Vitamins and Minerals

I have taken vitamins supplements off and on for a large part of my life.  I know of many others that have done the same, because they think it is good for their health.  I would agree, and feel like there is nothing that it can hurt.  Of course there is danger in taking too many supplements. 

If you think about it, we are made of the stuff of the earth, and when we die we go back to "dust" physically speaking.  It makes complete sense why fruits, vegetables and sometimes especially the root vegetables are just SO good for us, they came literally out of the dirt.  The vitamins and minerals that we get from the dirt, are good for us, though its odd to think about it in this way. 

Studies have shown that in our lives, certain things like stress, and certain illnesses and lack of a healthy diet cause our bodies to be in literal short supply of what they need.  Over use of certain chemical agents we ingest daily don't help matters.  One thing I am sure of, that drinking plenty of water and taking a daily multivitamin can't hurt and can help so much. 

There was only once in my life where when taking daily vitamins that I began to have odd headaches but this was years ago.  I attributed it to the vitamins, because it was the only thing I had recently changed, and when I stopped taking them, the headaches also ceased to come regularly as the had been.  Who knows, it may have been a bad batch of vitamins, but it was one that many of you may know of, the brand I mean. 

At any rate, I wanted to look a bit more closely at what was actually in my current vitamins I am taking.  I think its good to discuss what we are using for our supplements, and share with each other what works for each of us, and any tips from others can only possibly help.

Here is a list of what is currently in my daily vitamin supplement.  It gives an "amount per serving", and the serving size is one tablet.  I will give the amount, then the percentage of what it gives compared to what you need to have in a day.   Before I start the list, I want to say that it also says these vitamins are good for bone health, healthy skin, heart health, breast health, and the reproductive system.  All of which are important to keeping women healthy. 

Vitamin A 2500 IU @ 100%

Vitamin D 800 IU @ 200%

Vitamin E 30 IU @ 100%

Vitamin K 25 mcg @ 31%

Thiamin (aka vitamin B1) 1.5 mg @ 100%

Riboflavin (aka vitamin B2) 1.7 mg @ 100%

Niacin 10 mg @ 50%

Vitamin B6- 2mg @ 100%

Folic Acid 400 mcg @ 100%

Vitamin B12- 6 mcg @ 100%

Biotin 30 mcg @ 10%

Pantothenic Acid 5 mcg @ 50%

Calcium (elemental) 450 mg @ 45%

Iron 18mg @ 100%

Magnesium 50 mg @ 13%

Zinc 15 mg @ 100%

Selenium 20 mcg @ 29%

Copper 2 mg @ 100%

Manganese 2 mg @ 100%

Chromium 120 mcg @ 100%

The neat thing is that there are vitamins for everyone and specifically designed to target particular needs of people There are vitamins for men and women, children and even teens and seniors. At each stage of our lives, and depending on our "sex", our bodies require different nutrients. I think taking a vitamin once a week would be helpful to do.

Its good to not assume they have all you need however. For instance to help prevent osteoporosis a person needs a certain amount of calcium. Calcium takes up a lot of "space" in a regular multivitamin, and it would become a huge vitamin if they added all the calcium a woman needs for instance. So if osteoporosis runs in your family, you would want to take a regular multivitamin and also an extra calcium supplement even if just a Tums.

If you tend to get anemic, or have low amounts of iron in your blood, you will want to eat more iron rich foods or at the very least have more iron in your diet.

I love the health benefits of herbs as well, and depending on what is going on health wise, I take herbs on occasion that have really helped me.