Since
losing weight could mean losing vitamins and nutrients,
when you make the decision to lose weight, you should
make sure that you only lose weight and not vitamins
and minerals.There is a simple mathematical weight
loss equation that cannot be disputed. If you take
in more calories than you use then you will gain weight,
and if you use more calories than you take in then
you will lose weight.
The way that you
measure weight loss or gain makes no difference. If
you don't use or believe in the term 'calories' it makes
no difference. The body uses fuel to produce the energy
required for the life processes. Even if you are doing
nothing, and are at complete rest, your body still uses
fuel to drive the body processes that keeps you heart
beating, your lungs breathing and all the other activities
going on in your body. That is called your metabolic
rate: the rate at which you use energy when at rest.
That
fuel is provided by the food you eat and how you measure
it is immaterial. If you take in more fuel than you
use the excess is stored in the body. It can be stored
in the liver in the form of glycogen that is used
by the body as a quick emergency energy source, or
under the skin and round the major organs as fat.
It is the latter type of fat that is most dangerous
to you since it is the last that is lost and can put
stresses on your organs and your heart.
So what has this all got to
do with vitamins, I can hear you say to yourself. Quite
a lot actually. The body stores fat and the fat soluble
vitamins, but it does not store the water soluble vitamins
C and B complex, and nor does it store the water soluble
minerals.
When you diet, you are eating as
little as you can get away with without feeling too hungry.
You are not thinking of nutrition since most people don't
believe that they need nutrition if they are overweight.
They think they need less. In fact, nothing could be farther
from the truth. When you go on a diet, your body has to
use the fat deposits it laid down while you were getting
fat. It is also, therefore, using up the fat soluble vitamins.
Furthermore,
unless you are still maintaining the proper intake of minerals
and vitamins C and all the B vitamins, you will start to
suffer from a deficiency of these. Luckily, many diets involve
a good intake of fruit and vegetable, so you should be getting
a good intake of vitamin C. Scurvy should not be a problem
then! Contrary to what an astounding number of people believe,
however, Vitamin C is needed for more than scurvy! It is
a powerful antioxidant that helps the body clear up rouge
molecules known as free radicals. These are chemicals than
can interfere with body cells and cause heart disease and
some cancers.
Normally
the body can use vitamins C and E to destroy the free radicals
and maintain a healthy body. Vitamin E deals with the free
radicals that can cause heart disease, and since it is fat
soluble, there should be a supply available in a person
who is dieting. Vitamin C, on the other hand, destroys the
free radicals that can cause cancer. Vitamin C is water
soluble and not stored in the body. It has to be constantly
replenished since it is continually passed in the urine.
If you do not include vitamin C in your diet, then you could
be harming yourself.
Minerals
are essential for the well being of the body and vitamins
cannot be used by the body unless they have a supply of the
right minerals available to help them. It is what is called
a synergistic effect; one cannot work without the other. Hence,
your fat soluble vitamins are not much use without a good
supplement of water soluble minerals.
What
that means is that when you diet, you should work out the
nutritional content of the food that you are consuming during
the diet. The more you exercise while dieting, the less you
have to actually diet. Remember the equation: if you use up
more calories, or energy, than you take in, you will lose
weight. Therefore, the more you exercise the more you can
eat and still lose weight. However, having taken that into
account and you are still not getting enough nutrition from
your food, and then you will need a supplement. In some cases,
food has to be limited to an extent to loose weight and this
is whey a vitamin supplement is needed to supply the body
with the needed vitamins to survive.
You don't have to go overboard, and
a good multivitamin and mineral tablet taken once a day
should meet your needs. Do not, however, rely on pills for
all your nutritional needs since vitamins taken in pill
form are generally a lot less effective than if taken in
natural foods. This is because natural sources also contain
traces of other substances such as enzymes and proteins
that help the body to absorb and make full use of the phytonutrients
in these foods. These are not present in pills since it
would be extremely expensive to extract or synthesize them.
Some diets that are
not imposed by a wish to lose weight also present need for
supplementation. Vegans, for example, lack vitamin B12 in
their diet. This vitamin is essential for the development
of red blood cells, the nervous system, and growth and development
of children, and is found in eggs, red meat and dairy products.
A true vegetarian does not get it in their diet and they
require a supplement. Vitamin B12 has been found in some
algae, sea weed and fermented soya products but not in a
bioavailable form that the human body could use.
Vegans also lack a significant natural
source of protein in their diet, and make up for that through
using soya extracts and micro-protein sources such as Quorn.
However, it is now known that sufficient protein is available
by a regular intake of the more protein rich vegetables,
and artificial sources are not necessary accept, perhaps,
for growing vegan children.
It is very easy to lose weight, but
you can avoid losing vitamins and nutrients through a scientific
approach to dieting and using up more energy than you take
in. This is made easier the more exercise you carry out
to maintain the negative balance between energy intake and
use, but if a supplement is needed a simple multivitamin
and mineral supplement can be taken once day.
