How to Choose the Right Dietary Supplement for Your Lifestyle

With the rapid development of the social economy, people’s living standards are constantly improving, and everyone’s demand for health is increasing. Dietary nutritional supplements have become the main consumer choice for the public in pursuit of health.

What we usually call nutritional supplements, health products, and maintenance products usually refer to some nutritional health supplements other than food. Its scientific name is dietary nutritional supplements.

How can consumers correctly understand and scientifically select dietary supplements? What basic knowledge and selection techniques should they master? Let’s take a look.

Definition and classification of dietary supplements

Health food refers to food that claims to have specific health functions or is intended to supplement vitamins or minerals.

That is, food that is suitable for consumption by specific groups of people has the function of regulating body functions, is not intended to treat diseases, and does not cause any acute, subacute or chronic harm to the human body.

For many well-known reasons, the term “health food” has become a misnomer in the public mind. Therefore, we prefer to use the term “dietary nutritional supplement” to set the record straight.

Dietary supplements can be divided into two categories based on their intended use:

One type is nutrient supplement products that aim to supplement vitamins and minerals.

One type is functional products that aim to regulate human body functions.

According to the food production license classification catalog, it can be divided into 18 categories, namely: tablets, powders, granules, teas, hard capsules, soft capsules, oral liquids, pills, ointments, beverages, alcoholic beverages, biscuits, candies, pastries, liquid milk, raw material extracts, compound nutrients, and other categories.

When to take dietary supplements

With the rapid development of modern agricultural industrialization, dathe ily diet can no longer meet people’s various nutritional needs.

First, the nutritional value of the food itself is low.

Modern animal husbandry and farming methods differ significantly from traditional farming methods. Driven by the excessive pursuit of growth speed and profit, large quantities of pesticides, chemicals, and fertilizers are used to bring animal and plant products to market as quickly as possible, significantly compromising the nutritional value of the food itself.

Considering transportation costs and losses, many immature fruits and vegetables are harvested prematurely and treated with chemicals to preserve freshness and color. The nutrient content of immature ingredients is generally lower than that of mature ingredients. If they are soaked in chemicals, when they are eaten, they may absorb more chemical reagents than nutrients.

Secondly, the modern lifestyle makes it difficult for us to absorb enough nutrients from our daily diet.

Due to busy and stressful work schedules, people are pursuing fresh, fashionable lifestyles, focusing on entertainment and enjoyment. Instead, they are eating more fast food, barbecue, and takeout. This kind of food compromise, and a long-term high-fat, low-fiber diet, can’t guarantee nutrition, and where does health come from? The original health will be gradually consumed.

When you’re healthy, everyday food provides some nutrition; when you’re sick, you need medication. During the incubation period, supplementing with immunity-boosting foods can prevent illness or even alleviate symptoms if you do develop one. During recovery, dietary supplements can help quickly restore strength.

Dietary supplements can serve different health conditions.

Among dietary supplements, some protect the body’s normal functions, some promote normal function, and some regulate abnormal physiological indicators. In short, the benefits of dietary supplements are gradually increasing with the expansion of their application and the deepening of practical exploration, and they are gradually being accepted and used by more and more people.

Correctly understand dietary nutritional supplements

It is important to emphasize that people should take daily dietary nutrition as the fundamental solution. However, when we are sure that we can no longer obtain enough nutrition from food, we need to add dietary nutritional supplements.

At this time, we must have a clear understanding of the differences between dietary supplements, medicines, and ordinary foods. It is unscientific to blindly reject dietary supplements or to be superstitious and dependent on them.

The difference between dietary supplements and medicines

The purpose of use varies. Dietary supplements are used to regulate body functions, enhance the body’s ability to resist disease, improve sub-health, and reduce the risk of disease. They are primarily used for prevention, which is what Traditional Chinese Medicine calls “treating illness before it occurs.” Pharmaceuticals are substances used to prevent, treat, and diagnose human disease, purposefully regulating physiological functions and with prescribed indications or functions, usage, and dosage. This is what Traditional Chinese Medicine calls “treating existing illness.”

