Students Name
Professors Name
Course
Date
Vitamin Supplements
Human health is dependent on so many items that work together to ensure the proper functioning of the body. Some of these factors may include adequate exercise, good sleep, positive thing and, most importantly, a well-balanced diet. A balanced diet comprises of vitamins, carbohydrates, and proteins. Each of the food above plays their role; for example, proteins are responsible for body building; carbohydrates are for energy and vitamins and protection against diseases and infections, among many other functions of each food. These can be found in food or supplements such as capsules and pills. Vitamins are the ones that mostly have supplements in the form of tablets and tablets. There has been a heated debate on the effectiveness of these vitamin supplements. This paper aims to discuss the use of vitamin supplements.
The first argument against the use of vitamin supplements is that in high doses, they can be toxic to the body. There is a temptation of people taking too much of these supplements, and they end up being toxic to the body. Take, for example, high doses of vitamins like B6, which is water-soluble that can cause loss of feeling on the arms and the legs due to damage of nerves (Jenkins et al., 2579). Excess vitamin A for pregnant mothers can also be dangerous as it may bring about congenital disabilities, affect the central nervous system, the liver, and even the bone marrow. Excess amounts of some vitamins may inhibit the absorption of other vitamins. For example, excess zinc in the blood may inhibit the uptake of copper and iron into the body.
The second argument against the use of vitamin supplements is that they are too expensive. The amount spends on buying these pills and capsules are too high compared to buying food rich in vitamins. It becomes even uneconomical since most of these vitamins, like vitamin c, are excreted through the kidney (Mann & Truswell, pp567). They become waste and, therefore, potentially losing all the money that has been spending on purchasing these food supplements. There is a better option like buying food rich in vitamins and eating of fruits is even much better. Most of this food and fruits not only provide the body with the vitamins but also fiber that helped indigestion, unlike the pills and the capsules which have no fiber.
The third argument against the use of vitamin supplements interfere with some health disorders or may eve be the cause of health disorders. For example, they may contain aspartame, which worsens conditions such as phenylketonuria or PKU. Some of the other problems that may be further exacerbated by vitamin supplements are those associated with kidney problems like kidney stones. For smokers, vitamin supplements containing beta carotene may increase the chances of individuals contracting lung cancer (Geissler & Powers, pp234). High doses of vitamin C can also cause abdominal pains, which may bring serious health issues when prolonged. It also may cause diarrheas, which will lead to dehydration and malfunctioning of significant body organs.
In conclusion, vitamin supplements have negative implications for the general health of the users. It’s recommended that people should seek other methods of supplying the body with vitamins other than supplements. The condition discussed include worsening or triggering health conditions and causing health problems. They may also become too expensive and therefore make life more costly for the users.
Work Cited
Geissler, Catherine, and Hilary Powers, eds. Human nutrition. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Jenkins, David JA, et al. “Supplemental vitamins and minerals for CVD prevention and treatment.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 71.22 (2018): 2570-2584.
Mann, Jim, and A. Stewart Truswell, eds. Essentials of human nutrition. Oxford University Press, 2017.