Vitamin
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Ian Lloyd
Pharmacist
Peoples Pharmacy |
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....This month’s article has a nice open ended topic; what supplements should people consider taking at various ages? I like it. As most of my readers know (if there are any other readers besides my Mother), I like vitamins. There is the argument that if you eat a well balanced diet, you should be able to get all the vitamins and minerals that you |
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....What about toddlers? It seems you either get a toddler that will eat anything, including dirt, or you get a very fussy eater. The most basic thing you can do is give them a multivitamin. Most of these multivitamins are complete and quite safe. If your little one doesn't eat a lot of meat, make and vitamin B12. If they don't eat a lot of dairy products, |
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you might also want to consider giving your little one a calcium, magnesium and vitamin D supplement, as I do. It may seem a bit cruel to give little ones fish oils, but this will ensure that they get enough of the omega 3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain development. Many of the fish oil supplements for kids are very refined and do not taste too bad. I'm not a fan of giving children vitamin C because it may lead to dental erosion. This is also a concern with all chewable vitamin supplements. Most of them are full of sugar and slightly acidic vitamins. Make sure they have a glass of juice or water and brush their teeth afterwards. |
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need. This may have been true at one time, but I feel it might not be true today. It is known that fruits and vegetables lose their vitamin content during storage. How long does it take for an apple to get from tree to table? I'm not sure how long it takes for bananas to get here from Ecuador? Soil conditions also play an important role in the amount of minerals, which are in certain foods. Also when you cook vegetables, they lose some of their vitamins and minerals. After you have steamed vegetables, why is the water you used now slightly green? All of these factors reduce the amount of vitamins and minerals available for us. Perhaps the best way to get the healthiest and most nutritious produce is to buy locally and cook with low temperatures.
....What supplements should infants and babies take. The only thing that I usually recommend is vitamin D 400IU a day. Some people also recommend giving infants iron supplements. Check with your Doctor before giving extra iron to anyone. |
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Perhaps contrary to current thinking, I am a big fan of using sugar in children's supplements and medicines. Sugar tastes great and is a lot safer than artificial sweeteners. Sugar (glucose) is the fuel that runs our bodies. Sugar is only a problem when you get too much of it from a refined source; such as, candy, soda pop, and “fruity flavoured juices.” School aged children and teenagers have specific nutritional concerns. During this period of one's life, there is a lot of growth; mostly in the skeleton. There is some thinking that osteoporosis is a childhood disease; only the symptoms and consequences are seen much later in life. This does make some sense, as most of your bone density is formed before you reach the age of 30 years old. So if you don't accumulate enough calcium and magnesium in your bones, you might develop osteoporosis later on in life. This is quite worrisome considering that several dietary intake studies have |
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