Should You Get Your Vitamins From Supplements Or Your Diet?

Your body needs 40 essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients on a daily basis to remain healthy, but getting these from supplements can be expensive, inconvenient and less beneficial to your wellbeing. On Dr Oz’s television programme, The Dr Oz Show, he explained, ‘Getting your daily vitamins can be the key to a longer life, but if you can’t remember to take those pills every morning or don’t have the money, I’m going to show you how you can eat your daily vitamins,’ introducing his vitamin cheat sheet that shows how you can get all the essential nutrients your body needs just from food.

According to Dr Oz, vitamin A is ‘hugely beneficial for folks who want to get rid of wrinkles,’ generally found in orange coloured foods like cantaloupe, carrots and sweet potatoes. He says that if you eat a large sweet potato for dinner or a cantaloupe for breakfast, ‘you can get your servings from just that alone.’ He explained that B vitamins are vital for maintaining your energy levels, fighting fatigue, and in controlling your weight, recommending chicken for vitamin B3, bananas and tuna for B6 and shrimp, sardines and salmon for B12.

When it came to vitamin C, Oz said that there are better sources out there than oranges for fighting the common cold and potentially keeping cancer at bay. According to Oz, papayas and kiwi fruit ‘actually offer about three times more vitamin C than you would actually need to have in a single day, so it’s easy to get your vitamin C dose without taking a pill.’ Vitamin D is a harder challenge, as it is hard to source from foods. However, as it can improve your bone wellness, immune system and mood levels, Dr Oz recommended that you get vitamin D from sunlight on your skin, or else from foods like egg yolks or two cups of milk.

Finally, Oz recommended vitamin E ‘for anyone who wants to look younger and feel younger.’ Aside from this, vitamin E also helps to repair skin that has been damaged by sunburn (so it may come in handy if, in an attempt to boost your vitamin D, you’re getting too much sun) and studies show that eating sources of vitamin E lowers your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, Oz recommends two ounces of sunflower seeds or almonds for a rich daily source of vitamin E.