Vitamins and minerals: frequently asked questions

About vitamins, minerals and their combinations there are a lot of questions on which it is not easy to find answers. We collected the most common of them, so that the reader could get as much information as possible on how to properly take vitamins and minerals and what their properties are.

Are not all the vitamins and minerals blending well together? Is there any danger that some of them make each other's properties useless by getting into the body?

Yes, some vitamins and minerals mutually suppress each other's action, and one must know well which of them are not compatible. For example, copper has the property to suppress the activity of vitamin B12 due to the fact that it oxidizes it. Therefore, these additives should not be taken separately, because vitamin B2 can not show its useful properties. But in the complexes used technology of separate granulation, in which these vitamins disconnect.

Those vitamins that combine well with each other, in vitamin supplements, on the contrary, are enclosed in the same granules. Then they can better show their properties. Examples of such ingredients can be, for example, rutin and vitamin C.

Can I take B vitamins, as well as vitamins E, D and C in the same vitamin complex? Or is it better to buy each separately?

Vitamins are best taken not separately, but in vitamin complexes - there are very well-balanced doses, and most importantly - the ratio of vitamins and minerals, and they will act on the body effectively. If you exceed the dose of vitamins, which invariably can happen with a separate intake, the body can react with a decrease in immunity and other unpleasant processes.

At reception of vitamin complexes the main thing - to read the instruction and to not accept vitamins more or less, than it is recommended.

What vitamins are best for athletes?

For athletes who exercise actively and experience great physical exertion, it is better to take multivitamin complexes containing both vitamins and minerals. Before doing this, it is best to visit a therapist and an endocrinologist so that they can take into account your individual body characteristics.

If there are any diseases, for example, the gastrointestinal tract, then the doctor can advise to increase the dose of vitamins, because in cases of abnormalities of the stomach and intestine, they need more.

Depending on the age of the athlete, the doctor may advise taking more or less antioxidants - in addition to strengthening the body, they help fight aging. The best antioxidants taken in the complex are B vitamins, vitamins A, E, C and selenium.

Is it true that the body only absorbs calcium from foods, and does not use vitamin supplements?

No, it's not. Scientific studies confirming that calcium can be absorbed only from natural products, was not conducted. It is important to know that calcium in vitamin supplements should co-exist with vitamin D, then it is digested much better. One person usually does not take calcium, this is done in a complex where calcium is balanced with other elements.

In natural products, for example, cottage cheese, calcium is more digestible for human form than in multivitamin complexes, but the dose of calcium that you take, consuming cottage cheese, is difficult to calculate. You can lose calcium from natural products, especially if it is required more than normal. This situation occurs with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, injuries and fractures of bones, loss of teeth and hair.

How often should you take vitamins to eliminate vitamin deficiency?

To eliminate vitamin deficiency, which is called the vitamin deficiency, you need to take vitamins at least 2 times a year, in autumn and in spring, but ideally you can take vitamins even in winter, when there are no fresh vegetables, fruits and berries. Duration of intake of vitamins - 1 month. You can take 1 to 2 courses of vitamins, when a person has vitamin deficiency.

Vitamin Aevit complex - inexpensive, it contains several basic vitamins - A, E, B. Does it have contraindications to the reception?

Yes, there are, the same as with other vitamins - if there is an individual intolerance to any substances of the drug. This drug should be taken with caution to those people who have cholecystitis, chronic glomerulonephritis, thyrotoxicosis. People who have vascular walls with increased permeability should also consult a doctor about taking Aevit. Vitamin A in Aevita may adversely affect the process of preparing for pregnancy, if you take increased doses.

What daily doses of drugs with calcium for men?

Calcium is best taken with vitamin D3 - this is the prevention of bone fractures, spine diseases. Calcium for a man who has suffered a fracture or a bone trauma will be enough 800 mg, and vitamin D - from 2.5 mg is a daily dose. Why combine calcium and vitamin D? Without vitamin D, calcium is poorly digested by the gastrointestinal tract.

What does a person need for a full-fledged diet, what substances other than foods?

In order for a person to receive the necessary dose of substances, he needs to know that they are divided into two large groups. These are micronutrients (they include minerals, vitamins and trace elements), macronutrients (these include proteins, carbohydrates, fats and water). And those and other substances in the human body must act in sufficient quantities, then the health will significantly improve.

What distinguishes water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins?

