Is it possible to get all necessary nutrients from food alone? What makes our nutrient requirements different? And what should you consider when choosing supplements?
In the past few decades, the supplement market has seen a growth it has never seen before. Increasingly sophisticated adverts are encouraging us that supplements can be the answer to a number of our health issues.
Let's do a reality check.
Over the past few decades, the way we eat has changed considerably. Busy lifestyles, convenience foods, changing food environments and new diet trends constantly entering the health space have all influenced what ends up on our plates. While these changes increased the variety of products that are available to us, they narrowed down the range of foods and with that, the nutrients we consume.
For most healthy adults eating a varied and balanced diet, food can provide the majority of essential nutrients.
Food also offers something a supplement cannot replicate: a combination of protein, fibre, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and thousands of naturally occurring compounds that work together within the overall diet.
Fresh, real food is still available; time is what we tend to struggle with.
Busy lives affect people at every age now. Cooking from scratch has to fit around studies and part-time jobs, work, family, commuting, exercise and social commitments. Nourishing our body properly takes more effort than it used to.
Luckily both the food market and digital media are responding fast to our new needs.
15-minute recipes, meals built around just a handful of ingredients, weekend food-prep videos and an ever-growing choice of convenient, nutrient-dense foods are at our fingertips. Chia seeds, kimchi, bone broth and an impressive variety of whole grains are now readily available in supermarkets and online shops, giving simpler ways to add nutrients to our meals.
Learning to use these is a good first step if we want to increase our nutrient intake from real foods.
So where do supplements enter?
For some people, a supplement is genuinely important because their diet makes it difficult to obtain enough of a particular nutrient. For others, supplementation may be useful because of increased nutritional demands, a diagnosed deficiency or a specific performance goal.
Your needs can be influenced by:
- Dietary pattern: vegan, vegetarian or other restrictive diets due to allergies or intolerances
- Physical activity: particularly high training volumes or specific sporting demands
- Life stage: including pregnancy, ageing and the menopause transition
- Health conditions that can affect nutrient absorption, requirements or losses
- Medication: some medicines can affect nutrient status
- Lifestyle and environment: including sun exposure and time spent outdoors
- Individual dietary intake: food preferences, or when diet is affected by psychological or religious restrictions
5 questions to ask when considering taking supplements
If you decide that supplementation makes sense for you, choosing the right one is important.
1. What problem are you trying to solve?
Start with the nutrient. Are you trying to correct a known deficiency, compensate for a dietary restriction, meet an increased requirement or support a specific health or performance goal? Consider discussing your thoughts with a health professional. Assessing your actual needs can save you from wasting money, but also might reveal some insufficiencies that you didn't know of.
2. Can you take in the missing nutrient from food alone?
Thinking food first is always the best idea.
Increasing the consumption of a food, or food group, can make your diet more balanced, and apart from the targeted nutrient, you most likely also get more of a number of other nutrients, fibre and phytonutrients at the same time, which increases the overall health benefits.
3. Evidence and product quality
If it isn't possible to take in that particular nutrient from food alone, supplements can come to the rescue.
Look beyond the testimonials and marketing claims. Is there good-quality research supporting the nutrient for the purpose you're considering? And does the evidence apply to people like you? A supplement can contain a scientifically interesting ingredient without there being good evidence that taking it improves your health.
Look for reputable manufacturers, clear ingredient and dosage information, appropriate quality controls and products that do what the label says they do.
A carefully curated supplement range can make sure that you choose a high quality, well formulated, safe product.
4. How much do you actually need?
Check the amount provided per serving and consider whether you are already getting the nutrient from food or another supplement. This is particularly important with multivitamins and combination products, where ingredients can easily overlap.
Note that while multivitamins may seem like a handy, one-does-it-all option, this might not be the case. If they contain loads of different nutrients, chances are that they don't contain enough of any of them. Another consideration is whether they contain nutrients that you don't need. This isn't only a problem because you are wasting your money, but because some nutrients can pose serious health risks when taken in excess over a longer period of time.
5. Could it interact with your health or medication?
Some supplements are unsuitable for particular health conditions or can interact with medicines. If you have a medical condition, take regular medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have been advised to restrict particular nutrients, professional advice is particularly important.
The bottom line
Our nutritional requirements change throughout life and are influenced by what we eat, how active we are, our life stage, health, medication and even our lifestyle and environment.
For most people, food should remain the foundation. Fresh, nutritious foods are still available to us, and with a little planning, even busy lifestyles can accommodate a varied diet. Supplements should not replace that foundation.
But food first doesn't necessarily mean food only.
When a particular nutrient is difficult to obtain from the diet, requirements increase, a deficiency is identified or there is good evidence for a specific benefit, supplementation can be a valuable addition. The important thing is to choose it for a reason, in an appropriate amount and from a product you can trust.
The goal is to make sure you are getting the nutrients your individual body needs: from food wherever possible, and from a well-chosen supplement, preferably after a nutrient assessment or testing, when it has a useful role to play.
