Nutritional Supplements Support A Healthy Lifestyle
Nutritional supplementation, along with certain herbal products, can be an integral part of your health regimen. However, to be truly healthy as you age, its important to maintain the traditional pillars of wellness: a balanced diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep.
Whatever your age, it is important to pay attention your bodys needs as they evolve, and to understand the unique factors influencing your health. If you do decide to take supplements to help achieve your health goals, select those made from the highest quality ingredients possible.
Vitamin Needs Throughout Life
Nutrient needs differ throughout a womans life.
Deficiencies are also more common during certain life stages, such as pregnancy, and under certain circumstances, such as when a woman smokes or drinks excessively or is diagnosed with a medical condition.
Keep in mind that this article only focuses on vitamins, not all nutrients.
The Top 5 Vitamins For Men Over 30
They say its all downhill after 30. You can barely stay awake past 9 PM, more than two drinks make you feel horrible in the morning, and there arent enough hours in the week to get all your work done
Sound familiar?
Then theres kids, exercise, billsstress in your 30s can be immense and will do a number on your immune system.
At 30, your life isnt the only thing going through changes. Your body is too. With the whirlwind that is life, its easy to neglect the diet our body needs to perform optimally. Luckily, there are vitamins for those who live their life on-the-go. To save you some time, we sorted through those pharmacy shelves to find out which supplements you should stock your medicine cabinet with.
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What Vitamins Should You Take Daily
It is estimated that about half of American adults take some type of vitamin or mineral supplement.
People might take supplements if they know theyre missing a certain food group, says Patton. Others might take supplements for the antioxidant benefits or because they know they dont eat fruits and vegetables. Some people may have a true deficiency.
Everyones vitamin needs are different, so its a good idea to talk to your doctor or registered dietitian before starting to take supplements. They can help you decide which products to take, or if you need to take any at all. Your doctor and pharmacist can also tell you if a supplement would interact badly with any medications you are taking, which may cause health problems.
What Other Key Nutrients Do Men Need
The nutrients listed above represent the highlights to focus on at different ages. But you still need other important nutrients, Vitamin K , Zinc , and fiber .
Should men take fish oil? Yes! There are many health benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA , such as supporting heart, brain and eye health. Experts recommend consuming at least two servings of fatty fish per week, which equals 200-500 mg EPA and DHA/day. If youve got heart health concerns, experts recommend 1000 mg EPA and DHA/day.10,11 If you dont regularly eat seafood, consider adding an Omega-3 supplement to your daily routine.
Learn More: How Much Omega-3 Per Day Should You Take?
The Bottom Line
Since mens nutritional needs change through the years, what vitamins should men take? While it depends on your age, lifestyle, and individual needs, key nutrients to focus on in your 30s and 40s include Vitamin A, B vitamins like Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E, as well as calcium and magnesium. Men in their 50s and beyond share similar nutritional needs, but need more of certain nutrients,such as vitamin B12 and calcium. And to maintain a healthy heart, everyone should be getting enough of the omega-3s EPA and DHA, primarily through fatty fish or fish oil supplements.
Continue to check back on the Nature Madeblog for the latest science-backed articles to help you take ownership of your health.
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References
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Hispanic And Black American Women
A 2012 national survey from the CDC found that American women who were Black or of Mexican descent were twice as likely to have low levels of iron than non-Hispanic white women.
Women from these groups may benefit from eating more iron-rich foods or taking supplements.
Some important nutrients for women and good sources of them include:
- Folate: Sources include spinach, rice, avocado, broccoli, oranges, asparagus, and fortified breakfast cereals.
- Iodine: Sources include seafood, seaweed, eggs, grain products, iodized salt, and unsweetened dairy products.
- Vitamin D: Sources include fatty fish, fortified or pasture-raised or free-range egg yolks, mushrooms, and liver.
- Iron: Sources include red meat, seafood, poultry, spinach, lentils, and soybeans.
- Calcium: Sources include dairy products, fortified milk alternatives and juices, sardines, salmon, tofu, and kale.
Vitamins: What You Should Take At Every Age
Walking down the vitamin aisle of your local grocery or drug store can be daunting. With so many different types of vitamins out there, its hard to know which ones could help you and your loved ones achieve health and wellness goals.
In a perfect world, all your vitamins and minerals would come from a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fortified food, says Rebecca Moran, MD, family medicine physician at Banner Health Clinic. But realistically, there are certain situations when extra vitamins or minerals are recommended.
Heres a quick guide on what vitamins you need to take at every age.
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What Happens To Your Body When You Start Taking Multivitamins
If you have not realized it by now, taking a multivitamin can have many benefits, but you may be wondering what will happen to your body once you start taking multivitamins.
This question is so hard to answer because the response from your body after taking a multivitamin will depend on your lifestyle and nutritional needs.