Dietary nutritional supplements are mild and do not cause any acute, subacute, or chronic harm to the human body, and have no toxic side effects. Drugs, to achieve the purpose of targeted treatment, may have some toxic side effects.

The difference between dietary supplements and ordinary foods

Dietary nutritional supplements emphasize having specific health functions, while ordinary foods emphasize providing nutritional ingredients.

Dietary nutritional supplements have a specified intake amount, while ordinary foods generally have no dosage requirements.

Dietary nutritional supplements have specific suitable and unsuitable groups of people depending on their health functions, while ordinary foods generally do not differentiate between different groups of people.

Scientifically select dietary nutritional supplements

The first principle to follow when choosing dietary supplements is necessity.

You need to judge whether you need to take dietary supplements based on your actual physical condition and health needs.

One is to judge based on your usual diet.

Consider your daily nutrient needs and whether you’re getting enough of them at all three meals. If you don’t eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, you can supplement with a multivitamin and mineral supplement and dietary fiber. If you don’t consume much meat, eggs, or dairy, and aren’t getting enough high-quality protein, supplementing with a nutritional protein powder is essential.

The second is to judge based on different life cycles.

Middle-aged people face the dual pressures of life and work. They need to maintain their mental and emotional well-being and stay active and fit. This stage is particularly important for calcium and B vitamins. After 40, immunity begins to decline, so it’s especially important to supplement with high-quality protein. It’s crucial not only to save money but also to build muscle.

Friends facing menopause will have some discomfort symptoms due to changes in hormone levels in the body. They can also take some nutritional supplements as needed to relieve discomfort and smoothly go through menopause.

The third is to look at it based on your usual medication usage.

As middle-aged and elderly people age, they may experience aging or chronic illnesses, necessitating long-term medication. We must understand that medication use inevitably leads to nutrient loss, especially when long-term medication is necessary. These already insufficient nutrients, which are then passively lost, cannot be ignored and must be replenished regularly.

For example, blood sugar medications can cause a loss of CoQ10, vitamin B12, and folic acid. Blood pressure and cardiovascular medications can cause a loss of calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, phosphorus, vitamins B1 and B6, vitamin C, CoQ10, and folic acid . Gout medications can cause a loss of calcium, sodium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin B12, and carotene. Anti-inflammatory and painkiller medications can cause a loss of calcium, potassium, zinc, selenium, chromium, iron, sodium, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin D. Antibiotic use requires timely supplementation of vitamin B and vitamin K. Probiotics can also be used, as probiotics metabolize these vitamins in the body.

When choosing dietary supplements, you should follow the second principle – understand the true product function information so as to correctly understand the product’s applicability to the human body and thus select the dietary supplement that best meets your needs.

Currently, the 28 functions that dietary supplements can claim to have are: enhancing immunity, assisting in lowering blood lipids, assisting in lowering blood sugar, anti-oxidation, assisting in improving memory, relieving visual fatigue, promoting lead excretion, clearing the throat, assisting in lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, promoting lactation, relieving physical fatigue, improving hypoxia tolerance, assisting in protecting against radiation hazards, losing weight, improving growth and development, increasing bone density, improving nutritional anemia, assisting in protecting against chemical liver damage, removing acne, removing chloasma, improving skin moisture, improving skin oil, regulating intestinal flora, promoting digestion, relieving constipation, assisting in protecting the gastric mucosa, and nutrient supplements.

In addition, with the development of science and technology, dietary nutritional supplements are playing an increasingly important role in health management.

If you can dialectically analyze your physical condition based on the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine and select and match dietary nutritional supplements, the conditioning effect on your body will be very obvious in health management.

Of course, if you do not understand the basics of the body, the principles of dietary nutritional supplements, improper selection, and improper dosage, health problems can easily occur.

Therefore, it is recommended that you make your choice based on your physical condition or consult an experienced health manager or nutritionist.