Basic Supplement Of Vitamin And Mineral |
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To function normally and to handle stress well, your body requires nineteen vitamins and minerals daily in addition to protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fiber. These requirements are expressed in terms of the recommended daily intake (RDI).
Vitamins and most minerals are required in very small (trace) quantities. For example, every day you need just 400 micrograms (400 millionths of a gram) of the B vitamin folic acid. In contrast. calcium is required in comparatively large amounts, ranging from 1.000 milligrams (1 gram) for most women up to about age fifty: after that age the need increases to 1,200 milligrams.
Magnesium requirement is somewhat midway; you need 200 to 400 milligrams (4/10 gram) daily. With the exception of calcium and magnesium, all your vitamin and mineral needs can be packed into a single large tablet. I don't believe in leaving anything to chance, so I recommend you supplement your diet to avoid any possible marginal deficiencies.
Use a supplement that provides the vitamins and minerals in the amounts listed in Basic Supplements. Most supplements contain values within 10 to 20 percent of those listed here. It is important that your supplement contains all these vitamins and minerals and that you take it daily.
Few products satisfy all these criteria. Usually the product you select will have less calcium and magnesium. If so, don't worry, because you should take extra calcium anyway. Most likely, your diet already contains excess phosphorus and about 20 percent of the magnesium you need. If the product you select comes within 20 percent of the calcium. magnesium, and phosphorus levels listed in Basic Supplements, it is fine. Don't select a supplement that varies in these three areas by more than that amount.
Is More Better? Most vitamins are safe at ten or more times the RDI, so if you choose to do as I do and take some extra, you don't have to worry you're not harming yourself Recent studies of elderly people indicate that our needs increase as we get older, so taking more than the RDI is undoubtedly beneficial.
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