When are vitamin tablets useful?

The most important points in brief

• If you ask five experts whether vitamin tablets make sense, you will probably get five different answers.
• It is important to make a distinction: Are the preparations intended as a substitute or as a supplementary measure?
• Because the question cannot be answered across the board - it depends on the external circumstances.
• Read in this text when vitamin tablets are useful and for whom.

It sounds like a commonplace - and yet it is true: Those who eat a balanced diet have little to worry about when it comes to health issues. This also applies to the body's vitamin balance. Of course, we all know how important it is to get enough vitamins of all kinds. But can this rate always be improved with vitamin tablets and supplements?

Vitamins in tablet form don't always help

The rule could be that simple. A lot helps a lot, that's exactly what you would think with tablets, but it's not true. For minerals and vitamins, the same applies that the organism suffers if there is a permanent and significant overdose. Doctors call this phenomenon “hypervitaminosis”. Depending on the type of vitamin, it can lead to nausea, visual disturbances, hair loss, dizziness, nerve damage, osteoporosis, coma or even death. Vitamin K alone is an exception, there is no upper limit.

But there is also the other side. This refers to people who - in addition to a vitamin-rich diet - need vitamins from the outside. This applies to pregnant women, old people, competitive athletes and vegans, for example. Here there are often vitamin deficiencies that can be topped up with tablets. You should know that the body absorbs vitamins and minerals better from natural products than from preparations.

Which vitamin tablets for pregnant women and athletes?

Vitamin tablets can be useful here, pregnant women often lack folic acid (vitamin B9 or folate), sometimes even before pregnancy. A corresponding preparation makes sense. In addition, pregnant women must also take into account the increased need for omega-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium and iodine.

Competitive athletes, on the other hand, not only need more nutrients and energy, but also more A, B, C and E vitamins. Vitamin tablets are quite useful here. The building of muscles is stimulated by free radicals, and these need the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E. Whoever loses a lot of sweat must also pay attention to the mineral balance and - in addition to the vitamins - take in proteins, calcium and magnesium from the outside / p>

The elderly and vegan people often lack important vitamins

Many people no longer eat enough in old age. The appetite decreases, as does the sense of taste. However, the need for nutrients and thus also for vitamins remains unchanged. In particular, the additional administration of folic acid and vitamins B12, C and D are essential for life at an advanced age. However, you should be careful with the dose, there should not be too much or too few vitamin tablets.

When you think of a vegan diet, you often associate it with a healthy lifestyle. Not wrong, but not entirely right either, because many vegans suffer from a deficiency in vitamin B12. Although this nutrient is found in some vegetables, cereals and legumes, the body can absorb vitamin B12 from meat much more efficiently. So anyone who opts for a vegan lifestyle is well advised to compensate for the resulting deficiency - which, by the way, also affects iron - with the appropriate tablets.