Don’t take vitamin preparations casually. Not only will they be in vain, they may also be toxic!

Today's living conditions are indeed better. After eating and drinking to their heart's content, many people are always worried about whether there is something missing in their bodies in order to become more beautiful, stronger and delay aging.

Among the many "body supplements", vitamins have become everyone's first choice due to their large variety, large quantity and relatively low price. But is it really necessary for everyone to take vitamins? Faced with so many vitamins such as ABCDEK, how should we choose? If you want to whiten your skin or get better from a cold quickly, is it really useful to take more vitamin C?

In fact, normal adults generally do not need to take extra vitamins. Blindly taking vitamins can cause some serious problems. Below, we will answer these questions in detail.

one

Vitamins are a class of organic compounds necessary to maintain the body's life activities. Although they are not an important source of energy for the human body, they participate in the body's metabolism and energy conversion. Familiar vitamins include vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, etc., which can generally be divided into two categories: fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble vitamins.

Fat-soluble vitamins

Including vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K, which are soluble in fat and organic solvents and easily stored in the body. If the intake is insufficient, the corresponding symptoms of deficiency will slowly appear.

Water-soluble vitamins

Including B vitamins and vitamin C, which are soluble in water and easily excreted from the body. If the intake is too little, the corresponding symptoms of deficiency will appear quickly.

It’s strange to say, nowadays, no matter men, women, young or old, no matter they have beer bellies, love handles or double chins, they are actually lacking in nutrients!

According to the "Evaluation of Nutrient Intake Status of Chinese Adult Residents" previously released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of adult residents in my country with insufficient intake of vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 has reached more than 80%, and other vitamins are also inadequate.

two

However, in the case of vitamin deficiency, nutritionists recommend that you supplement it through food first. Because the body does not need a lot of vitamins, generally speaking, as long as you eat a balanced diet with meat and vegetables, most of them can meet the body's needs.

But the key is that these eight words are easy to say but very difficult to do. After all, the pace of life is fast nowadays, and many people cannot guarantee to eat three meals on time. Eating more or less is a common practice, not to mention paying attention to nutrition and matching.

The following six groups of people are prone to vitamin deficiency:

1. Women, especially pregnant women and women with heavy menstrual bleeding.

2. People who diet to lose weight for a long time.

3. People who have been vegetarians for a long time.

4. People who have irregular diet for a long time or are picky eaters.

5. People who stay up late for a long time, have irregular work and rest schedules, and are under great mental stress.

6. Elderly people with partially impaired absorption function.

So how do you know if you may need vitamin supplements? With so many vitamins, ABCDE, how do you choose? Below, let's learn about each vitamin and the symptoms of deficiency.

three

1

Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency

Lack of vitamin A can affect vision. The early symptom is a decrease in dark adaptation ability, that is, the eyes' ability to adapt to the dark environment will be worse than before. Then it will further develop into night blindness, and in severe cases it may also lead to dry eyes and even blindness. Vitamin A deficiency can also cause symptoms such as decreased appetite, susceptibility to infection, dry skin, excessive keratinization of hair follicles, follicular papules and hair loss.

The situation is a little different for children who lack vitamin A. The most important clinical diagnostic sign is Biot's spots. Long-term deficiency can cause growth retardation.

2

Vitamin A is found in these foods

There are two types of vitamin A. One is vitamin A alcohol, which is the original form of vitamin A and only exists in animal foods such as animal liver, cod liver oil, egg yolk, cream and other animal offal.

The other is carotene, which needs to be converted by the human body before it can take effect. It can be obtained from plant and animal foods, especially dark green or red, yellow and orange vegetables and fruits, such as broccoli, carrots, spinach, lettuce, melon, apricots, persimmons and pumpkins.

The recommended intake of vitamin A for people aged 18 and above is 800 μg retinol equivalent (RAE)/d for men and 700 μg RAE/d for women. Women in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy need to increase their vitamin A intake by 70 μg RAE/d, while breastfeeding mothers need to increase their vitamin A intake by 600 μg RAE/d. 100 g of pork liver contains about 6502 μg RAE of vitamin A, and 100 g of carrots contains about 344 μg RAE of vitamin A.

So generally speaking, a balanced diet can meet the body's vitamin A needs, and no additional supplements are needed. However, if you have the above symptoms and are diagnosed with vitamin A deficiency by a regular hospital, you should supplement under the guidance of a doctor.

