Taking additional nutritional supplements is just as important as eating a balanced diet nowadays. In some cases, the diet may not be able to provide all the necessary nutritional supplements.
This is due to inadequate nutrition in the diet or increased need for nutrition in the body. Many people take these nutritional supplements on a daily basis.
They often ask, is taking a break from supplements necessary?
Not really. Taking a break from supplements can avoid dependency on the supplements. You can avoid supplement withdrawal. It is not a big issue when eating a balanced diet to meet your nutritional needs. However, it is not really recommended as your body needs vitamins and minerals to stay healthy.
Read on to learn further.
Table of Content
Why Does Our Body Need Supplements Despite a Healthy Diet?
With the advancement of the era, the environment and living habits of every person have been affected. This ecological change has affected the physiological conditions of the human body and its diet as well.
Sometimes our diets fail to meet our bodies’ nutritional needs. It may be due to an inorganic diet and impure food. It includes improper growth of the fruits, vegetables, and meat we eat.
All these factors lead to the deficiency of nutritional value of one’s diet. It can develop malnourishment in his body.
Besides dietary malnourishment, there are some cases in which our body’s requirement for nutrition increases. Exercise, mental work, daily stressful routine, depression, insomnia, and illness all increase the body’s need for nutrition.
Further, smoking, drugs, alcohol consumption, and regular caffeine intake can also do the same.
Nutritional supplements can be used in these conditions. Supplements are synthetic products that fill nutrient gaps in the body. These supplements usually provide vitamins, minerals, and some essential amino acids to our bodies.
Supplements meet nutritional deficiencies and maintain a healthy body. But, should you take vitamins every day?
Multivitamins can be taken daily. It is sufficient to fulfill your body’s vitamin requirements and maintain a healthy body.
Should You Take A Break From Supplements?
You may have a question, should you take a break from taking supplements? It is believed by some people that ingesting supplements regularly diminishes their effectiveness. It can cause side effects.
This concept may prove to be true or false. It depends on the type of supplements you are taking. Multivitamins and mineral supplements cannot cause any harm nor lose their effectiveness on regular intake. These supplements only satisfy our bodies’ needs up to a point.
So, you should not take a break from the consumption of these supplements. However, some supplements are derived from herbs. Supplements such as these are usually consumed in a medicinal sense, not for nutritional reasons.
When consumed regularly, this type of supplement can certainly cause side effects in your body. They are actually used as a natural dilute form of drugs. You must be aware that all drugs must cause side effects if taken in excess.
Can Taking A Break From Supplements Cause Side Effects?
It is just necessary to maintain the body’s normal metabolism with supplements. It includes multivitamins, essential amino acids, and minerals.
Suppose, you are not getting proper nutrients from your daily diet. So, it is a necessity to take them through supplements. Supplements of vitamins and minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, are taken by most people.
Our bodies need these nutrients to function properly. You should consider your routine diet if you are planning on taking a break from supplements. Your diet should be able to maintain healthy metabolisms in the body. It means that they must prevent malnutrition.
Supplements can be replaced with a nutritional diet packed with vitamins and minerals. It can be consumed without causing any side effects.
Otherwise, taking a break from supplements may cause a deficiency of essential nutrients in the body. This deficiency can lead to serious health complications. For example, vitamin deficiency can lead to anemia, intestinal complications, and many other disorders.
Similarly, mineral deficiency can lead to various issues. Like disturbances in nervous coordination, weakness of skeletal muscles, improper functioning of muscles, etc.
So, people may take supplements in various short or long cycles. For that, you must know how long your cycles can be but don’t go for 20-week cycles.
Can Supplements cause more harm than benefit?
You need to be careful with consuming supplements, even when they are not harmful. Many of us regularly use supplements without a prescription to meet our bodies’ needs. Taking supplements every other day is beneficial for our health.
Whereas, taking supplements every other day can interfere with different receptors of the body. It may affect our normal metabolism.
