Viewer question: I started taking dietary supplements a couple months ago, but I don't really feel any different. What dietary supplements should I be taking to maintain a healthy lifestyle overall?
Dietitian's response: Many people use dietary supplements with the hopes of improving their health without knowing that there is typically little proof, if any, that a supplement will do what it claims to do. The truth is that supplements are not monitored for their safety and efficacy the way that prescription and over-the-counter medications are. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety of drug products (prescription and over-the-counter). Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), manufacturers of dietary supplements are the ones responsible for ensuring the safety of their own products. This means that the companies making the supplements do not have to report to anyone but themselves. There are many reasons why this becomes a problem...
The body requires carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals to maintain healthy organs, bones, muscles, nerves, and to produce hormones and chemicals that are necessary for the proper function of organs.
Vitamins and minerals are naturally occurring substances that are essential for the growth and function of the body. Vitamins and minerals are both necessary (in small amounts) for normal chemical reactions (metabolism) in the body.
Preventing and controlling diseases
Obesity and heart attacks are major public-health problems in the United States and other countries. Therefore, most
dietary recommendations are aimed at preventing these two diseases. Obesity is
caused by eating more calories than the body burns. Obesity, in turn, can be a cause of many diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, arthritis, high blood pressure, gout, gallstones, and certain cancers.
To lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, one
needs to eat more low-energy-dense foods. Low-energy-dense foods (such as vegetables and fruits) contain few calories per unit volume of food so that one can eat a large volume of it (for example, lettuce) without taking in many calories. One should also eat less of the high-energy-dense foods such as fats, egg yolks, fried foods, sweets, and high-fat salad dressings. Foods with a high energy density also often have
high cholesterol and saturated fat content. One should also eat less of those foods that provide calories but little other nutrients, such as alcohol and many packaged snack foods.
The
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published in 2005 by the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), contains guidelines for healthy diets based upon review of scientific studies for people above
2 years of age. These guidelines recommend that a healthy diet should:
emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and
fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products;
include lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and
nuts; and
be low in saturated fats,
trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.
MyPyramid is an online animated program to help a person customize his/her
diet by choosing proper foods and portion sizes based on the individual's age, sex, and activity level. The key objectives of the MyPyramid Plan are to help a person get the most nutrition (proteins, vitamins, and minerals) out of the recommended number of daily calories and to achieve a balance between food intake and physical activity to maintain a healthy weight.
The MyPyramid Plan
recommendations include:
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There are six nutrients that are considered essential to life: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. These nutrients are needed for your body to function properly, and your diet is the source of them. Vitamins and minerals are considered micronutrients because they are needed in smaller quantities than the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat). Micronutrients do not provide calories. When your body does not absorb an adequate amount of any of the micronutrients, diseases can occur. It's important to understand what your nutritional needs are and how to reach them.
Vitamins are broken down into two categories: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water. Leftover amounts are not stored and will leave your body through your urine. For this reason, you must consume them on a continuous basis. The water-soluble vitamins are the B vitamins and vitamin C. F...