How To Choose Supplements

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Understanding how to choose your supplements is very important. How so? To function properly, and to boost your immune system, the body needs daily minimum amounts of all essential nutrients. Shortfall causes deficiencies that in turn results in illnesses. Each person's circumstance, activity, size and gender determines how much of each nutrient is required for proper body function. The RDA serves basically to determine the amount of nutrients in the diet that should decrease the risk of  chronic disease for most (not all) healthy individuals, provided our diets are balanced and consist of a wide spectrum of all essential nutrients. Including all nutrients in our daily diet depends on factors such as availability of all foods to meet this need, affordability of all these foods, and ability to consistently consume these foods in adequate volume on a daily basis. Hence making it next to impossible acquiring all essential nutrients via our daily meals. Here is were supplements come in. Supplements will bridge the gap where essential nutrients are missing, or inadequate in our diet. Since RDA is basically minimal, it is quite safe to ingest in excess of the suggested amount, especially since the amount suggested will be inadequate for some people. Hence, it brings to the fore the need to know approximately how much is needed to keep healthy and thus how to wisely choose supplements to cost-effectively and adequately fill nutritional gaps.

Evaluating What To Take

There are two main groups of supplements.

• Multivitamins and minerals, that provides general nutritional support in adequate amounts according to the RDA, or close to such amounts depending on specific factors. This should form the foundation/base of our supplement program. 
• Target supplements that are more for therapeutic purpose, such as zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-complex, or isolated B-vitamins, Vitamin C, Caltrate, and so on.

When initiating a supplementation program, you need to start with a complete (comprehensive) multivitamin plus minerals formula. If you choose one with adequate of all available, or established essential nutrients, that by itself should be sufficient, provided you are in general good health. Most multivitamin plus minerals formulas do not include iron, hence the need to include same in your purchase. When choosing iron it is better to select one that includes "Heme" in its formula. Heme is more bio-available and thus will absorb more efficiently. I personally like Hemafed which includes heme iron along with some B-vitamins. However it seem this supplement is not readily available internationally hence my choice of "Feosol Bifera HIP & CIP Iron". While I have never used this supplement. the label shows that it contains 6 mg of Heme iron, and online, it carries a fairly good rating. Also the label does not show the presence of any B-vitamins.  

If for example, you are experiencing muscular pains - lets say in the thigh muscles. That could mean you are deficient in calcium, You might need to purchase multivitamin plus minerals, iron (if iron is absent from the formula), and a calcium formula. You will need to know what formulas will provide maximum benefit, and the dosage of each of these formulas that will produce results. Here is where basic nutrition knowledge, and spending time to read nutrition content of packages comes in. The nutrient contents usually show percentage of DV. If you are deficient in calcium, you will not want to be taking only 22% calcium in supplement along with your usual diet except that diet supplies at least 78% of your calcium needs. Besides, based on the fact that you are having a deficiency, you will need to start with more than 100% daily value to first, take care of the deficiency, and next, to effect repairs and possibly bone density replacement. You would want to take adequate calcium to meet your needs. Therefore with a multivitamin that supplies 22% calcium, you should consider buying a Calcium supplement that will at least compensate for your minimum requirement. Hence, if you for example, weigh 69kg you will need a minimum of 1,629mg of calcium (absorption depends on factors such as exposure to sunlight, adequate of other minerals, vitamin C, and fat intake). Since it is likely that the multivitamin will not have 100% daily value (DV) of minerals that interacts with calcium, you will achieve better result purchasing a caltrate with minerals in its formula. It follows then, that you seek out and purchase a multivitamin with the highest amount of available minerals.

Among those with higher volumes of minerals is Walgreens Multivitamin Adults 50 +. You will however note that the values are in DV (Daily Values) which is slightly higher than RDA and was adopted for labeling instead of RDA. DV was developed to help consumers determine the level of various nutrients in a standard serving of food in relation to their approximate requirement for it, as well as to compare the nutrient content of products within the context of a total diet. Therefore when choosing supplements, DV must be taken into consideration.

