When it comes to maintaining a healthy heart and balanced diet, most of us choose to consume a variety of different foods to ensure we get all of the right nutrients. If you stick to one kind of food for too long, then it’ll create an imbalance which could lead to some health issues. To counteract this, many people decide to take supplements which aim to fill in those nutrient gaps.
But does it make sense to take supplements if you already have a healthy diet? If you think that you’re already eating a good balance of different foods, then you might be on the fence about taking supplements. This is completely understandable as supplements could cause further imbalances if they’re not taken correctly, and they can end up costing quite a bit of money if you have to replenish your stock every month.
So in this post, we’ll be taking a look at some reasons why you might need to take supplements even if you have a healthy diet. Alternatively, you might discover that you personally don’t need to take supplements, especially if your diet is as balanced as you think it is.
If you have a healthy balanced diet, you probably don’t need to take supplements
Let’s get this out of the way first; yes, if you have a healthy diet, you probably don’t need supplements to get more nutrients. If you follow plenty of healthy recipes and switch up the type of foods you eat every day, then there’s a good chance that you’re probably getting a good assortment of different nutrients.
With that said, most of us don’t really go in-depth with our diets. We have a surface level of understanding, such as needing to eat fish every week instead of just chicken and red meat. We also understand that having a medley of different vegetables is good, but do you really know how much of a certain nutrient you’re getting?
Some people do look at nutrition labels to see just how much of a particular nutrient they’re getting. However, this isn’t as common as you might think and it can often be difficult to keep track of this, especially if you buy fresh fruits and vegetables that don’t have those labels. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to measure what kind of nutrients you might be missing out on, so let’s take a look at some of the most common ones that people lack.
Supplements for nutrients that might be difficult to get
A good use case of supplements is to fill in nutrition gaps for foods that you know you don’t eat much, or nutrients that you could be lacking for various reasons. Here are some of the most common ones to consider.
Calcium can be difficult for some people to get because of dairy allergies. You could take a supplement for this, but you can also get calcium from calcium-fortified products, dark green leafy vegetables and nuts.
Omega-3 fatty acids usually come from fish, but a lot of people might not enjoy eating or cooking fish. If you’re not eating fatty fish every day, then there’s a good chance you’re not getting enough omega-3 in your system. This is why fish oil capsules are so popular in the supplement market.
Magnesium is involved in hundreds of metabolic reactions in our body and can reduce anxiety and blood pressure among other benefits. Magnesium comes from leafy greens such as spinach and specific nuts, but you can also get liquid magnesium if you don’t eat many leafy greens that contain it. It’s worth examining your diet to see if you need more magnesium to help keep your body healthy.
Vitamin K is important for healthy bones and blood clotting. While it mainly comes from leafy greens, it needs fat to help your body absorb the vitamin. An easy way to get this is to add an oil-based dressing to salads. Alternatively, you could just take supplements for it.
Vitamin D is critical for many things in our body, but it’s difficult to get enough from just food. The best source is actually from direct sunlight, but this can be difficult during winter months or in certain parts of the world.
Remember to speak to your physician if you’re unsure about your nutrition levels
Before you take any kind of supplement, make sure you speak to your physician to help examine your body to see if you have any kind of deficiency. This will give you peace of mind and make it easier for you to tell if you need to take supplements or not.
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