Keeping Your Nutrients: Are You Doing All You Can to Stay Healthy?

You're eating well and exercising, and doing what you can to stay healthy. Could there be other influences, though, that are counteracting the steps you're taking to stay healthy? Could your health really be at risk? There are some things that are obviously detrimental to your health, but they could also be soaking up all of the nutrients from your body, leaving you lacking the nutrients you really need.

Smoking.

Everyone knows how bad smoking is for your health. They cause lung cancer, and heart disease. They yellow your teeth and cause those little wrinkles above your top lip. They also reduce your level of Vitamin C. Chemicals in nicotine counteract with the Vitamin C, making it difficult for it to absorb into your body. Also, nicotine speeds up the body's metabolism, so what Vitamin C is absorbed is being used at a faster rate, causing the need for more. Where the average non-smoking person is recommended sixty mg of Vitamin C a day, a smoker is recommended ninety to maintain the health of your capillaries, bones, and teeth.

Alcohol Consumption.

Drinking alcohol in small amounts, such as a glass of wine a day, can actually be good for your health. However, when alcohol consumption reaches the point where it is more than two drinks a day, it can be harmful to your health. Aside from filling the body with "empty calories" and limiting appetite, heavy alcohol consumption can cause liver disease, cancer of the mouth, and cancer of the esophagus. The sugar in the alcohol creates a higher need in the body for B-complex vitamins, which affect the carbohydrate metabolism. Heavy alcohol consumption can also be detrimental to folic acid absorption in the small intestine by damaging areas in which it is absorbed. Alcohol also causes you to urinate frequently, and because of this, you lose vitamins such as B Complex and C.

Exercising.

Exercising is, obviously, good for your health. But it can also go through many of the vitamins you've taken in. A moderate to vigorous workout causes an increase in the need to replenish those nutrients. Iron, particularly in women, is a high concern. Food such as meat and eggs, although high in fat and cholesterol, are good sources of iron. Healthier options include fish, enriched grain products, and even iron supplements. Iron supplements should be discussed with your doctor, however, before deciding on that course of action.

Poor Eating Habits.

It is important to take the extra time to have three healthy meals a day. Skipping meals causes your body to work off of fat stores which should be used for energy. Also, by skipping meals, your body doesn't get all of the vitamins A and E that it needs. Eating three meals a day that consist of healthy foods, full of nutrients, will keep your body healthy. If you feel that you are not getting all of your nutrients, take a multivitamin and mineral supplement.