There are two kinds of people: those who believe vitamins are important part of maintaining a healthy body, and those who believe they don’t need them as long as they are eating the right food and getting enough rest and exercise.
Dr. Rudy Pagcatipunan, medical director of UNILAB Consumer Health, explains why it’s vital to take vitamins.
“Vitamins are essential nutrients that the body needs to function properly. The combination of these essential nutrients is what experts call multivitamins,” begins Dr. Pagcatipunan.
He adds, “While these nutrients can be sourced from food, the quality and quantity are critical to ensuring that it is consumed by the body. There are so many factors that come into play, one of which is food preparation. The cooking process strips off nutrients from food. It doesn’t also help that people more often than not rely on fast food.”
Another factor is one’s lifestyle. “A highly stressful work environment, sitting through long hours of heavy traffic during your daily commute—these deplete your energy resulting in exhaustion. If you have vices like smoking and drinking, they also contribute to depletion of essential nutrients. Also, lack or low quality of sleep due to work and stress can also lead to fatigue.”
Even medications rob the body of much-needed nutrients, asserts Dr. Pagcatipunan.
“A lot of very common medications causes all sorts of nutrient deficiencies that’s why it’s important to replenish these lost nutrients.”
According to Dr. Pagcatipunan, vitamins C and B-complex are among the nutrients that need daily replenishment.
“Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant that can strengthen the body’s natural defenses and protect the cells from harmful molecules called free radicals. When free radicals accumulate, they result in oxidative stress which has been linked to chronic diseases,” he shares
While vitamin C supplements have been found to lower blood pressure in both healthy adults and adults with hypertension, vitamin C-rich food, and supplements, on the other hand, have been linked to lower blood uric acid levels, therefore, lowering the risk of gout. Also, vitamin C can improve the absorption of iron thereby reducing the risk of iron deficiency.
“Vitamin B-complex is mainly responsible for converting food into usable energy so the body can function properly. It is a water-soluble vitamin that is carried to the body’s tissues but is not stored in the body,” says Dr. Pagcatipunan.
Depleted vitamin C and B-complex may lead to a weakened immune system, which makes the body vulnerable to viruses, infections, and bacteria that make it sick. It can also be the cause for loss of energy.
“Energy is an important currency now more than ever. It goes beyond just being hyper or jolly, it is a fundamental need in order to be alive. It fuels life, makes life possible, enables the body to function and move,” says Dr. Pagcatipunan.
Same goes for immunity from diseases. “With a busy lifestyle, worsening traffic, unending stress, we need to better manage our energy so we do not get sick.”
Enervon is a multivitamin supplement from UNILAB that contains vitamins C and B-complex needed by the body to function properly and ensure quality of life.