Stay Healthy This Year with Dietary Supplements

As soon as the New Year begins the New Years resolutions are always in full swing. After loading up on indulgent foods during the holidays (think big meals, sweets, too many snacks), it seems that a common New Year’s goal is to get healthy.

The best way to jump start health are with a combination of regular exercise and by maintaining a proper diet. Another way to take your health to the next level is through dietary supplements. Dietary supplements are intended to provide nutrients that might otherwise be missing in your body. Currently in the US over 170 million people take dietary supplements (according to a survey from the Council for Responsible Nutrition). The multivitamin is the most popular dietary supplement, though there are plenty of others to choose from.

There are many different types of dietary supplements, from vitamins, to herbs to protein powders. Dietary supplements help fill nutrition gaps and promote overall health and wellness for the many Americans who cannot get enough essential nutrients from diet alone.

While I myself do not take a multivitamin daily I do regularly take vitamin E (especially in the winter time – I find it helps with my dry skin and chapped lips), and vitamin B.

I also am a big fan of Plant Fusion vegan protein powder which I will add into my morning oatmeal. I personally know that I am not getting enough protein in my diet, and adding just a scoop or half scoop of this protein powder helps boost my protein intake which is also filled with tons of other vitamins and nutrients as well.

In addition to protein powder I will frequently add other herbal powders into my morning oatmeal or smoothies including camu camu, acai, maca, and ashwaganda.

Camu camu is a shrub found in the Amazon rainforest of Peru and Brazil and is incredibly high in vitamin C, beta carotene, potassium and many amino acids. Acai, also hailing from South America, is loaded with antioxidants, essential amino acids, and many phytonutrients.

Every person’s body is different so there is no one recommended set of dietary supplements that works for everyone. You need to listen to your own body to find out what nutrients and vitamins are missing. Even with the most carefully calculated diet it is difficult to get all the nutrients you need from food alone, so this is where  dietary supplements come in. Dietary supplements can be used to support overall health and wellness.

A national survey has shown that 93% of Americans are not getting the recommended daily dosage of vitamin E in their diet. This is something that could be easily addressed with the use of a vitamin E dietary supplement. While I am only 29 years old, I fully support the use of dietary supplements to increase your daily intake of vitamins and nutrients that you may not be getting in full from your diet alone. While I focus on healthy eating and cooking from scratch even I acknowledge that certain nutrients you simply will not be getting from food alone.

I also frequently take fish oil supplements, which are incredibly high in omega 3s.  Evidence strongly suggests that increased intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. Studies show that eating fish once or twice a week can reduce deaths from coronary artery disease by about 50 percent. Research shows that currently most American diets are very low in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, something that can either be resolved by eating more of specific types of fish or by taking fish oil supplements. (reference)

In my Russian family, we are always toasting to health first and foremost, because it truly is the most important aspect of your life, and something that needs to be taken seriously at even a young age, to prevent chronic diseases and any ailments at a later stage in life. As long as you are healthy, everything else can be worked out.

Wishing everyone a healthy 2017!

**This post is sponsored by CRN and the Mom It Forward Influencer Network. All opinions are 100% my own