Pine The answer is never black and white. The core depends on whether you are taking the correct supplement - if you are missing something and taking it according to the dosage when it is necessary, it is a good thing. If you are not lacking, supplementing indiscriminately or in large doses will put a burden on the body.
In the past two years, I helped a sister who was preparing for pregnancy to set up a dietary plan. She was found to have a high risk of folic acid metabolism, and she ate very little green leafy vegetables daily. She took active folic acid + B complex for three months at the dosage prescribed by a nutritionist. The homocysteine level in subsequent prenatal examinations has been very stable, and there were no problems throughout the first trimester. This is a typical benefit of the right supplement.
But I’ve also seen people fall into the trap. A young post-95s guy who joined the same company last year. A blogger said that large doses of vitamin C can whiten and prevent influenza. I bought high-concentration effervescent tablets with 1000mg each. I wanted to drink 3 tablets a day. After drinking it for more than ten days, I went to the hospital for gout. When I checked, my uric acid was twice as high as the normal value. The doctor said that my purine metabolism is weaker than that of ordinary people. Excessive vitamin C will interfere with the excretion of uric acid. This is a completely meaningless supplement.
You may ask, do ordinary people need to eat nutrients?
In fact, as long as you have three regular meals and eat enough meat, eggs, milk, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables every day, the nutritional gap will basically not exist, and additional supplements are superfluous - for example, it is like plugging in the fast charger of your mobile phone to keep charging it when the battery is already full, which will damage the battery over time. The same goes for our body's metabolic system. Excess nutrients are either excreted and wasted, or accumulated in the body to increase the metabolic burden.
But if you are an office worker who makes do with three meals a day, a meat lover who cannot eat a few bites of green leafy vegetables all year round, a pure vegetarian, a pregnant woman, an elderly person with weak digestion and absorption, or a special situation such as diarrhea or postoperative recovery recently, you can first go for a nutrition-related test, see a doctor or registered dietitian for evaluation, and then supplement the corresponding nutrients accordingly. For example, people who sit in the office and cannot get sunlight all year round should supplement with vitamin D, and vegetarians should supplement with B12, which are all good for the body.
By the way, there is still a controversial point, which is the "antioxidant nutrients anti-aging" promoted by many marketing claims. At present, the academic community has not reached a unified conclusion. Some large sample studies have shown that long-term supplementation of high doses of antioxidants such as beta carotene and vitamin E may actually It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers. There are also small-scale studies that say it has a positive effect on certain groups of people. Don’t use yourself as a guinea pig to try this kind of inconclusive thing. If you really need to supplement antioxidants, eat two more bites of blueberries, bell peppers, and spinach. They are more reliable than any supplement.
To put it bluntly, nutrients are neither magical medicines that can cure all diseases, nor are they a scourge. Don’t regard them as a “life-saving straw” for not eating well, and don’t think that supplements are all IQ taxes when you hear them. Choose based on your own physical condition, and you will not step into pitfalls.
