Should you take supplements for the rest of your life?

If you’re like most people taking supplements, you’ve started doing so in order to address a particular health issue or because you’re hoping that they might make you healthier. More than half of all Americans take one or more dietary supplements daily or at least occasionally.

But, just how safe and effective is it to take supplements on a long term basis or for the rest of your life?  There are several factors to consider when deciding on which supplements to take and how long you should be taking them.  

One factor to consider is the biochemical nature of the supplements that you’re taking. In other words, how does the supplement behave once it enters your body?  Fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin A,D, E, and K, build up in your tissues, bone, and blood. Taking high doses of these types of vitamins can build up in the body and become toxic. You can get the benefits of taking these vitamins on a weekly basis and reduce your risk of developing any ill effects from them.

Water soluble vitamins such as the B-complex group and vitamin C aren’t stored in the body, and any excess vitamin is rapidly excreted in your urine and rarely reaches toxic levels. The RDA of these vitamins can be taken on a daily basis in order to get their benefits.

It’s not just a phase

If your health care professional has recommended a particular supplement as part of a specific treatment plan or for a deficiency, it makes good sense to get tested after taking the supplement for a few months to see if your levels have improved and if your physician wants to make changes to your treatment plan.

You don’t want to take supplements forever if you don’t need them and aren’t getting any benefit from them because taking them long term can be quite an expense, especially if you’re supplementing with a whole host of different products on a daily basis.

There are some health conditions that require taking daily supplements long term  For example, it’s recommended that people who have been diagnosed with the onset of dry macular degeneration consider taking an  AREDS supplement, a type of multivitamin for your eyes to help prevent the condition from worsening.

Modifying your supplement routine

When it comes to vitamins and minerals, most health experts recommend that you get them by eating a varied and balanced diet. Supplements are useful for filling in gaps in a healthy diet.

However, there are times when meeting all of your nutritional needs isn’t possible or when other factors in your life make taking supplements necessary — during pregnancy, menopause, or for a chronic condition or deficiency, for example. And, sometimes you can’t always count on eating healthy, especially if you have a busy lifestyle, so taking a high-quality multivitamin is a good option.

Daily Vita Plus, offered by Vibrant Nutraceuticals, provides you with all of the essential vitamins in a bio-available liquid form. A half-ounce shot delivers all of the RDA daily amounts of 13 water- and fat-soluble vitamins. With Daily Vita Plus, you know you’re getting a safe and effective complete daily vitamin.