Nutritional Supplements

A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet. Some countries define dietary supplements as foods, while in others they are defined as drugs or natural health products.

Supplements containing vitamins or dietary minerals are included as a category of food in the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety. These texts are drawn up by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an organization that is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

What are the benefits that you can get from nutritional supplements?

First of all, supplements help you overcome nutritional deficiencies. We need all the nutrients in their proper amounts for optimum health. Since our diets most likely can not provide all of them, nutritional supplements can fill in those gaps.

Nutritional supplements also help boost our immune system. The stronger your immune system, the more resistant your body can be against disease. You probably know that popping a tablet or two of Vitamin C can help you avoid colds and related illnesses. This is exactly how useful supplementation is.

Nutritional supplements are also useful in getting rid of the toxins which we horrendously take in everyday. The environmental stresses we go through, chemicals we are in touch with, as well as our lifestyle - these all subject us to harmful toxins which can lead to serious health problems. Supplements, most especially anti-oxidants, can help our body keep toxins to a minimum.

There are much more benefits that nutritional supplements can provide. The main point is that these supplements help you have the optimum health you deserve and minimize the risk of diseases.