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Who needs vitamins the most?
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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A third of American citizens regularly buy vitamins and, naturally, consume them. More than two billion dollars are spent on vitamins in America every year. The same cannot be said about Ukrainians, but still, some categories of people especially need vitamin complexes. Who are these people and why do they especially need vitamins?
Women in labor and vitamins
A woman needs increased doses of vitamins during pregnancy. This happens because the future child develops much better if the mother takes vitamins in the required quantities.
Pregnant women who take vitamins at least 3 months before and during pregnancy have a 2-fold reduced risk of miscarriage. They also have a higher chance of giving birth to a healthy baby without any abnormalities.
But there are nuances. An overdose of vitamins in the body of a pregnant woman worsens her condition. For example, if a woman in labor takes more iron than necessary, which is recommended for anemia, then the absorption of zinc in her body automatically decreases.
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People with iodine deficiency
Iodine deficiency is most often found in ecologically polluted regions. Such people especially need to replenish the reserves of this substance in the body, otherwise it threatens thyroid diseases, weakening of the immune system.
According to medical research, the diet of a modern person today lacks 30% of the necessary vitamins, even with an average amount of calories consumed - 2500 kcal. This means that people from ecologically polluted areas need to calculate the necessary doses and composition of vitamins especially carefully. In certain diseases, these doses can be significantly increased.
Smokers and vitamins
These people automatically reduce the production of vitamins in their bodies that the body itself produces, in particular, vitamin K, which is produced in the intestines, as well as A, D and E. In addition, the vitamins that a smoker gets from vegetables and pharmaceutical drugs are poorly absorbed by the body and the smoker needs increased doses of them.
Children and vitamins
During the period of growth and development, children definitely need calcium for bone tissue growth. And calcium is not absorbed and is not retained in the bones without the presence of vitamin D. Therefore, parents need to carefully monitor the balance of their child's diet in order to prevent vitamin deficiency and related diseases.
Namely, reduced resistance to infections, delayed growth and development, early loss of teeth and hair, and other problems that may be irreversible for the child.
Elderly People and Vitamins
Over the years, a person's ability to produce their own vitamins and absorb pharmaceutical ones decreases. In particular, this is calcium and vitamin D2 for strengthening bones, teeth and hair follicles. Nevertheless, you need to monitor your health and consult a doctor every six months to prescribe a vitamin complex in the right doses and combinations.
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People on diets
They are most at risk of disrupting the functioning of internal organs due to a lack of substances necessary for the body. For example, when on a strict protein diet, a person may not receive many fat-soluble vitamins, and this threatens women with delayed menstruation, weakness and increased fatigue, and men with disruptions in the functioning of the sebaceous glands, as well as the liver and kidneys.
It is important to consult with your doctor before starting a diet to support yourself with an active multivitamin complex in the right combinations (not all vitamins can be combined with each other).
How to establish a balanced diet with the necessary vitamins?
According to research conducted by the World Health Organization, only 15% of our health can depend on doctors, another 15% on what genetics has awarded us, and the remaining 70% is our personal merit for our own health and well-being.
And the first points of our work on ourselves are proper nutrition, taking into account all the necessary vitamins. It is not for nothing that the phrase “we are what we eat” has been so popular for many years. By the way, doctors today compare vitamin deficiency with chronic starvation.
Do you know how relevant vitamin deficiency is now? Lack of B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamins C and E, as well as zinc, iodine and iron is found in 40% of the country's population today. Such an important substance as vitamin C is lacking in 80% of adults.
Moreover, vitamin deficiency is observed by doctors all year round, and not only in spring or winter, when there are few fresh vegetables and fruits.
Where to get vitamins?
Not only from the pharmacy on doctor's orders. Vitamins are in fresh products, and not only in vegetables and fruits. By the way, a person tolerates a deficiency of vitamins A, E, K, D not as hard as a lack of other vitamins. And all because the body produces these vitamins on its own.
All other vitamins must be taken from outside. From meat, vegetables, fruits, eggs, grains and greens. Moreover, even with a sufficient amount of calories - 2500 in the human body, the necessary vitamins are still lacking by about a third. After all, vitamins from vegetables and fruits tend to be destroyed during heat treatment.
Therefore, consult a nutritionist in time and take the necessary multivitamin complex in the right proportions and doses. Be healthy and happy!