Is there a need of health supplements? Here's all you should know-

Currently this new trend in health is rapidly growing but is it right to call it a trend or is it a necessity in current times? Let’s understand about the need of health supplements.


In short supplements are concentrated nutrients wrapped in a capsule, tablet, gummies or powder forms. Since these are pure forms of nutrients they are easily absorbed by the body. Their purpose is to focus on specific nutrient/s. Because when a person suffers from nutrient deficiency then he/she needs that nutrient in a higher quantity and fast absorption formula.

Let’s see how they are easily absorbed in body. Let’s take an example of vitamin c, now if you try to get it by eating lemon then lemon contains other nutrients as well like some more vitamins also some carbohydrates and fibers, etc. Now once consumed body needs to separate all these and then metabolize each one to make it reach exact destination. This process is long and plus not all the vitamin c present in lemon is digested. When one needs more vitamin c on daily basis getting it from supplements is better than lemon. Also 1 lemon only contains 30mg of vitamin C out of which only about 40% is absorbed and we need 75-90mg of vitamin c daily for a healthy/ non deficient person. I hope this made the real picture clear.

Let’s see who needs these supplements and why?

1. Athletes / Sports people- They need supplements because their need of nutrients on a daily basis is quite higher than normal person or non athletic person. They cannot consume the quantity of food required to fulfill daily nutrition quota. But they cannot ignore even for a day the required amount of nutrients and thus they opt for supplements. Athletes performance is very sensitive to their nutrition hence they have to make sure that every single day they are eating right and enough. Now there are number of supplements available in sports nutrition range but not all are authorized by sports authorities and if by mistake any player consumes a supplement with banned content then that is a legal crime and can end the person’s sporting career. Hence it is advised to take supplements prescribed by nutritionists since they study the label for contents and also consume brands which have no objection from any sports authority.

2. Deficient people- Nutrient deficiencies are no more an occasional happening. Due to awareness about it and easily available tests people are finding about their nutritional deficiencies. Now when a person is deficient in any nutrient then having only food will not cure him/her, they need extra amount of that specific nutrient and thus health care experts prescribe them supplements. Deficiency of any nutrient is a serious health condition which should be treated immediately. So in such cases you need to have supplements till the levels of nutrients are normal and then one can shift to only foods.

3. During certain health conditions- Now there are health conditions which need more of certain nutrient to recover or to deal with and that time supplements are prescribed. For example during constant respiratory tract infections, vitamin C is given or during pregnancy iron is given. Also some health conditions are developed because of continuous severe lack of nutrients in diet and in such cases along with medical treatment focus on supplements is given to recover faster.

4. Aged people- Usually after a certain age fast depletion of nutrients from body happen and it is important to maintain the levels of all nutrients to avoid future health issues. So it is advisable to people above 40 years to have a course of supplements after check up and consultation with doctors and nutritionists. Sometimes these supplements could be required on a daily basis to maintain the levels and avoid deficiency.

5. People with incorrect diet- Poor diet does not provide you with good enough of nutrients for healthy run of your body. People with incorrect diet, not eating enough, constantly fasting or in some cases poor absorption of nutrients due to lack of movement or other factors, they need supplements.

All the people who think supplements are completely bad, unnecessary or the ones who think they are must always remember that, ‘supplements cannot replace food. Food first, but when food alone is not enough because of low quantity, low quality or any other factors then supplements support you to fulfill required nutritional amount. So be open minded about it, never self supplement and always consult health expert for this.