Discuss the importance of Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements.

Part 1:
Respond to the questions below. Your response to each of the questions should be composed in complete sentences and paragraphs, be approximately 100?150 words in length and follow APA format. Save your responses in a Microsoft Word document and submit your work to the Dropbox.
Given what you know about supplements, why do you think a physician might not recommend taking herbs, vitamins, etc. therapeutically? How could he or she learn more about this topic in order to educate patients?Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements

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Part 2:
In this Assignment you will again record your food and beverage intake for 5 days and analyze for nutrients using the same program as in Unit 2. Write a 2 page report (in APA format) on how things have changed in your diet and note if there were improvements in your nutrient status and include a screen shot of their diet analysis summary results. Address where else can you make improvements going forward including where you may still be deficient in any vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Has the information in this course influenced your dietary choices in any way?

Vitamins can be defined as the organic constituents found in food and that are needed in minute quantities for growth and maintenance of good health.Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements The vitamins are obtained only from living things, that is, animals and plants. The vitamins were ascertained by Christiaan Eijkman, a Dutch physician who won the Nobel Prize in the field of medicine and physiology within the year 1929. The vitamins constitute of fat-soluble vitamins which consist of vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin K, and vitamin A; and the water-soluble vitamins which consist of vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin B6, biotin, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, ascorbic acid, and pantothenic acid. Some specific vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin D are important in development of good sight and strong bones respectively (Mcdowell, 2000). Apart from obtaining them by consuming vegetables and animal products such as milk, vitamins can also be obtained through supplements. Supplements are useful and at times can bring about negative consequences to one’s well being.

A dietary health supplement can be defined as a product that contains a specific dietary ingredient intended to supplement the diet and the product is usually taken through mouth. The dietary ingredient can be one or a combination of a vitamin, amino acid, an herb, mineral, concentrate, enzymes, and a metabolite. Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements Minerals and vitamins are available in the form of powder or pills and are meant to supplement nutrients in an individual’s diet. Supplementing nutrients and vitamins in one’s diet is a very important idea since some individuals do not consume adequate amount of these nutrients and vitamins within their daily diet. An individual may not meet the vitamins and other nutrients requirement due to development of allergies or when suitable fatty and amino acids become unavailable in the meat consumed (Mason, 2007).

An individual can also experience negative side effects from the supplements taken. The negative consequences usually come about due to overdosing the supplements, for instance if vitamin A is overdosed, an individual can experience ringing in ears, hair loss, blurred vision, nausea, skin rash, menstrual irregularities, and irritability. Many other supplements have their specific harmful effects when overdosed and in most cases it has been found the fat-soluble vitamins bring about serious harmful effects when overdosed than the water soluble vitamins. Provided any type of supplement is not overdosed, they support the well being of the body since an individual can now meet the suitable nutrient and vitamins requirements (Foundation, 2007).Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements

Dietary supplements are said to be a 20th-century phenomenon. Since the early 1940s, federal authorities have made many attempts to regulate the contents, potency, identity, label statements, and promotion of these products. Some of these attempts succeeded, while others failed. In 1994, the first formal regulatory structure was established for supplements, a subcategory of foods consisting of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, a wide variety of botanicals, and other isolated food components (Porter 1994). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of dietary supplement regulation in the United States from what it was like in the early 1900s to where we are now.
The federal government received great power to regulate foods and drugs to protect public health when the Pure Food and Drugs Act became law in 1906. However, the Act had nothing to say about dietary supplements, because they did not yet exist. The science of nutrition was in its infancy and little was known about nutrients and their daily requirements (Porter 1994).Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements Even the term “vitamin” had not yet been coined. Vitamins were discovered to correct deficiency diseases such as scurvy, beriberi, and rickets (Apple 1996). A dietary supplement industry was formed and grew as nutrient concentrates and synthetic vitamins became widely available in pill, powder, and liquid forms. Nutrition scientists were discovering how nutrients affected health. They soon began documenting the poor eating habits of Americans. The media then reported this new and shocking research to the public. The industry used the research to promote a growing inventory of products to all Americans. Whether the people were properly nourished or not, they were encouraged to use supplements in order to provide insurance against nutritional deficiencies, increase energy, improve health, and boost productivity (Apple 1999). .

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Physicians were doubtful of the so called magical powers attributed to vitamins.Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements

We see every cereal commercial that says how certain cereals are “packed with essential vitamins and minerals”, but do we ever stop and think about what vitamins and minerals do for our bodies. Probably not! However, human bodies are unable to function without proteins, carbohydrates, and fats-or the nutrients that we call vitamins and minerals. They help protect our health.
Vitamins are organic substances that must be provided in small quantities by the environment (usually the diet) and are classified in two categories. Vitamins are classified into water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. These organic molecules are required in order for a human to have a normal metabolism. Minerals are essential parts of all cells. They form the major parts of the hard tissues of the body, and are necessary to muscle contraction, thinking, and nervous conduction.Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements They are integral parts of the organismal and cellular respiration systems, are essential to enzyme function and are also necessary to the maintenance of water and acid base balance in the body. Vitamins and minerals must be taken daily because they are lost in sweat, tears, urine, and feces. Young children, and pregnant women require higher amounts of vitamins and minerals, however every person should take vitamins everyday.
When you drink milk, or eat a carrot, you probably do not realize the good you are doing for your body because they taste good. However, there are essential foods everyone should eat in order to obtain the right amount of vitamins per day. Fortified milk, and tuna fish have Vitamin D, which helps give your body strong, healthy bones. Carrots have Vitamin A, which helps your eyesight and skin. Vitamin A can also be found in various fruits and vegetables such as, apricots, nectarines, spinach, pumpkin, and cantaloupe. Green vegetables provide Vitamin B, which makes energy and protein within your body.Vitamins, Minerals and Other Nutrients Supplements