Vitamins for Children: Do They Really Need Them?
This type of diet contains all the necessary vitamins and nutrients that your child needs.
However, some factors may affect the way you prepare foods and eventually lose the vitamins contained in the food. Also, some children are just picky eaters, hence, they acquire too little nutrients to supply their daily needs.
Now the question is: In cases like this, is it advisable for parents to provide their children with vitamin supplements to cover up for whatever is lacking in their diet? Is it safe and effective to use vitamin supplements?
By definition, vitamins are elements needed by the body for proper function and promotion of normal body processes.
With this, you can directly conclude that people, old and young alike, need vitamins to be healthy. And because it is a well-known fact that children don't get enough vitamins from the food that they eat, vitamin supplements are deemed necessary.
But is this really the case? As much as people contend the viability of vitamin supplements for children, some health experts contend that they aren't that necessary.
Besides, excessive intake of vitamins may do more harm than good.
Contents at a Glance
- Pros of Vitamins for Children
- Here are some great natural health products to check out:
- Cons of Vitamins for Children
Pros of Vitamins for Children
So what is the bottom line? To understand more, here are some pros or benefits about vitamins for children:
1. They promote cell growth
As children grow, so do their bodies. However, to facilitate cell growth, children need vitamins.
Vitamins take part in the development of blood cells and other tissues in the body.
2. Vitamins serve as antioxidants
Most vitamins serve as antioxidants. Hence, vitamins also act as preservatives by inhibiting the oxidation process or disintegration of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Antioxidants combat the free radicals in the body. Hence, children are assured of effective protection against diseases.
3. Aids digestion
Some vitamins contain fiber, which aids in proper digestion of the body. Lack of fiber may cause problems in the bowel and may even cause more serious problems such as circulatory disorders.
Vitamins also act as coenzymes because they help in conveying these different tasks.
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Cons of Vitamins for Children
So what is the bottom line?To understand more, here are some cons or negatives about vitamins for children:
1. Excess vitamins can cause greater health problems.
Most people disregard this, but health experts and various studies show that excess vitamins can cause serious health problems.
Let us take for example excessive intake of vitamin A. Letting your children take vitamin A more than the recommended dietary supplement, serious problems in the nervous system may take place.
Another example is vitamin D. Excessive intake of vitamin D may cause calcium resorption, which can lead to increased calcium in the blood.
When this happens, functions of the soft tissues in the body, such as the lungs and the heart, may be lessened or reduced.
Excessive intake of vitamin C may cause severe diarrhea or watery stools. It can also reduce the amount of copper in the body.
2. Too much dependency
Some parents tend to allocate their child's need for nutrients to the vitamin supplements available on the market. This is especially true to parents who can no longer prepare a healthy diet for their children because of a hectic schedule at work.
Hence, they tend to devote their children's vitamin requirements in supplements, which in reality, may be taken in great amounts. This goes to show how parents can be vulnerable sometimes especially if they want the best for their kids and are very busy with their work.
Plus, non-monitoring of children taking vitamins can also bring forth cases of excessive intake, where children usually enjoy taking vitamins that are available as tasty, chewable vitamins.
3. Odor and taste
Contrary to number two, some vitamins just don't smell or taste that good. Take for example vitamin B. Children find it hard to take vitamins that have repulsive tastes or smell.
All of these things lay down various options for parents to decide whether they have to give their children vitamins or not.
Indeed, the need for the accessibility of vitamins for children can't be rejected and so it is important to know the necessary vitamins required for children.
However, parents should also take note that vitamins should be regarded as something that is as delicate and destructive as any drug on the market.
Hence, utmost care in choosing the best vitamins for your children is extremely important.
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The Important Facts behind Water-Soluble Vitamins
Water-soluble vitamins are the kind of vitamins that are easily dissolved by the body. Being such, they can't be stored inside the system and should be replaced everyday.Water-soluble vitamins are absorbed by the intestines, go through the blood, and are then carried to the body tissues where they are thoroughly utilized. After which, they exit the body via the urination process.
There are two general kinds of water-soluble vitamins. And those would be Vitamin C and the different B Vitamins, which are more popularly termed as the B-complex vitamins. There are eight B vitamins.
These are Vitamin B1, which is Thiamine; Vitamin B2, Riboflavin; Vitamin B3, Niacin; Vitamin B5, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Pyridoxine; Vitamin B8, Biotin; Vitamin B9, Folic Acid; and Vitamin B12, Cobalamin.
Water-soluble vitamins are easily washed out and even destroyed during regular food preparation and storage. And it follows that the Vitamin C contained in certain fruits and vegetables could probably be lost if not they aren't handled properly.
All citrus fruits are good food sources of Vitamin C. As for foods rich in B-complex, the most common examples would be cereal grains, poultry, meat, fish, egg, milk, fresh vegetables, and legumes.
Water-soluble vitamins act as co-enzymes that help the body obtain energy coming from the food people eat. Each of the B-complex vitamins has its own function inside the body.
But generally speaking, these are the vitamins that are responsible in ensuring a person of better vision, a normal appetite, a sound nervous system, and healthy skin. The normal formation of red blood cells is also prompted by these types of vitamins.
On the other hand, the main job of Vitamin C is to maintain the body's overall health, as this is the vitamin that is tasked to hold the bodies cells together.
It also aids in the healing of wounds and the formation of teeth and bones. Vitamin C is also known to strengthen the walls of the blood vessels and improve the functions of the immune system.
Because water-soluble vitamins aren't stored inside the body, it needs to be taken on a daily basis. This is the main reason why there are many Vitamin C and B-Complex supplements available on the market today.
And unlike fat-soluble vitamins, the body needs a continuous supply of these water-soluble vitamins to be ensured of good health all the time.
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