Your body gains nutrients primarily from the food that you eat. However, our diets and lifestyles have changed quite a bit over the past one hundred years. Introducing a vitamin supplement may provide a valuable addition to your health, based on your goals. Dr. Chris Stine, a Fredericksburg-area chiropractor with Stine Chiropractic Clinic, shares some tips and information on adding vitamin supplements to your diet.
For my musculoskeletal health, which vitamin supplement should I use?
Is there any type of vitamins that we should be using? And is there any that we should be avoiding when it comes to musculoskeletal system? Some of the ones that I see, mostly is supplementing B12 and B9. So, your folate and Cobalamin. These are some of the ones that help with nerves.
When you consume alcohol, there is a reduction in B vitamins. So, a lot of people will start taking these on the side. Especially if your diet isn’t heavy in a lot of your foliage (green leafy vegetables), the things that you’d be getting these (vitamins) from. B12 is not necessarily picked up by plants, but can be supplemented in via nutritional yeast.
Supplementing vitamins is not necessary, but if you do have a diet that is not high in vegetables, you may want to do that. You just want to make sure that you’re not overdoing it.
Only take vitamin supplements as recommended. Do not go over your daily recommended values. Because, if you are, especially with the B vitamins, you can start getting paresthesia in your hands and feet. That is that numbness and tingling. You want to make sure that you’re not overdoing it. Being deficient as well as over supplementing can give you symptoms.
What are water soluble vitamins?
Water soluble vitamins means that it’s soluble into water. Which means the vitamin is going to be excreted via the urinary system. This is what it means to be water soluble. Vitamin C is one of the and the rest are your B vitamins. Multiple vitamins are water soluble. There are 9 of them in the body.
Those are going to be the vitamins that are safe to take. You don’t really have to worry about overdoing it. However, you may have some side effects. For instance, your upper limit or daily intake for Vitamin C is 2 grams, or 2,000 milligrams. If you take too much Vitamin C, one of the side effects may be loose stools. That would be a side effect you would be watching for.
Let’s say you get ill and you want to overdo your vitamin C. You can take them relatively safely at 2,000 milligrams every four hours if you’re drinking enough water. What your body doesn’t need, it comes out through the urine and you only have minor side effects of the loose stool. So, if that starts happening, you know to cut back on it.
What vitamin supplement should I avoid?
Are there any vitamins supplements that should be avoided? Not particularly. Most of them are relatively safe. The idea here is that you need to start recognizing and realizing that there are some side effects to some of them.
B9 and B12, or B Vitamins, in general. If you take a B complex, and overdo it, a B complex will cause numbness and tingling in the hands just as would being deficient. So, deficiencies and overuse can have similar side effects.
Another supplement you should be mindful of, although not really a vitamin, is beta alanine. Commonly used with pre-workouts, beta alanine can also cause some tingling or funny feelings. If you are new to working out, be mindful of that.
Other than that, vitamin supplements are beneficial if taken according to directions.
If you have any questions regarding vitamins, contact our Fredericksburg staff.
