Using vitamin and mineral supplements wisely

I can't afford to eat very many healthy foods (due to being in college and working a part time job), so I take a daily vitamin supplement. But I wouldn't say vitamin supplements could ever replace regular meals. My girlfriend is vegetarian and doesn't eat any meat at all, so she doesn't get a lot of valuable vitamins and minerals that meat usually provides. She takes a vitamin every day, and will have to for the rest of her life, but it's still not enough to replace what meat could give her body. I think vitamins mixed with a healthy eating schedule and good foods can really change someone's life. It's been proven to increase happiness and make people feel energized.

I think you are very right. We cannot simply SKIP certain food groups and think that replacing them with little capsules will do the trick. Always try to do your body a favor and eat the real thing instead of the manufactured cousin in pill form. Vitamins are best for when you simply CANNOT get ENOUGH of a certain vitamin or mineral in your body. For example, some people who are anemic cannot get enough iron into their body with the foods they eat and need an extra boost in order to help absorb and provide enough iron to be absorbed. As eprado said, use them wisely.

I do take a vitamin supplement almost everyday. I prefer to have my daily nutrients by eating my vegetables and fruits rather than relying on solely on these supplements.

I do not get that many servings of fruit unless it is in the Summer because fruit is rather expensive, so we have to use multivitamins. If I could live where it is warmer or moderate all year round, I could pick blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and get apricots, peaches, nectarines, etc. at the farmers' markets or down at our Safeway for a decent price. If you cannot get the nutrients, you should take a multi vitamin and some cases, you need two pills a day.

I am currently suffering from a back sickness of which I can't really eat. So I have been recommended a few vitamin and supplement tablets to use as a substitution. It shouldn't never be used as a direct replacement. It used only be used if you aren't getting enough nutrition from your diet.

I never heard a doctor say to replace the actual food with vitamins. Food has multiple vitamins and sometimes is impossible to take all the nutritions via pills. I actually saw a case on a medical examiner's show where a woman took a ridiculous amount of vitamins a day which were around 72ish & she OD on them. Nevermind most vitamins you buy in the store aren't giving you much nutrients and have many additives.