Vitamins

On my To Do list for the past few weeks was to buy some Vitamin D supplements. We can get Vitamin D from food, supplements, and the sun (our skin produces Vitamin D when exposed to UVB rays). Louisville has received very little sun this winter, and I felt like a Vitamin D supplement would probably do a body good. Women's Health has an article in their latest issue about Vitamin D, but I can't seem to find it online. Here is another about why we need more Vitamin D.

Another supplement I picked up was Vitamin B. I don't have the bottle in front of me so I don't remember what the exact contents are. It's well-known that Vitamin B12 is good for energy. Since I've been taking both supplements (for a week now) I have felt great and much more energetic than usual!

Overall, when it comes to supplements, we are pretty bombarded with information. We need to take this and this and this and you can get X supplement from Y food, etc. How do we know what is the right for us? Are each of our individual bodies deficient in one nutrient or another based on foods we eat (or not eat), or what we do, or just because that's the way our body is? I suppose that the answer is just like trying to figure out the right diet or exercise plan for you: you have to experiment. I don't mean that you should go to a store and buy every vitamin and supplement you can get your hands on - that cannot be good for you. I DO mean that you should do your research. If you don't eat dairy products, you probably do need to take Calcium and Vitamin D supplements. If you live on a dairy farm and eat it all day long, then maybe you don't.

Personally, I have a sizable vitamin/supplement concoction after breakfast every morning. Currently I am taking: Vitamin D, Vitamin B, Zinc, Fish Oil, a multivitamin, Probiotics, and Enzymes. It is most likely that I could find a more efficient way to get these nutrients by changing out pills or adding a food, etc, but for now that is the status quo. My main message is that I really do believe in the power of vitamins and supplements, but as all bodies are different you have to do research to find out what is best for you!