NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

PRESENTATION

Liashonda Gill
HW499: Bachelors Capstone in
Health and Wellness
Jan 6, 2015

Introduction
A dietary supplement is any product that is ingested and
contains dietary ingredient for purposes of adding
nutritional value to the diet (Bock, & Goode, 2007).
Nutritional supplements include vitamins, minerals and
other meal supplements.
Although a balanced diet is recommended to ensure that
there are no deficiencies of nutrients, deficiencies are
nevertheless encountered.
Most people do not adhere to the recommended eating
habits; hence, nutritional deficiencies are frequent.
Nutritional supplementation is necessary to improve health
and wellness of different individuals in the population.

Main reasons why nutritional

supplements are needed
1) The current state of the soil is poor so that the nutrient
value of the foods obtained from plants is very low. The
soil is exhausted due to over-farming.
2) Farmers have been encouraged to grow hybrid crops.
Although these crops have high yields, they have low
nutrient value.
3) Poor farming methods results to plants poor in
nutritional value. Farmers do not add enough manure
and fertilizer to the soil, leading to low minerals and
other substances needed by plants in the soil.
Consequently, crops have low nutritional value.

Reasons continued
4) Modern use of pesticides and herbicides reduce the
quality of soil to support healthy and nutritious crops.
Micro-organisms in the soil are involved in the making of
minerals in the soil. Continued use of these chemicals
leads to low nutrient foods from cultivated crops.
5) Foods are transported over a long distance before they
reach the consumer. In the course of the transportation,
some foods deteriorate so that their nutritional value
decrease. This is the case with the foods that are not
produced locally. Such foods have to be imported from
other countries.

Reasons continued
6) Food processing also depletes the nutrients from the
foods. For example wheat is usually processed into wheat
flour. In the process of refining, 80% of magnesium is lost;
80% of Zinc is lost; 87% of chromium is lost; 88% of
manganese is lost and 50% of cobalt is lost. This is why
processed and refined foods are poor in nutrition unless
they are fortified (Mitka, 2013).
7) Food additives also contribute in the depletion of the
nutrient from the foods. Artificial flavors and sweeteners
as well as the preservatives interfere with the nutritional
value of foods. Unfortunately, food additives are used
extensively nowadays.

Reasons continued
8) Poor eating habits such as skipping meals lead to poor
health since the body does not get the right amount of
the nutrients. In additional, some people are fond of
eating too much of processed foods and little of organic
foods. consequently, such people suffer from deficiencies
of certain nutrients.
9) People get so stressed up with many issues such as
work, family among others. Stress increases the bodys
need for nutrients. As such, ordinary eating cannot not
supply the needed nutrients in adequate amounts thus
necessity for supplementation.

Reasons continued
10) Certain conditions such as pregnancy increase the
bodys need for nutrients. Consequently, pregnant
women need more nutrients that can only be obtained
through dietary supplements.
11) As people age, the digestive enzymes become slow.
Absorption decreases also. Therefore, elderly people get
important nutrients through supplements.
12) Infants born of malnourished mothers need dietary
supplements to meet their body demands. Nutrient
deficiency in the mother usually presents in the infant as
well.

Groups that require dietary

supplements
All babies and children:
This group of people requires more nutrients
to support bodys demands. This is because
there is rapid growth in young people that can
best be sustained by dietary supplements.
Elderly people:
Elderly people have impaired digestion and
absorption. Therefore, they need dietary
supplements to sustain their body functions.

Cont.
People with birth defects:
Some children are born with birth defects that
make them incapable of utilizing food nutrients
adequately. For instance, some people may be
deficient of certain digestive enzymes. Such
people need dietary supplements.
Pregnant and lactating mothers:
Pregnant and lactating women require more food
nutrients than other women. consequently, they
require dietary supplements in addition to
normal diet.

Cont.
Alcoholics and other drug addicts:
These people have poor nutrition status because
they do not eat well. The remedy for their poor
health is dietary supplements.
Strict vegetarians:
This group of people run a risk of suffering from
deficiency of vitamins that are found in animals
from the meat. For example, vitamin B12 is only
available in meat. Strict vegetarians need vitamin
B12 supplements.

Cont.
Severely ill patients:
Very sick persons are unable to eat well. As such,
they do not acquire the needed food nutrients in
their bodies. Consequently, they need dietary
supplements.
People with stress:
Stress depletes bodys nutrients. Therefore,
stressed people need dietary supplements to
sustain their body needs.

Conclusion
Every person needs dietary supplements at one time or
another.
Children and elderly people need dietary supplements
most.
Every person needs fish oil to obtain omega 3
nutrients.
Women of child-bearing age need folic acid
supplements.
Vegetarians need vitamin B12 supplements.
Dietary supplements help boost health and wellbeing
of the body.

References
Bock, G., & Goode, J. (2007). Dietary supplements and health.
Chichester: John Wiley.
Mitka, M. (2013). Dietary Supplements. JAMA, 309(18), 1885.