Monday, June 8, 2009

Healthy Monday: Should you Take Vitamins?


If there was a race between someone who consistently took vitamins and someone who didn't, who do you think would win? That's a hard question to answer, but it's tempting to believe the person who took the vitamins would have the superior athletic abilities, right? Not quite...

According to Dr.Brent on Care2, there is no proof that taking a vitamin in pill form has any added benefit. Isn't that weird to hear? All our lives, vitamins are heralded as champions of the strong and the healthy. It's a billion dollar industry, half of all American adults take some type of dietary supplement, and yet, there's really no conclusive proof that taking vitamins in pill form prevent disease or prolong life.

This isn't an excuse to start eating potato chips and fried chicken, because after all, if vitamins don't do any good, why bother, right? Quite the opposite actually. Vitamins are important, but it's receiving those nutrients straight from the source that gives the body what it needs. This means eating our leafy greens, organic vegetables, colorful fruits, lean meats and other nutrient rich foods.

To learn about the most beneficial foods and what they can do for you, check out the World's Healthiest Foods, an educational website featuring an online database of nutrient rich foods, as well as recipes, and info on why these nutrients are essential for our bodies.

Source: Are Your Vitamins Working

photo credit: Yoshiko314

2 comments:

The Perfect Palette said...

thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

For the most part, everything we need is in all the leafy greens and organic fruits and vegetables, as you mentioned. In addition, it's better to eat a great deal of vegetables raw or semi-cooked because when cooked a lot of the good nutrients are lost. This is not to say don't cook your vegetables, but I have learned that many people overcook their vegetables failing to realize they are cooking away the good stuff. Great post!!

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