Having a balanced diet means more than just avoiding junk food. It involves regulating your food intake and consuming enough essential nutrients and vitamins to allow your body to function at its best.
For example, calcium helps strengthen bones and can stave off osteoporosis in older people. Consuming dairy products and dark, leafy greens as part of your daily meals ensures you receive the proper quantities of this vital mineral. Of course, calcium on its own is not enough. You also need vitamin D, which can be found in salmon, tuna, lean beef and eggs. Without it, your bones cannot absorb the calcium you get from other foods.
In an ideal world, it would be easy to maintain a proper balance of nutrition. However, reality is more complicated and challenging. We don’t always have the time and/or resources to prepare fresh, healthy meals. Often, we turn to processed and pre-packaged items that may fill our stomachs but offer very little in the way of true nutritional value.
To help fill the gap, many of us add dietary supplements to our regimen. Whether these come in the form of a pill, liquid drops, powders or gummies, these additives provide a direct dose of one or more essential nutrients to help keep you healthy even if your diet can’t.
Why Supplements Can Be a Good Idea
One of the key benefits of supplements is that they are a simple way to make up deficiencies your diet. All you need to do is swallow a pill, chew a gummy, put a few drops on the tongue or stir a powder into a morning smoothie. The fact that supplements come in so many forms makes it easy to choose one that fits your routine and preferences.
Why You Might Want to Reconsider Supplement Use
Although convenience makes them popular, it is important to note that most doctors recommend obtaining the majority of your vitamins from food vs. supplements. One of the biggest negatives of supplements is that they are often formulated to give you 100% of the recommended daily intake of nutrients in a single dose. However, if you consume more than this amount, your body may not be able to fully absorb them leading to wasted money, or these large doses may even be harmful to your health and lead to negative side effects.
As an example, vitamin A can build up to toxic levels if taken too frequently, and an excessive amount of calcium has been linked to a higher risk of cancer. For this reason, it is important not to rely solely on supplements when a better diet could alleviate any deficiency.
Choose PacMoore for Supplement Expertise
As a leading contract food manufacturing company, PacMoore has the expertise to process, pack, store and ship commodities in a range of categories, including supplements. If you want to learn more about our services, get in touch with us today.