From the name it is logically clear that water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water, and fat-soluble vitamins in fats. To water-soluble vitamins are vitamins of group B and vitamin C. They have the ability to volatilize faster from the body than fat-soluble, and do not have the property to accumulate in tissues, except vitamin B12. Therefore, the lack of water-soluble vitamins immediately affects human health. Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, E, K, D. They have a property to accumulate in the liver, so they stay in the body longer. At normal doses of vitamins, which a person receives every day, a break of 5 or even 7 days will almost not be felt - the body will use old stocks.

Can the body produce vitamins itself?

No, he can not. He can only convert some vitamins into others. For example, it makes nicotinic acid from tryptophan. And thanks to the sunlight in the body in small amounts of vitamin D.

In addition, the intestine can form biotin and vitamin K (fat-soluble). But in very small doses.

All other vitamins a person receives from other sources, the body does not produce them. Therefore, you need to eat well and take vitamin complexes to avoid the lack of vitamins and the associated negative conditions.

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What are the provitamins different from vitamins?

Provitamins are initially not vitamins, but substances that become vitamins only after they get into the body. In vitamins, they turn special types of bacteria. Among provitamins, the substance is beta-carotene, which becomes vitamin A in the body.

How many vitamins does the B group consist of and why are there so many?

In group B, there are eight vitamins. There are so many of them because the first of group B was vitamin B, and then a number of vitamins, which were given serial numbers from 1 to 12. But there were only eight vitamins from group B, because several of them were deleted from the list. Therefore, the vitamins themselves are not in a row from B1 to B12, but there are gaps.

Those vitamins, which were discovered after the B vitamins with a large time interval, began to be denoted by new letters - C, D and so on.

Why a person can not do without vitamin C?

Vitamin C, or folic acid, a water-soluble vitamin, therefore its stores in the body need to be constantly replenished. Without vitamin C, protein and collagen fibers, from which the muscles consist and which are necessary for the full functioning of the brain, can not form.

Blood vessels, as well as teeth, hair, nails, bones and vertebrae, too, will not do without vitamin C - they are based on protein and collagen.

Vitamin C helps a person to strengthen the immune system, to resist various diseases, including infectious and cold, and also helps in the fight against diseases of the cardiovascular system, eye diseases.

According to recent scientific studies, vitamin C protects even sperm DNA, why they become more enduring, women are more likely to conceive a child, and this child will be healthier than those who did not take vitamin C.

If you do not take vitamins for a week, will the body suffer greatly?

If, before this man took the necessary vitamins from the pharmacy, or the additives from natural products supply, the marked deterioration in the shortage of vitamins for a week will not. True, the need for water-soluble vitamins after this period will be much higher than in water-soluble vitamins, since the latter do not have the property of lingering in the body.

How to recognize the symptoms of vitamin deficiency?

There are visible symptoms of avitaminosis: hair loss, brittle nails, drowsiness, depression, poor sleep, fast fatigue. But on this condition, you do not exactly determine which vitamins you lack in the body. If you want to know exactly what vitamins in your body are not enough, you need biochemical blood and urine tests. These tests are done in independent laboratories.

Is it possible to overlook the lack of vitamins in the body?

Yes, it is possible, especially in the initial stages of vitamin deficiency. At first the person feels fatigue, he has no appetite, his hair is not so smooth and shiny, sleep does not go at night, a person starts to get tired quickly even if he did not work very hard.

These are the first signs of vitamin deficiency. But they often do not pay attention, writing off everything for bad weather, for having a lot of work or for doing things such nonsense as your own health. If you do not start taking vitamin complexes, the final consequences can be violations of the internal organs, and then - metabolic disorders and lack of weight control.

Who needs more vitamins for growing children or adults?

When the body grows, vitamins need much more than a person who has already formed. If adolescents do not take enough vitamins, they will develop poorly both physically and psychologically, the brain will be sluggish, it will not have enough strength for active work.

A teenager needs more vitamins also because the body grows, which means it requires more energy for growth. This energy can give vitamins.

If a teenager smokes, this increases the intake of vitamins - exhausted by smoking, the body requires more nutrients. Of natural products they can not be taken full. We need high-grade multivitamin complexes from a drugstore.

Who needs more vitamins - men or women?

The need for vitamins is greater in women. Causes - women often sit on diets, so they need to replenish their body with vitamins. Women have a discharge during menstruation, so they need to replenish their body with vitamins to make up for the missing elements. Women use oral contraceptives, so they need vitamins to make up for the body's loss in some micronutrients.

Finally, a woman has menopause, at this time many of her organs can not produce hormones that are necessary for good health. This deficit can be filled with vitamins.