“Eat your veggies – you need the vitamins”

That probably evokes the image of a not so happy 5-year old at the table, listening to your parents’ advice.

Now, as an adult, you realise that your parents might have actually been right all along.

But why are vitamins really so important?

 

There are 13 vitamins helping your body keep crucial systems in check: your immunity, your nervous system, your brain, etc. 

They also perform crucial processes such as converting food into energy, building and maintaining bones, teeth, muscle, skin, blood and hair.

Since our bodies can produce only two of them (D3 through sunlight on our skin and B3 from specific amino acids), we have to rely on our diet (or supplements) to obtain the others.

The frequency and the intake of each vitamin really depends on their type: 

- the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) are stored in our liver and fatty tissues, meaning that we do not necessarily need to consume them on daily basis (though you can do if you dose appropriately) 

- water-soluble (vitamin C or the eight B vitamins) cannot be stored and our bodies get rid of the excess through urine. Therefore, daily intake of these is more important.

The best way to get your vitamins is, when possible, from the diet.  However, due to changes in farming methods, and the stressors we face on a day to day basis, that’s not always easy to do and so supplementation can help to fill the gap.

If we don’t get enough vitamins, then deficiencies will develop and that can lead to a range of issues (including fatigue, aches and pains, a weak immune system, poor skin, hair and nails, and low mood).

A B12 deficiency, for example, can lead to fatigue and depression (amongst other things) yet people who don’t consume much animal food (vegans and vegetarians, for example), or who have inflammation, are at a real risk of B12 deficiency.

Deficiencies can develop for a number of reason – diet is obviously one, but smoking can cause certain deficiencies, as can gut disorders (which mean nutrients aren’t as well absorbed and / or easily lost from the body), stress, medication, alcohol and more.

This is why supplementation can often be of help – filling the gap and acting as an insurance policy against nutrient deficiencies.

It’s the reason we created our Advanced Multi which 29 different important vitamins and minerals, in their most well absorbed, active forms.

To find out more visit https://autoimmuneinstitute.com/pages/advanced-multi