.
1. Food First Before Supplements
Nothing beats getting your essential nutrients first from food. The fresh food you eat is packed with not just one or two nutrients, but a variety of nutrients that a single vitamin tablet is unable to provide. So focus first on nourishing your body by having a balanced diet of whole foods that include complex carbohydrates, greens, and lean meat. Focus on food first before supplements.
2. Buy from reliable sources
Imagine your best friend saying ‘Hey I’ve been trying this product, it really works!’ Before you know it, you’ve bought a dangerous slimming supplement online. Online sources are a rather risky place to buy health products as regulations are very limited. Purchasing products from reliable sources and companies. Do your research!
3. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Don’t be misled by false promises like ‘an easy way to cure your xxx’. Most times, these are not scientifically proven and can even be dangerous because the health effects are unknown. Other claims that you should be wary about include ‘No risk, 100% safe, money back guaranteed’, ‘proven effective by thousands’, ‘recommended by scientists worldwide’, and many more. Again, be sceptical and do research before being convinced to buy any supplement product – they are not all created equal. We want you to make informed decisions, based on science, and not just what marketers tell you.
Generally safe health supplements
Health supplements are recommended for people who tend to have a limited diet or high nutrient requirements. These are the groups that may obviously benefit from supplementation.
✓ Pregnant and lactating women – iron, folic acid, calcium supplements
✓ Women who are planning for pregnancy – folic acid supplement
✓ Menopausal women – calcium supplements
✓ Strict vegetarians – vitamin B supplements
Our thoughts
Like many things we speak and write about, there is no black and white answer. We are not against supplements. But it is important to understand that the best place to get your vitamins and minerals is from your food, not a pill! That is why we advocate a balanced healthy diet of all food groups. Nourish and fuel your body with clean eating – that is, unprocessed whole foods where possible (the sort of food your grandmother would recognise as food), not the processed, plastic wrapped food of modern times. Supplements may then have a place built upon that foundation.
It’s never too late to start making changes to your life, and if you do need some guidance, our app is a useful place to start. With hundreds of healthy recipes, and tips for how to eat out healthier – we’ve got you covered. Plus workouts, mindset, tracking and more.
