3 Situations Where Vitamin Supplements May Be Necessary by Tom Parker

Vitamins can be found in many healthy, natural, vitamin rich foods. As long as you eat a diet that contains a variety of these foods you should be able to get the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for each of the thirteen vitamins from food alone. Therefore, in the majority of cases there is no reason to take vitamin supplements. However, there are certain exceptional cases where vitamin supplements may be required. In this article I will be discussing three of these exceptional cases where vitamin supplements may be necessary in greater detail.

1) ALCOHOLISM:- Consuming high levels of alcohol can cause serious damage to your vital organs. If your liver, intestinal tract or pancreas become damaged this can seriously inhibit your body's ability to absorb vitamins. In this situation vitamin supplements may be necessary because your body will struggle to absorb vitamins from the foods you eat even when you are consuming normal amounts as part of your diet.

2) DISEASES AND GENETIC DISORDERS:- Certain diseases and genetic disorders can also prevent your body from absorbing vitamins properly. One example of this is a stomach disorder that prevents intrinsic factor from being produced. Your intestine cannot absorb vitamin B12 properly without intrinsic factor. If your body fails to produce it you may need to take B12 supplements to ensure that you get your recommended daily allowance (RDA). Cancer, chron's disease and liver disease can also inhibit your body's ability to absorb certain vitamins. Therefore, if you are suffering from one of these conditions go consult your doctor and ask them if you should be taking any vitamin supplements.

3) MEDICATIONS:- Various medications can interfere with your body's ability to absorb vitamins. For example, anticoagulants (blood thinning medicines) prevent your body from absorbing vitamin K. Certain painkillers can also stop your body from absorbing vitamin B9. Therefore, if your doctor prescribes you any medications be sure to consult them about the effects they have on your ability to absorb vitamins and whether you need to take any vitamin supplements as a result.

In most cases a vitamin deficiency is the result of eating a poor diet. Therefore, most vitamin deficiencies can be addressed by making better dietary choices and eating a wider variety of vitamin rich foods. However, as you can see from this article there are exceptions to this rule. If you feel any of the above scenarios may have an effect on your body's ability to absorb vitamins then go see your doctor. They will then be able to give you a professional opinion on whether you need to consider taking vitamin supplements.

About the Author

Tom Parker owns and operates a number of useful fitness resources and websites. You can learn more about whether vitamin supplements are necessary and get additional information on each of the thirteen vitamins by visiting his websites.