Although multivitamins are not a one size fits all remedy, there are quite a few things that can begin happening in your body once you start to consume multivitamins consistently.
- You May Experience Some Nausea
- Your bodys overall health and performance may improve over time.
- You will Feel More Energetic
- Skin Will Appear Brighter and Healthier
B Serious About Vitamin B
Theres a long list of Vitamin B nutrients, classified simply as Vitamin B. For instance, take vitamins B1, B2 and B6 to help your body turn food to energy.
You can begin taking vitamin B3, to help with improve your appetite especially helpful for those guys looking to bulk up, but who are never hungry.
B9 ensures a healthy production of viable sperm, and B12 even helps turn your food to fuel more efficiently!
It appears that the lack of B12 is quite possibly the most popular deficiency there is. Deficiency in this vitamin can be devastating.
Research has revealed it to be very important to the production of red blood cells, nerve repair, and DNA synthesis. Low vitamin B12 levels can cause dizziness, anemia, memory loss, delayed reasoning and mental acuity, confusion, disorientation, loss of balance and so on:
Fortunately, you can probably avoid these if you take vitamin B supplements.
As a modern man in todays competitive world, you need every advantage you can stack up. And you dont want to be lagging behind your peers in creating a prosperous future for yourself.
The whole tone of todays message, is that you should discover, and supplement, what will help you the most specifically.
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Probiotics For Digestive & Immune Health
Digestive health is at the core of your overall wellbeing. Your gastrointestinal tract is where your body absorbs the nutrients you need to stay healthy, and your gut health is closely linked to your immune function.7 So it pays to keep things running smoothly, and probiotics can help.
Probiotics help nurture the good bacteria in your GI tract, balancing things out to support digestive health, which in turn will make you feel better overall. But probiotics arent something you just take from time to time when your stomach feels disruptive. Cultivating better digestive health with probiotics should be a part of your daily nutritional routine for optimal wellbeing. Try our Probiotic for Digestive Health and feel the difference for yourself!
You can learn more about probiotics and why you need them in Trust Your Gut Health: Build a Healthier Gut with Probiotics and Translating the Language of Probiotics.
How These Vitamin Supplements Work Together
Vitamins, being such necessary building blocks for healthy male development have somewhat of a Gestalt effect.
Thats to say the whole is comprised of much more than just the sum of its parts.
Vitamins, when taken together in specific format, or in multi-vitamin combos, begin piecing a healthy physiology together from the ground up.
Lets explore how
Vitamin D, as research shows, can work wonders on testosterone levels.
This irreplaceable male hormone, testosterone, has been shown to slowly decrease when you hit your 30s.
This means if you want to give your descendants the best odds, youll have to find a way to keep Vitamin D in your nutrition plan!
Since vitamin D packs such a punch for testosterone, B12 makes a great coupling, as it helps to produce healthy, viable sperm cells.
Not to mention how Vitamin A can be a major key to the reduction of prostate cancer, or inflammation in this area that only men need to be concerned about.
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Have Your Goals In Mind Before Multivitamins
Multivitamins in your 30s are not a one size fits all approach. There are different types, depending on the areas of your health and life that you want to improve. While there are some that will just cover all your basis, you may find that you need to take more of them through the day or they are extremely large and difficult to take.
You will need to consider your goals when it comes to taking multivitamins. What part of your life do you want to change or benefit?
Chances are in your 30s that youre thinking about the signs of aging. If this is the case, you want to look out for multivitamins with antioxidants, vitamin D, and the B vitamins over everything else! These vitamins will help to keep the metabolism working as it should, boost your immune system, protect your skin cells, and create stronger bones. Not only will you feel like you can do more, but you will also look good while doing it!
Talk to your doctor about your multivitamin options. Your doctor will know if there are any that will be bad for your health or will be able to offer advice for your health concerns or goals.
Minerals And Essential Nutrients For Men Above 30
Your body needs more minerals as you move past your 30s. It is better to share your concerns with healthcare professionals. They would suggest the best multivitamin for men over 30. The needs for minerals for women and men are different. Men need more Zinc for their prostate problems, while females require more Iron as they are prone to deficiency of Haemoglobin.
You can scroll down through different minerals required by men over their 30s.
1. Potassium
Potassium helps to counter the rise in blood pressure. Deficiency of potassium leads to the risk of kidney stones, stroke, and hypokalemia. In Hypokalemia, the potassium level in the blood is low, which further leads to twitching of muscles, weakness, muscle cramps, and in some cases, paralysis.
While lack of potassium has its problems, higher levels of potassium have shortcomings too. High potassium can cause heart attack and even death. If you cannot get potassium from food sources, then supplements for 30-year-old man are highly recommended.
