Nutritional Supplements and Human Health

Author: Laiba B. (IG: @yourhealthguide_)

SCG ID: 0401202011

Definition of Nutritional Supplements

A nutritional or dietary supplement is a product intended for ingestion that contains a "dietary ingredient" intended to add further nutritional value to the diet in the form of supplements.

Introduction

The human body requires a certain amount of fuel to carry out day to day activities and what we eat provides the fuel needed to power our bodies. Often times our diets are not enough to keep up with the nutritional demands of our bodies. In these cases, individuals may benefit from nutritional supplementation. These supplements are added to a regular diet in order to meet an individual’s dietary requirements in order to provide the necessary macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats), fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc. These requirements are based on age, gender, level of physical activity, etc.

The most commonly reported reasons for using supplements were to improve or maintain overall health. Women use calcium products for bone health or for improving healthy skin appearance, whereas men are more likely to take supplements for heart health or to lower cholesterol. Young people use supplements to enhance body functions. Older people use them for heart, bone, joints and eye health.

Components of Nutritional Supplements

The majority of adults take one or more dietary supplements either every day or occasionally. Today’s dietary supplements include may be one, or any combination, of the following substances:

· a vitamin

· a mineral

· an herb or other botanical

· an amino acid

· a dietary substance for use by people to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake

· a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, or extract

They may also include whey, casein, egg white and soy proteins, amino acids, performance enhancers keratin, beta-alanine, D-ribose, Nitric oxide, testosterone, zinc and magnesium aspartate, green tea extracts for fat burning, raspberry ketones, caffeine, etc. The global fatty acids supplement linoleic acid, eicosapentanoic, docosahexanoic, fish oil omega-3 fatty acids, flax seed oil, evening primrose oil, etc.

Dietary supplements come in a variety of forms such as traditional tablets, capsules, soft gels, gel caps, liquids, or powders, as well as drinks and energy bars.

How to get your nutrients?

We need a variety of nutrients each day to stay healthy, including calcium and vitamin D to protect our bones, folic acid to produce and maintain new cells, and vitamin A to preserve a healthy immune system and vision. Yet the source of these nutrients is important. Usually, it is best to try to get these vitamins and minerals and nutrients from food as opposed to supplements. Fruits, vegetables, fish, and other healthy foods contain nutrients and other substances not found in a pill, which work together to keep us healthy. Taking certain vitamins or minerals in higher-than-recommended doses may even interfere with nutrient absorption or cause side effects.

Keep in mind that some ingredients found in dietary supplements are added to a growing number of foods, including breakfast cereals and beverages. As a result, you may be getting more of these ingredients than you think, and more might not be better. Taking more than you need is always more expensive and can also raise your risk of experiencing side effects. For example, getting too much vitamin A can cause headaches and liver damage, reduce bone strength, and cause birth defects. Excess iron causes nausea and vomiting and may damage the liver and other organs.

Be cautious about taking dietary supplements if you are pregnant or nursing. Also, be careful about giving them (beyond a basic multivitamin/mineral product) to a child. Most dietary supplements have not been well tested for safety in pregnant women, nursing mothers, or children. If you suspect that you have had a serious reaction from a dietary supplement, let your health care provider know.

Different Types of Nutritional Supplements

Vitamin and Multivitamin

Vitamin and multivitamin supplements in combination with calcium and antioxidants are the most widespread dietary supplements used by elderly people, pregnant women and people with disabilities for improving health, perinatal depression, and improvement for neurologic and cognitive function, osteoporosis and progression of cancer. Older adults in most countries use vitamin supplements (vitamins A, B, C, D and E) for improving health and prevention of degenerative diseases (mortality, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration and bone diseases). Vitamin supplements also prevents from cancer.

Vitamin D is well known for its beneficial effects on health. Vitamin D supplementation also prevents from childhood acute respiratory infections.

