Getting our nutrients from food is best. Foods have not just nutrients, but also something called co-factors. Co-factors are helper-nutrients that make main nutrients work better in our body. Plus, real foods have many nutrients we don’t even know about. Our body uses millions of different molecules. But we only know a few of them. And even fewer are used in nutrition supplements.
But, there are times when taking nutrition pills makes sense. Let’s talk about those:
- When You’re Missing Nutrients: This is being ‘nutritionally deficient.’ It means your body doesn’t have enough of some nutrients. In this case, it’s good to use nutrition pills. They can quickly give you the nutrients you’re missing.
- When Your Digestive System Is Weak: Some people have trouble with their digestion. This means their body can’t get all the nutrients it needs from food. They might need to eat too much to get these nutrients. Here, nutrition pills can help. They give you what you need without having to eat too much.
- During Weight Loss Diets: When you’re trying to lose weight, you eat less food. This means you might not get enough nutrients. Without enough nutrients, you could end up very weak after the diet. You might start eating a lot again to make up for this. This is called ‘binge eating.’ It can make you gain back the weight. Nutrition pills can stop this. They give you the nutrients while you eat less food.
- For Overweight People: Many people who are overweight don’t get enough nutrients. This could be because they don’t eat the right foods. Or their body can’t process food well. This lack of nutrients might have made them gain weight in the first place. If they start a diet to lose weight, they need nutrition pills. This helps them get the nutrients they were missing.
- For Certain Health Conditions: Some health problems need a lot of a certain nutrient. More than what food can give. This is called a ‘therapeutic dosage.’ It’s a lot more than usual. In these cases, you can’t get enough from food. You need nutrition pills or IV (a way to get nutrients directly into your blood).
- Ageing: We are coming around to the idea that ageing is a disease that brings many other diseases. One of the effect of ageing is that you lost your ability to extract nutrients from food. Another effect is that your need for calories reduces, while your need for nutrients increases. Many ill effects of ageing can be treated as a disease that can be reversed (usually partially) or its progress can be slowed down. For all these reasons, high dose nutrients in the form of pills (and even intra-venous injection) is common practice in the longevity circles. This is also why ageing individuals are often encouraged to be on a regular regime of nutrition pills.
While pills are not a replacement for real food, there are situations where nutrition supplement pills can save you from a lots of trouble.
Lastly, always talk to a doctor before you start taking any pills.