There are some supplements side effects on health as listed below:
| Nutritional Supplement | Side Effect | Description | Remedies |
| Magnesium | Diarrhea | Magnesium supplements are needed for many essential metabolic processes in the body. But their excess intake sometimes causes diarrhea. | The use of natural sources of magnesium can prevent diarrhea. For example, bananas, spinach, and almonds instead of magnesium supplements. |
| Calcium | Constipation | Calcium carbonate is necessary for the proper function of the skeletal system. But excess amounts in the body cause constipation. | Replacement of calcium carbonate supplements with calcium citrate can lessen the chances of constipation. |
| Vitamin D | Kidney stones | Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption, bone strength, and skin health. But excessive intake in the form of supplements can lead to kidney stones. | Consumption of the fruits like pineapple instead of supplements can reduce the risk of kidney stones. |
| Vitamin E | Thinning of blood | Vitamin E works as an antioxidant in the body and promotes brain and heart health. It also maintains cholesterol levels. Excessive intake of vitamin E can result in thinning of the blood. | Must consult your doctor before taking any kind of vitamin E supplements. |
| Vitamin B | Anxiety, stress, insomnia | Vitamin B is needed for energy production and red blood cell synthesis. It plays an extremely crucial role in food digestion. When taken in excess, it can lead to stress. | Vitamin B prevents these mental disturbances. For example, eggs, salmon, beef, and cottage cheese. |
| Zinc | Nausea, vomiting | Zinc plays an important in the immune system and the proper functioning of enzymes. Its excess intake can lead to vomiting and nausea. | Consumption of natural zinc-rich foods like apricots and avocados reduces the chances of vomiting and nausea. |
However, there are products that can be used as supplements. Here are a few recommendations:
| Up N Go Energy | Using only natural ingredients, Up N Go Energy provides the body with energy. It provides energy to the body to keep it young and active. It can also reduce all forms of aging. |
| Immunity 911 | In addition to essential amino acids, it contains non-essential amino acids. Both of them are vital to a healthy body. |
What Are The Severe Side Effects Of Supplements?
Besides causing common symptoms, excessive supplement intake can sometimes lead to severe conditions. When taking amino acid supplements, you may ask does l-citrulline cause hair loss? It becomes easier to find out the side effects then.
Some common side effects of supplements are listed below:
Liver Damage
It has been studied that herbal supplements on a regular basis can affect our liver badly. For example, supplements derived from green tea extract can damage the liver. It is because pesticides can increase the workload of the liver.
Gastric Disorders
Multivitamins can result in gastric complications. It mostly occurs when people take all vitamins at once on an empty stomach. This can result in bloating, gastric pain, and vomiting.
Cancer
Vitamin E supplements can even cause cancer if taken in excess. Beta-carotene and vitamin E are not recommended because they may lead to cancer or heart failure. United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), has published research on its severe effects.
So, taking multivitamins every other day can be harmful in some cases.
Loss of Teeth Enamel
Many supplements can result in loss of tooth enamel due to their high acidic nature. For example, apple cider vinegar can impact your teeth.
When one views these side effects of vitamin supplements, one may think, “Should I stop taking vitamins?” However, one does not have to completely avoid vitamin intake through supplements.
Try to fulfill your vitamin needs through natural resources. Otherwise, supplements can take.
FAQs
Taking vitamins after 50 is necessary?
Yes, one should take proper vitamins after his 50s. Many people in their 50s are not able to absorb the proper vitamins. For example, absorbing vitamin B12 after that age is quite difficult for older directly from the food. So, supplements are often recommended.
Does the effectiveness of supplements decrease with regular use?
No, supplements don’t lose their effectiveness. In fact, they offer the nutritional minerals and vitamins that our bodies need for proper functioning. Sometimes our diet is not able to meet our nutritional requirements. In these cases, supplements help the body.
When you use herbs regularly, do they lose their effectiveness?
Yes, there are considerable chances that herbal supplements may lose their effectiveness with frequent use. They are natural and used in dilute form; however, excessive use can cause side effects.
Conclusion
The confusion about taking a break from supplements must be clarified now.
Try to fulfill your body’s nutritional requirements through natural diets. Organic food never causes any side effects. If you believe your body requires nutrients that your diet can’t provide, take nutritional supplements. Try to take some essential nutrition on regular basis.
Avoid using herbal and highly processed supplements regularly.