Vitamin E supplements have a positive effect on pregnancy. It also prevents from neonatal death and poor fetal growth.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are responsible for the production of free radicals. Antioxidant supplementation releases free radicals in the body that reduces the risk of cell damage. They protect cells to prevent certain diseases like cancer and also premature ageing. Examples of antioxidants are vitamin E and vitamin C that are commonly used as nutritional supplements. Consuming antioxidants at level higher than recommended daily allowance may have pro-oxidant (chemicals that induce oxidative stress) effects.

Calcium Supplements

Dietary supplements containing calcium are widespread. They play an important role in controlling osteoporosis but excess intake results in cardiovascular events especially myocardial infarction. Doctors recommend calcium supplements to control the high levels of magnesium, phosphorus and potassium in the blood. Calcium also helps in controlling high blood pressure. Calcium supplements along with vitamin D prevents from breast cancer in premenopausal women. It’s better to take calcium supplements with food. Don’t take more than 500mg at one time as it can disturb its absorption. Normal dosage of calcium supplements may cause bloating, gas and constipation. High dosage can cause kidney stones.

Fatty Acid Supplements

Fatty acid supplements reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Dietary supplementation of omega – 3 fatty acids reduce the risk of cardiovascular deaths, sudden cardiac deaths and non-fatal cardiovascular events. Omega 3 fatty acid supplements are used for normal development and growth. Since human body cannot make omega 3 fatty acids, it is important to consume them through our diet. These supplements have become one of the most important supplements.

Excess intake of omega 3 fatty acid supplements can cause upset stomach and diarrhea. People who are pregnant, have diabetes, high risk of bleeding, or high LDL cholesterol must consult their health provider before consuming omega 3 fatty acid supplements.

Zinc Supplements

Zinc supplementation remodel the immune alterations in the elderly. Leading to healthy ageing. Zinc can help promote healing in the body and can be used to fight cold and flu symptoms. Zinc supplementation can recover from flu and colds quickly. They also help to recover sore throat and skin injuries. It strengthens immune system as it fights off against infections and diseases in our body. It is recommended that zinc supplements should be taken about 50 mg per day during pregnancy separate from iron. Up to 200 mg of zinc is safe. Long term zinc supplementation can interfere the absorption of other nutrients like iron and copper. Its misuse can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Selenium Supplements

Selenium has antioxidant properties, that is why it protects cells from damage. Researches have been found that selenium helps in reducing the risk of prostate cancer. The safe upper limit of selenium supplementation in adults is 400 micrograms. An overdose of selenium supplements can result in bad breath, fever, nausea as well as liver, kidney and heart problems.

Iron Supplements

Oral iron supplements are the cheapest, safest, and most effective treatment. Iron supplements reduce the risk of iron deficiency anemia especially in children and women with menorrhagia. If your iron intake is low, then eating iron rich foods may not be enough to give what you need. So, then your doctor might recommend you take iron supplements to meet your total iron requirements. Adults shouldn.t take more than 45mg of iron a day. Excess intake of iron supplements can upset the stomach causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stool or constipation.

Amino Acid Supplements

The body requires amino acids for complete protein. Those people who cannot consume meat or protein rich foods needs to take amino acid supplements. These supplements are helpful for those suffering from herpes, male infertility and weak immune system. L-lysine are tryptophan are included in this category of supplements.

Herbal Supplements

The consumption of herbal supplementation is linked to traditional and holistic healing. There are several materials that are used for the production of herbal supplements including tree barks, roots and mushrooms. These supplements are useful for a range of ailments including skin, physical and mental problems. Grapefruit extract, ginkgo biloba (an herb that manages dementia, anxiety, schizophrenia, and cerebral insufficiency) and reishi (an herbal mushroom that provides antiviral activity and beneficial effect on cardiovascular system, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and diabetes) are few examples of herbal supplements.