Four

B vitamins include vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12. As far as our country is concerned, residents are generally lacking in vitamin B1 and vitamin B2, so we will focus on these two vitamins in this section.

1

Symptoms of vitamin B1 and B2 deficiency

The function of vitamin B1 (thiamine) is to regulate the nervous system. Once it is deficient, it will cause beriberi, neuritis, etc.

The physiological function of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is to participate in energy metabolism. The lack of B2 mainly manifests as oral reproductive system syndrome, such as cheilitis, angular cheilitis, glossitis, dermatitis, etc.

ask

"Doctor, I know the answer to this question. I need to take B2 supplements for my mouth ulcers!"

A: No, you still won't. Oral ulcers have nothing to do with B2. Look at the sentence above. Among the symptoms of vitamin B2 deficiency, oral ulcers are not included, so taking B2 for oral ulcers will not help. There are many reasons for oral ulcers. It may be that you bite the food in a hurry, or it may be caused by low immunity or vitamin deficiency.

Note that the vitamin deficiency mentioned in oral ulcers has little to do with B2, but has something to do with other B vitamins such as B6 and B12. Therefore, taking B2 alone is useless for treating oral ulcers! If you really want to supplement, you can take some multivitamins.

2

Vitamin B1 and B2 are mainly found in these foods

The recommended intake of vitamin B1 and B2 for people aged 18 and above is 1.4 mg/d for men and 1.2 mg/d for women. Vitamin B1 is mainly found in cereals (skin and germ), beans and dried fruits, while vitamin B2 is mostly found in animal organs (such as liver, heart, kidney), milk and eggs.

3

When supplementing B1 and B2 through food, you should pay attention to the following points

When supplementing vitamin B1 and B2, you should pay attention to the processing and cooking methods of food. The more times cereal food is washed, the longer it is soaked, the higher the water temperature, and the more refined the processing, the higher the loss rate of B vitamins; and livestock, poultry, and fish foods lose more B vitamins during the high-temperature cooking process. Therefore, in order to make up for and reduce the loss of B vitamins as much as possible, pay attention to the following points:

① Combination of coarse and fine grains;

② It is enough to wash the rice once or twice. The more you wash it, the less B vitamins it contains.

③ Do not soak the rice for too long before cooking;

④ Use steaming, boiling, stewing, braising and other cooking methods more often, and try to avoid frying, smoking and roasting.

five

1

Symptoms of vitamin C deficiency

Finally, let’s talk about the C position among vitamins - vitamin C! Vitamin C deficiency can cause "scurvy", which is mainly manifested by general fatigue, loss of appetite, punctate bleeding all over the body, bleeding and loose and swollen gums, especially at the tips of the gums, or infection, inflammation, osteoporosis, etc.

2

Vitamin C is mainly found in these foods

Foods rich in vitamin C: fresh vegetables and fruits, generally leafy vegetables contain more than root vegetables, such as rapeseed, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard greens, peppers, kiwi, citrus, etc.

3

You should know the truth about these misunderstandings about Vitamin C!

Myth

①

Vitamin C supplementation can help you recover from colds faster

Truth: No.

Although the idea that vitamin C can enhance immunity, prevent colds or speed up the recovery of colds is deeply rooted in people's minds, there is currently no high-quality clinical research to prove that large amounts of vitamin C supplementation can enhance the body's immunity.

Myth

②

The more sour the fruit, the higher the vitamin C content

Truth: False.

Vitamin C does have a certain sour taste, but the sourness of fruit does not mean the sourness of vitamin C. The sourness of fruit mainly comes from citric acid, fruit acid, etc., and has little to do with vitamin C.

To give the simplest example, lemons should be imagined as the food with the highest vitamin C content. In fact, the vitamin C content in fresh lemons is only 22 mg/100 g, while the vitamin C content in Chinese cabbage is 37.5 mg/100 g, and the content of peppers can reach 144 mg/100 g.

Therefore, it is completely inaccurate to judge the vitamin C content in food based on whether it is sour or not.

Myth

③

Eating more foods containing vitamin C can whiten your skin

The truth: It’s just a daydream!

