How to Make Vitamin Supplements Work

Like mineral supplements, vitamin supplements have both a good side and a bad side. On the good side, we don't all manage to consume all the vitamins we need, and in fact we often don't even realize that we need increased levels of certain vitamins to be well. On the bad side, overusing vitamin supplements can make us sick - just as sick as not having enough vitamins in our diets. Misusing your vitamin supplements can lead to a vitamin overdose (also called vitamin toxicity) or even vitamin deficiencies in certain cases.

Some things you probably didn't know about taking vitamins:

* You don't need a daily vitamin for every vitamin
* Nutritional supplements don't necessarily provide all your vitamins, and sometimes they give you too much of some vitamins.
* The best vitamin sources aren't pills, but salads.

How do you ensure that your vitamins do what they're supposed to do, instead of doing more harm than good?

1. Make sure you really need it. For instance, if you eat lot of fruit, it's unlikely that you are lacking in vitamin C; because the most efficacious dose for most people is only slightly higher than you'd get from eating a balanced diet, you're probably fine.

People who really need supplements generally fall into one of the following categories:

* Pregnant women, especially pregnant women with bad morning sickness, and lactating women.
* People with diagnosed nutritional deficiencies
* People with specific dietary intolerances that prevent them from getting enough of certain items - like those who have lactose intolerance, who must look elsewhere for vitamin D and calcium, or wheat allergies, which can make it difficult to get enough iron.
* People who have undergone gastric surgery or who have diseases that make it harder for their bodies to absorb nutrients.
* People on special diets: vegans, extreme low calorie diets, etc.
* Elderly people whose bodies are unable to efficiently absorb nutrients from their diets, especially if they already have a reduced appetite.

2. Consult your doctor, not the salesperson at the health food store. Your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse is more likely to know what effects a supplement will have on you than the sales clerk, and he's much more likely to tell you whether it's harmful and whether it really works and how. If you have trouble getting information on the supplement, look it up in Wikipedia online - though this encyclopedia is sometimes accuracy challenged, the sections focusing on nutrition and science tend to be very accurate, and usually there are good external links to primary sources
as well.

3. Always follow the directions on the bottle. If it says take with milk, take with milk. If it says to take only after eating a full meal, do that. There are reasons your vitamins are to be taken with water or food, and if you don't take them properly, your body may not absorb them properly either.

4. Take them as multivitamins, not single-vitamin supplements, whenever possible. There are two reasons for this. First, some vitamins, such as the B complex, really depend on one another to function properly; not taking one critical vitamin can negate the effects of several others. Second, multivitamins are much more likely to give you a rational dose instead of a megadose that can make you sick, and they are easier for the body to absorb at one time.

5. Educate yourself on what vitamins are really supposed to do for you. This does not mean ask the guy at the health food store counter. It does mean pick up a book on nutrition that also covers vitamins, and read it carefully. Then ask your doctor any further questions. You may be surprised to find that he doesn't know the answers (doctors get minimal training on nutrition for some reason) but he'll find out for you.

6. Make sure your doctor knows about all the vitamin supplements you are taking. A lot of people don't report these to the doctor because they figure these drugs are harmless. They may not be. Large doses of some vitamins can affect how your body metabolizes drugs (for instance, vitamin K interferes with blood thinners) and your doctor may not want you taking them for this reason. Also, certain supplements and supplement blends can cause heavy bleeding during surgery or otherwise interfere with medical procedures. Always tell the doctor.