Vitamins: What Are They and Are You Getting Enough?

Vitamins are micro nutrients that are needed by the body in tiny amounts. They do not take the place of the macro nutrients your body needs for fuel on a daily basis, like protein, carbohydrates and fat. However, without adequate levels of vitamins, your body cannot function properly. They work as catalysts, or helpers, and aid your body's metabolic processes, converting the macro nutrients to body tissue and energy. Vitamins are essential for growth, vitality, proper aging and for immune system strength. They help all sorts of organs and body systems function properly.

Vitamin RDA's

RDA's or Recommended Daily Allowances were set up as guidelines to make sure people don't get some of the most severe deficiency diseases. They were never designed to represent optimal vitamin and mineral levels. In spite of these low levels, a recent survey by the US Department of Agriculture showed that out of 21,500 surveyed, not even one person got 100% of the RDA for all the nutrients in the survey over a period of three days!

Although the above study showed that everyone needs to either increase the level of vitamins and minerals in their diet or take supplements, there were certain population groups who were the most affected. These include people with diseases or on medication that interfere with digestion or absorption of nutrients, the elderly and pregnant or nursing women, those who recently were injured or burned, or recently had surgery, and vegetarians and dieters.

If you fall into one of the above categories, you probably fall even shorter of your nutritional requirements as far as vitamins and minerals are concerned, and you might want to think about supplementing as well as eating more nutrient-dense food.

Vitamin Deficiencies

It is difficult to know when you have certain vitamin deficiencies, as they can take weeks or months or even years to develop. Often your body will slowly function less and less well when it does not get proper nourishment, before finally succumbing to disease.

The reverse is also true with supplementation and/or changing your diet for the better will not make you feel better or cure diseases overnight. This is because it takes time to rebuild the degenerative changes that got you sick in the first place, and is also the reason why those who supplement with high quality, food based vitamins and super foods often get better faster than those who simply make positive changes in their diets.

Some health care professionals believe that using higher amounts of supplements for a short period of time followed by lower amounts for a longer period of time brings better results than simply supplementing with the amounts you need on a daily basis. Those who start from a position of great lack often need more to begin with to make up for that huge deficiency. If you don't see any results from supplementing, you need to ask yourself 1) Are you taking potent, high quality, 100% food-based supplements, 2) Is your body absorbing these supplements, and 3) Are you taking high enough levels to get your body to overcome the long-term short-fall?

Some of the super or power foods that can be used to add a more concentrated source of vitamins and minerals back into your diet include greens for many of the vitamins and minerals, especially pro-vitamin A, K1, biotin, choline, folic acid and many minerals, nutritional flakes and natural living source B complex for the B vitamins, camu-camu berries for vitamin C, coral calcium for calcium, magnesium and trace minerals, and cod liver oil for the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA and vitamins A and D. Don't forget to search out 100% living food source supplements with no toxic added fillers and to take higher amounts initially for the best results.

By: Karen Pijuan