You know that vitamins and minerals are important, but do you know the right supplements to take?
There’s no single formula for all because we each have a unique biochemistry. Every nutritional need is different, and how one reacts to certain nutrients are not the same as others.
Our motivations also differ. Some take vitamins to simply enhance health, while others try to make up for dietary limitations due to allergies, sickness, or regimen. So whatever the intent, remember that you should only take the right supplements at the right amount.
Copying what others do or guessing what supplements to take can compromise your safety. What’s worse is that you may be putting your health investments to waste.
Watch out for these 4 health risks when taking supplements:
1. Deficiency
Your micronutrient levels can be limited by your choice of food and supplements, poor nutrient absorption, metabolic factors, and bad lifestyle habits. Subtle deficiencies may not be obvious at first. By the time symptoms start manifesting, your deficiency has already reached a critical level where it can affect your bodily functions, predispose you to chronic health conditions, and leave irreversible damage.
2. Toxicity
This is the opposite of deficiency, but just as bad. When there’s too much of a nutrient that your body doesn’t need, you may experience negative effects and eventually harm yourself. For example, excessive intake of some animal-based vitamin A can cause dizziness, nausea, headaches, coma, or even death. The oversupply can also cause birth defects in pregnant women.
3. Contradictions
Some supplements work better when taken together (or synergistic), like vitamins D and K. These micronutrients are good individually, but they work even better in tandem for metabolizing calcium and activating proteins. Conversely, some combinations can result to poor outcomes because they contradict each other (or conflicting), like copper and zinc. Copper is essential in forming red blood cells, but zinc can reduce its absorption and cause copper deficiency.
4. Make Medical Conditions Worse
Medications interact with food and nutrients in several ways. Some dietary supplements can affect the absorption, metabolism, or excretion of medicines, and therefore affect the drug’s effectiveness. So when you’re under medication, taking the wrong supplements can aggravate your sickness and deteriorate your health. For instance, drugs for HIV/AIDS, heart disease, depression, organ transplant treatments, and birth control pills become less effective when taken with St. John’s Wort (herbal supplement) and can lead to serious health problems. In addition, warfarin (prescription blood thinner), ginkgo biloba (herbal supplement), aspirin, and vitamin E all have a blood-thinning effect. Taking any combination of these products can increase the risk of internal bleeding or stroke.
WITHOUT PROPER ADVICE from a nutritionist or health professional, taking supplements can lead to unfavorable results. To practice safer and more effective use of supplements, you need to know precisely what your body needs.
Book a Specialty Nutrient Test
A Specialty Nutrient Test measures your micronutrients accurately. It’s like getting a fingerprint of your nutrients to know exactly what you need, removing the guesswork in taking vitamins. They come in a wide range of panels that can be fully customized to suit your needs or objectives.
The test results provide actionable information that can help you and your doctor develop a personalized supplement or dietary plan that suits to your needs.
Whether you’re taking vitamins to improve your health, prevent or treat of a disease, or achieve specific results, there is a Specialty Nutrient Test that’s right for you.
To book or learn more about our Specialty Nutrient Tests, you can call us, chat via Messenger, or leave a message.
