Many people take multivitamins in order to add vitamins to their daily diet. Nutritionist Ann Shaw would not encourage anyone to abandon that practice. She has said that "there?s probably no danger" in reliance on pills for adding vitamins to the diet. Still, Shaw tells only a few of her patients to start taking vitamins, when they have not yet developed that habit. The following paragraphs examine the special needs of those particular patients.
Pregnant women and nursing mothers need to add vitamins to their daily diet. Pregnant women can not rely on their diet alone to insure the daily presence of the vitamins needed by their growing fetus. Nursing mothers want to be certain that their milk provides their baby with the full spectrum of necessary vitamins.
People at risk of a heart attack, especially smokers, benefit from adding vitamins to their daily diet. Smoking sends tars and other smoke residues into the body?s circulatory system. As those substances pass through the veins and arteries, they can damage the lining of those blood vessels. Then it becomes easier for cholesterol to cause a narrowing of the vessel passageways.
In order to prevent such a build-up, the smoker should limit the amount of fat in his or her diet. Limitations in the diet always introduce the chance for an inadequate consumption of certain vitamins. That explains why smokers are encouraged to take extra vitamins.
People with a reduced appetite need to take added vitamins. A person with a chronic disease that interferes with the body?s appetite or the body?s use of nutrients benefits greatly from taking added vitamins. A person who takes medications that affect the appetite or the digestive process receives an added insurance of health by adding vitamins to his or her daily diet.