Fiber Supplements

Dietary fiber can lower cholesterol, keep your blood sugar steady and help you lose weight. If you want to get more fiber, supplements might seem like a good and easy idea. The only fiber supplements that are linked to help lowering LDL cholesterol includes the natural fiber lignin (a compound found in plant cells), cellulose (a sugar found in plant cells), pectin (a sugar found in fruits and berries), gums (a sugar found in seeds), and psyllium (from the husk of plantago plants). Excess use of dietary supplements can cause bloating, cramping and gas. It is recommended to take these supplements with water to stay hydrated throughout the day. It is suggested that you must take other medications 1 hour before or 2 hours after eating fiber. Because as fiber slows down digestion, it may decrease the rate at which some drugs are absorbed.

Advantages of Nutritional Supplements

The advantages of nutritional supplements on human health are as follow:

· Additional Source of Vitamins and Minerals

Food supplements in addition to consuming food enable us to drive our daily dose of vitamin and minerals.

· Protect Body

Vitamins and Minerals help protect body from diseases; hence, supplements can offer added “insurance” that one is meeting daily recommendations of vitamins and minerals needed by body, especially in those who do not eat a healthy, balanced diet.

· Improve Muscular Strength

Supplements can contribute to improve muscular strength, and overall physical performance, they are therefore commonly taken by athletes to improve their performance.

· Treatment of Health Conditions

Some supplements are used in combination with drugs as a method of complementary or alternative treatment for health conditions.

· Prevention from Diseases

Food supplements can also prevent a variety of diseases and health conditions. For example, pregnant women are advised to take folic acid to prevent birth defects. Taking a 400-microgram folic acid supplement before and during the early days of your pregnancy is the best way to protect your baby against conditions like spina bifida, where one or more of the bones in the spine is not fully developed. Also, because all pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of vitamin D deficiency, they are advised to take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms.

· Help Losing or Optimizing Weight

Nutritional supplements can also be advantageous for people who are trying to lose weight or simply optimize their weight management program. Whether you have a great deal of weight to shed or you want to tone your body, certain supplements can help in this process.

· Stress Reliving

Many people who are dealing with simple stresses of life can benefit from taking nutritional supplements. Certain supplements like Niacin, Melatonin can help to lessen people’s stress responses, ultimately leading to less stress on heart, mind, and body. When stress levels are diminished or more properly managed, the result is the better quality of life.

· Reduce Chronic Inflammation

Individuals, who are battling chronic inflammation can also benefit from taking nutritional supplements. Certain supplements like Fish oil, Spirulina can improve quality of life and can also reduce inflammation issues.

Disadvantages of Nutritional Supplements

Food supplements can add missing nutrients to your diet or can augment those you consume in whole foods. However along with advantages, supplements have disadvantages too. Some of them are following:

· Multivitamin Supplements

Overdose of vitamins can range from mild to severe, and include symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, insomnia, sweating, anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, kidney failure etc.

Multivitamins do not have to be approved before being sold, and are not fully regulated by the FDA. This means it is possible for some vitamins to contain unsafe chemicals or additives.

· Protein Supplements

Some protein supplements have hidden calories, however, which can cause you to gain weight. If your protein powder has more than 150 calories or 3 grams of sugar per serving, it could be doing you more harm than good.

Protein shakes are designed to be heavy on protein, but that means they often fail at providing significant amounts of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats.

· Creatine Supplements

Creatine increases the flow of water into your muscles, leading to the undesirable side effect of water retention

Creatine side effects include muscle cramps, upset stomach, diarrhea, dizziness and elevated blood pressure.

· Amino Acid Supplements

If you overdose on amino acids, then usually these will simply pass through the system. In some cases, however side effects can occur from overdosing depending on the amino acid. For instance, too much tyrosine is known to cause restlessness and anxiety, while others might cause frequent bowel movements. In general, using amino acid supplements on top of a regular diet in the directed manner should cause no side effects.

· Fiber Supplements

Fiber is a key component in preventing constipation; however, if you fail to drink enough water with your fiber supplements, you can actually cause a bout of constipation.

Another potential side effect of taking fiber supplements is that they can affect how the medications you take are absorbed. They might reduce how much of the drug affects your system or they might simply delay the results.