Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Everyone needs vitamins and minerals to keep the body healthy. Read on for the answers to these commonly asked questions. The RDA's are only guidelines, not strict requirements or minimum amounts. Sometimes, seniors take a vitamin and mineral supplement to try to make up for poor eating habits. A pill cannot be a substitute for healthy foods.
Foods contain, along with vitamins and minerals, needed fiber, protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
While vitamins help the body use the energy from foods, vitamins do not give a person energy. If an older person feels tired and run-down, a visit to the doctor, not a vitamin pill, is the preferable cause of action. Supplements may be needed during times of great physical stress, such as major surgery or severe burns, to help the body repair itself. Mental stress, on the other hand, does not increase the need for vitamins and minerals. Health Quackery Health quackery is the sale of medical remedies that either have been tested and shown not to work or have not been tested.