Mineral values in this multivitamin ranges from 2% for those that are readily available in most natural foods we eat, to 115% DV of those that are less available, and you will not find a supplement with this single nutrient. Most mineral values falls between the range of 22 and 115% DV. Calcium falls at the bottom of that scale possibly because of the availability of Caltrate. The nutrient value of this supplement falls within average, and so I take between 2 and 4 caplets per day depending on my needs. In my case I find 1 caplet to be inadequate. My weight falls within the range of 55 and 59kg. The nutrition Content is as follows:

Serving Size 1 Tablet

Amount per tablet    %DV	Amount per tablet   %DV	Amount per tablet    %DV
Vitamin A...................... 50%..     (40% as beta-carotene) Vitamin C 60mg............100%  Vitamin D3 1000IU....... 250% Vitamin E 50IU............. 167% Vitamin K 30 mcg........... 38% Thiamin  1.5mg ............ 100% Riboflavin 1.7 mg ......... 100% Niacin 20 mg ................ 100% Vitamin B6 3mg ........... 150% Folate  400 mcg .............100%	Vitamin B12 25 mcg .......417% Biotin 30 mcg .................. 10% Pantothenic Acid 10 mg..100%  Calcium 220 mg ............... 22% Phosphorus 20 mg ............. 2% Iodine 150 mcg .............. 100% Magnesium 50 mg ............13% Zinc 11 mg ....................... 73% Selenium 19 mcg ............. 27% Copper 0.5 mg ................. 25% Manganese 2.3 mg ......... 115%	Chromium 50 mcg ........... 42% Molybdenum 45 mcg ....... 60% Chloride 72 mg .................. 2% Potassium 80 mg ................ 2% Nickel  5 mcg .................... ** Silicon 2 mg ....................... ** Vanadium 10 mcg .............. ** Lutein 250 mcg .................. ** Lycopene 300 mcg ............. ** -------------------------------------- ** Daily Value (DV) not established

Supplements For Bone Care

Having Walgreens Multivitamin Adults 50 + formula as basic or foundation supplement, you may add others for targeted health care. For example, to minimize the risk of surprised broken bones due to eroded bone density; you should consider focusing on establishing a daily diet that includes foods that supplies bio-available calcium phosphate and other nutrients that interact with calcium for better absorption. You will also want to make sure your diet includes a multivitamin like the one above with fair amount of all essential nutrients. In addition to that you will want to make sure the calcium supplement you chose provides efficient absorption What is best to look for?

My favorite calcium supplement is Caltrate 600+D3 Plus Minerals.  This Caltrate includes  magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, sodium, and boron - minerals that interacts with calcium to boost absorption. The nutrient values are as follows:

Serving Size 1 Tablet

Amount per tablet                    %DV	Amount per tablet                   %DV
Vitamin D3 800IU ................................. 200% Calcium 600 mg ...................................... 60% Magnesium 50 mg ................................... 13% Zinc 7.5 mg .............................................. 50% Copper 1 mg ............................................ 50%	Manganese 1.8 mg .............................. 90% Boron 250 mcg .................................... * -------------------------------------------------- * Daily Value (DV) not established

Simply taking two caplets per day of  each of the above multivitamin plus minerals and caltrate, along with sunlight, and a balanced diet, will greatly enhance your bone health. However persons with inflammatory issues might need, along with the above, a little more for relief. 

A little more than a decade ago, during my involvement in network marketing I received good testimony from people with arthritic condition that used a formula containing Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM that I sold them. While that brand formula is no longer available I came across Arazo Nutrition Joint Support Advanced Formulation on Amazon that contains these items as its active ingredients. It would worth the while trying it for three months along with the above mentioned supplements if you are experiencing arthritic conditions, or inflammatory disorder. 

Some people also find a warm compress application using a towel soaked with warm solution of Epsom Salts and sodium chloride to be helpful when applied as warm as bearable and allowed to completely cool before removing. Usually this application is repeated up to twice per day.  

(To be continued. Please stay in touch)

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