Food/dietary supplements, as the name implies are substances that are taken along side food to obtain a complete and well rounded nutrition. According to “dictionary.com” a supplement is; something added to complete a thing, supply a deficiency, or reinforce or extend a whole. Let’s look at the word “complete” as it’s used in the definition above and let’s replace “thing” with “food”. We talk a lot about balanced diet and a lot of us try to have balanced diet everyday. Now what is balanced diet? It’s a diet that contains all the necessary nutrients, required for healthy growth and development, in their correct proportions. When cooking our meals, some of the nutritions in them die. Also, because of our busy schedule we are not able to eat properly or ensure that we have a balanced diet and that’s where food/dietary supplements come in. Like we can see in the definition above; a supplement is something that completes a thing. Food/dietary supplements in this case are taken alongside your food to ensure that you get the recommended daily value of each nutrient.
Let’s look at the second phrase; “supply a deficiency”. Better put “a supplement is something added to supply a deficiency”. This means that when you have a deficiency of any of the essential nutrients, food supplements help to cure that deficiency. For example let’s take a look at “vitamin C deficiency” when we have a shortage of vitamin C in our system we make use of vitamin C supplements. In this case we are taking the vitamin C supplement not just to make sure we get the recommended daily value but to treat a deficiency. So food/dietary supplements are taken to treat deficiencies.
Lastly let’s look at the last phrase; “reinforce or extend a whole”. Rephrased; a supplement is something added to reinforce or extend a thing. Food/dietary supplements are referred to in this sense when we use them as body building or weightloss supplements. Body building supplements are food/dietary supplements commonly used by body builders and athletes to replace meals, enhance weight gain (lean muscle mass), promote weightloss or improve athletic performance.
With the above statements we know what food/dietary supplements are and their functions, now we can answer the question; are food/dietary supplements healthy? Based on our analysis you will notice that they are indeed healthy. They are like a form of insurance policy that insure you against deficiencies and diseases that occur as a result of improper diet. In conclusion food/dietary supplements should be a stable in everybody’s diet.
*Pls note that in body building there are two types of supplements; food/dietary supplements and the one we refer to as “drugs”. The food/dietary supplements are the healthy ones while the “drugs” are the unhealthy ones. There will be subsequent articles in the future to explain this further.
you are advised to see a doctor before you make any significant changes to your diet and workout.
If you have enjoyed this article please follow this blog for updates on new articles. Also follow me on facebook and twitter (icons are on the sidebar) for daily fitness tips, updates and new offers. please also consider sharing this article to help others gain the knowledge you have just gained.
For personal training, customized workout, diet and supplement plans; send a mail to us at allthingsfitnez@yahoo.com or call +2348164297612 or ping BB pin:3245428e
Regards
kaycee
Mr Body Perfect 2011
allthingsfitnez 