Are you considering taking
vitamin or mineral supplements? Do you think you need them? Or that they “can’t hurt” so you may as well
take them? Here are some questions to ask before you decide to take them.1. Do I really need them?
First and foremost, nutritional needs should be met by eating a variety of foods as outlined in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In some cases, vitamin/mineral supplements or fortified foods may be useful for providing nutrients that may otherwise be eaten in less than recommended amounts. If you are already eating the recommended amount of a nutrient, you may not get any further health benefit from taking a supplement. In some cases, supplements and fortified foods may actually cause you to exceed safe levels of intake of nutrients.
(Note that fortified foods are those to which one or more essential nutrients have been added to increase their nutritional value.)
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans makes these recommendations for certain groups of people:
- People over age 50 should consume vitamin B12 in its crystalline form, that is, from fortified foods
(like some fortified breakfast cereals) or as a supplement.
(Note that older adults often have a reduced ability to absorb vitamin B12 from foods. However, crystalline vitamin B12, the type of vitamin B12 used in supplements and in fortified foods, is much more easily absorbed.)
- Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant and adolescent females should eat foods that are a
source of heme-iron (such as meats) and/or they should eat iron-rich plant foods (like
cooked dry beans or spinach) or iron-fortified foods (like fortified cereals) along with a source
of vitamin C.
- Women of childbearing age who may become pregnant and those who are pregnant should consume adequate
synthetic folic acid daily (from fortified foods or supplements) in addition to food forms of
folate from a varied diet.
- Older adults, people with dark skin, and people who get insufficient exposure to sunlight should consume extra vitamin D from vitamin D-fortified foods and/or supplements.