Vitamin C can indeed remove oxygen free radicals, prevent skin aging, inhibit the activity of tyrosinase in the body, and reduce the production of melanin. However, eating foods containing vitamin C is not the same as taking vitamin C directly. After being absorbed through the digestive tract, the whitening effect it can exert is minimal.

ask

"Then I just take more vitamin C to whiten my skin, will the effect be better?"

A: No! To achieve the whitening effect, you need to take a lot of vitamin C, but long-term oral intake of large amounts of vitamin C (> 1 g/day) may cause headaches, diarrhea, acid reflux and other discomforts. You are not willing to ruin your body for the sake of whitening!

six

Everyone is familiar with this vitamin. In order to promote calcium absorption when supplementing calcium, it is necessary to combine it with vitamin D for better results. We assume that everyone knows this knowledge point!

1

Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency can cause mineral abnormalities in bones and teeth. Infants with vitamin D deficiency may develop rickets. In adults, especially pregnant women, nursing mothers and the elderly, vitamin D deficiency can directly lead to the occurrence of osteomalacia and osteoporosis.

2

How to supplement vitamin D

Vitamin D can be obtained from food and can also be synthesized by the skin.

In food, vitamin D is mainly found in marine fish (such as sardines), liver, egg yolk and other animal foods and cod liver oil preparations. Sunbathing is the best way to supplement vitamin D. In areas with sufficient sunshine, exposed skin exposed to the sun for more than 10 minutes can produce enough vitamin D.

I recommend that you take a screenshot of the table below and save it. You can supplement vitamin D in appropriate amounts according to the recommended amounts.

seven

Since vitamin E became deeply associated with women's beauty, there have suddenly been countless products, whether oral or topical. The reason is that vitamin E has an antioxidant effect, which can bind and fight against free radicals that cause skin aging and deterioration, and is therefore believed to play a role in delaying aging.

Although these advantages do make beauty-conscious ladies excited, we recommend that people with a healthy and normal diet do not need to take additional vitamin E for two reasons:

1

People who eat a healthy diet generally do not lack vitamin E

The human body does not need much vitamin E every day. Many of the things we eat contain vitamin E, such as vegetable oils, cereals, nuts, beans and other cereal germs.

2

Excessive supplementation of vitamin E will increase the metabolic burden

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that is not easily excreted in urine. Studies have shown that long-term, high-dose supplementation of vitamin E may increase the metabolic burden, cause gastrointestinal and gonadal disorders, and even cause problems such as decreased immunity.

eight

Have you noticed that whenever you go to a drugstore and want to buy some vitamins, the guide will usually recommend you to buy "pure natural" health vitamins that cost tens or hundreds of yuan a bottle, rather than recommending medicinal vitamins that cost a few yuan a bottle? Are expensive vitamins really better than cheap ones?

The nutritionist from West China Nutrition is here to tell you blatantly that expensive health vitamins are not necessarily better than cheap medicinal vitamins!

First of all, the purpose of using medicinal vitamins and health vitamins is different. Medicinal vitamins are medicines, which are used to prevent and treat diseases, while health vitamins are a type of food that may regulate the body's functions, but they do not cure diseases.

Second, the production process and quality control of the two are different. Medicinal vitamins must be produced in pharmaceutical factories, and the production process must meet GMP standards (Good Manufacturing Practice) for air cleanliness, sterility standards, and raw material quality, which are stricter than health supplement vitamins.

Third, the ingredients and costs of the two are different. Compared with medicinal vitamins that use relatively few excipients, health supplement vitamins have more raw materials and higher packaging and marketing costs, so the price is naturally higher.

Therefore, if you have been diagnosed with a vitamin deficiency by a doctor, it is recommended that you buy medicinal vitamins. As for the rest of you, choose according to your taste, preference and wallet!

When I was a kid, life was hard and I didn’t have money to buy good food.

Leading to poor body shape and poor health;

Now that life is better and I have money to buy good food,

Still out of shape and not very healthy.

References

1. Fan Yiou, Liu Ailing, He Yuna, et al. Evaluation of nutrient intake of Chinese adult residents[J]. Acta Nutrimenta Sinica, 2012, 34(1):15-19.

2. Sun Changhao. Nutrition and Food Hygiene[M]. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2017:34-43.

3. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, Chinese Nutrition Society, People's Medical Publishing House, 2016.

4. "Chinese Food Composition Table" Standard Edition (6th Edition), Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Peking University Medical Press, 2018.7.