You’ve likely noticed that you feel better and look better when you eat better. When you eat healthy foods, with a balance of vitamins and nutrients, you have more energy to tackle the challenges of your days, your mood is better, and your skin and hair and nails look better. Sometimes, though, getting that balance can be a challenge. That’s where vitamin supplements come in.
Even if you eat a fairly good diet, you may be including multivitamins in your daily regimen just to be sure – or you may be adding a specific supplement to address a specific need. If you are not
a big fan of fish, for example, you may be including an omega3 supplement just to be sure you are getting enough of that heart-healthy fatty acid. That’s all good and well, but every once in a
while, you should revisit your vitamins to make sure that what you are supplementing is really what you need.
Needs change
While experts offer general guidelines for the general population as to what makes up a healthy diet, specific needs vary, and they vary throughout a life. Your needs when you are young and
considering starting a family differ from when you are older and approaching menopause. Your needs are different if you are meat-loving carnivore than if you are an organic-preferring vegan.
Specific inherited traits may also impact your dietary needs. And even the diet of the most well-intentioned mom can get thrown out of whack when cooking for a family of picky eaters. Add in a late
developing intolerance for dairy, and needs change even more. Each one of these profiles likely as different needs when it comes to vitamin supplements.
Find out here what foods and vitamins boost your mood.
Specific vitamin supplements can help you manage a range of physical issues. For women in perimenopause, vitamin E may help manage hot flashes, B-complex vitamins may help combat the “blahs,” and
an increase in soy may help mitigate the effects of reduced estrogen production. Interestingly, with (very much needed) uptick in sunscreen usage, many of us might not be getting as much vitamin D
as we used to and may need to supplement that specific nutrient; our bones still need vitamin D even if our skin doesn’t need harmful UV rays.
Find out more here on how to manage your menopausal symptoms through vitamins, diet or soy.
Consult a nutritionist – and your doctor
While adding supplements on the fly may seem like the easiest thing to do, it’s not always the best. Sometimes it can even be dangerous! Over supplementing can interfere with other functioning. You
need to have a clear picture of your health and health needs, and your doctor in conjunction with a nutritionist can help you discern this. Some doctors even have a nutritionist on staff for just
this kind of collaborative relationship.
To help you get started, check out this overview of the top supplements for women.
When we feel better, we look better and interact with the world better. Vitamins – the right vitamins – can help achieve this. Regular review of our diets and any vitamin supplements are necessary
to continue to feel and look and act our best.
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