Mushrooms, Prunes, Sweet Potatoes, Tuna, Milk, Bananas, Melon
2. Boron
Boron is one of the most important minerals that men over 30 should include in their diet. Boron plays a pivotal role in the production of estradiol and testosterone. It helps in the absorption of minerals and nutrients, which plays an important role in sound sexual health. It improves cognitive functions.
Dried Apricots, Prunes, Avocados, Raisins
3. Omega-3
Nuts and Seeds , Fatty Fish , Plant oils
4. Zinc
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The Vitamins You Should Be Taking In Your 30s
Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is the best way to get the vitamins and nutrients you need for your body to function well. Throughout your life, you need different amounts of essential nutrients at different ages and sometimes it’s not so easy to get all the vitamins and minerals you need through food alone. Vitamin supplements can help ensure your body gets the minerals it needs when it most needs them.
According to The Healthy, vitamin D and calcium are especially important during childhood and teenage years, as our bodies heavily rely on these nutrients for bone and muscle growth. In our 20s, B12, folic acid, and fiber are recommended, especially for vegans and women who want to have kids. When we move into our 30s, we should continue to take those vitamins and minerals along with sufficient amounts of additional nutrients to keep our bodies running smoothly.
For A Better Immune System Take Vitamin D
Nature MadeVitamin D3
“Vitamin D is necessary for immune and hormone support, but many individuals who live north of Atlanta often have low levels and deficiencies particularly in the winter months,” points out Gladd. “Ideally, one would have levels measured to determine their ideal dose, but most would benefit from taking 1000 to 2000 IU daily of vitamin D3.”
Garden of LifeVitamin B Complex
“The Bs are key for supporting cognitive and nerve health and mood. B complex supplementation, with its inclusion of folate is particularly important for women in this age group to protect potential babies from spinal cord defects. Rather than single one B vitamin out, it is generally better to take them all in a B complex.”
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Vitamins D C & B On Weight & Muscle Building
Vitamin C breaks down carbohydrates into usable energy, and prevents stress derived from exercise from overwhelming your body.
Vitamin D aids your bodys intake and synthesis of calcium and phosphorus.
Calcium is necessary for muscle contractions , while phosphorus helps integrate utilizable energy into the body .
Vitamin B offers help by creating unity between the brains two hemispheres, and in the muscle synthesis process.
Additionally, it structures and helps form new red blood cells, and also metabolization of food into energy. All of the above help with strength and size increases, as muscle mass tends to increase your available strength.
Why Multivitamins And Not Individual Ones
Could you imagine having to take 40+ pills daily just to get all your nutrients? Or could you imagine going through test after test on a regular basis to find out if youre deficient in nutrients ?
Multivitamins offer an overall approach for busy women. And lets face it, we are busy in our 30s. Much busier than many of our 20-year-old counterparts. I sometimes wish I could go back to my early 20s!
In our 30s, were possibly running around after toddlers, looking after aging parents, working around the clock to keep a roof over our familys head, and so much more. Some of us will even try out a new business venture.
At the same time, you realize that youre at the traditional view of middle age. Sure, the average age of the population has risen, but we still viewthe late 30s as that midpoint. Our biological clocks are starting to tick, and we know that life is on the downward spiral. If we want to live well into our 90s, we need to start looking after our bodies.
So, we need something that will help us look after ourselves. A catch-all option, so were not spending hours of our weeks waiting for test results to find out just where were deficient, is a needed option and thats just what women in their 30s get with multivitamins.
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Magnesium For Stress & Sleep
Magnesium is a mineral that is often overlooked in our diets, which is a problem that is compounded by decreased magnesium levels in the soils that nurture food crops.13 Your body needs magnesium for hundreds of vital processes, and low levels of magnesium are difficult to recognize because signs of low magnesium are easily mistaken for something elselike feeling tired, stressed, anxious, or having trouble sleeping.14
Magnesium plays a role in the functioning of our muscles, nerves and neurotransmitters, our stress response, the transport of calcium and potassium through cell walls and a lot more.15 Plus, when we get stressed our bodies waste magnesium.16
After supplementing with magnesium, many people report feeling less stressed, more calm, and just better overall.17 Try it yourself in our replenishing magnesium drink, Mellow Mag, which is available in orange and raspberry flavors.
Folic Acid And B Complex
There are eight B vitamins, important for young adults, in regulating nerve functions, sustaining brain activity to focus on work or school and maintaining energy to stay involved in daily activities. Folic acid, or folate, is especially important for young women who are considering pregnancy. The Harvard School of Public Health notes that taking folate significantly reduces the chance of prenatal birth defects, such as spina bifida. The critical time frame for taking folate is within the first two weeks after conception, typically before a woman knows she is pregnant. Folate is generally found in prenatal vitamins or in multivitamins. Women are suggested to take at least 400 micrograms of folate a day if considering pregnancy. A good way to get all B vitamins daily is to supplement with a B complex, which contains the essential daily recommended allowance.
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