As the pace of life gradually increases, keeping a healthy lifestyle takes work. Between job, household, social, and other activities, it becomes challenging to care for ourselves, what we eat, and how we exercise. This is where the health supplements come in handy. Those tiny, inconspicuous, colourful capsules or powders could mean a great deal and can help boost your health status.

However, with millions of supplements being sold today, it becomes challenging to understand all the hype, fancy packs, and jargon. Calcium for strong bones? Glutathione for radiant skin? A weakness that needs to be overcome to reduce the chances of getting infected with the flu? Well, where do you even start from?

Therefore, it is essential to approach health supplements as your protection gear or as your ‘wellness toolbox.' They will always accompany you through life to provide the additional strength and vigor to tackle life hurdles easily. Whether you want to safeguard your joints to continue your rigorous workouts, ward off seasonal illnesses, or attain the elusive healthy skin glow, there’s a supplement to suit each desire.

This guide will help you understand health supplements and how a change can happen from within. So, are you ready to discover the essence of a healthy life? Then, let’s dive in.

WHAT ARE HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS?

Health supplements are products intended to supplement your diet, and they help maintain or increase certain nutrients that may not have included an adequate amount of food. These products contain so much as one or more dietary substances, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, and other nutrients. Designed to provide proper nutrition in the correct proportions, health supplements are normally considered as capsules, pills, or liquids in powder form that you need based on your dietary requirements.

However, it is essential to point out that even with the best health supplements in your arsenal, you will only be able to see results after a while, and using them as an excuse for eating a poor diet will only end badly. They are designed to enhance your overall health and target specific areas such as optimizing nutrition, supporting internal systems, or achieving a particular health goal.

THE ROLE OF HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS IN DAILY LIFE

Health supplements can significantly benefit, especially when taken correctly, as they are always important. Today's diet means consuming ready-to-eat meals, which are usually packaged, and your body is missing a lot in this area. However, tight schedules leave them with stress, inadequate rest, and poor diet, affecting their health. Thus, I was presented with convenient solutions to those challenges through supplementary forms containing the necessary nutrients to function the body’s organs properly.

But, supplements are not independent entities that can treat all health issues and should be considered part of the holistic health agenda. Supplements with a proper diet, healthy exercise, stress reduction, and healthy sleep can help achieve better health and longer life expectancy. Learning the various types of supplements and how they function assists in choosing supplements that help your body system and health.

TYPES OF HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS

There are numerous dietary supplements on the market today, each catering to various aspects of our body. Hence, here is a list of some of the most popular and widely known health supplements in use today and their benefits.

1. Calcium Supplements

Calcium helps strengthen bones and is a vital mineral applicable to many physiological functions within your body. That is more crucial for females, seniors, and people whose risk of osteoporosis is high — a disease that weakens bones. The strength of our bones becomes weaker, and because of this, they are liable to break if we fall after or during the age. Suppose you are low in calcium due to your eating regimen. In that case, individuals allergic to lactose or people who love vegan diets will be highly recommended Calcium supplements.

Calcium supplements can also help improve bone density and reduce the potential risk of brittle bones. Calcium is also involved in muscle contractions, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the regulation of heart function. In addition to supporting bones, calcium is used in blood coagulation and works with other enzymes for proper heartbeat.

Calcium is optimally absorbed with Vitamin D, which helps the body absorb more calcium. This combo is present in many other combinations of lots, so it helps your body process all the calcium you consume.

For those of us worried about our bone health, particularly as we pass middle age, adding a calcium supplement to your daily routine can give you this additional support—so that your body has what it needs to stay strong and keep together.

2. Immunity Booster Supplements: Building up Your Body’s Armour

A robust immune system has never been more critical. Our bodies are bombarded with environmental toxins, stress, and multiple pathogens, and the immune system can be easily overwhelmed. It is about the health supplements that empower your immune system to prevent diseases and illnesses from establishing in!

Many of these supplements contain various vitamins, minerals, and herbs that are all claimed to enhance the immune system. It is composed mainly of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc with some Sambucol, which is elderberry extract. It removes the free radicals by neutralizing them because Vitamin C is an antioxidant and one of the tissues that makes white Blood cells, a more significant part of the immune system. Vitamin D can be beneficial at singling the overactive immune system, but zinc is also a vital element in properly functioning your immune system.

Natural products such as turmeric and elderberry are also common in immunity booster supplements because they have been used for ages to enhance the immune system. In particular, elderberry has immunomodulatory effects, associated with reducing the duration of the common cold and flu.

Immunity Booster Supplements are enriched with ingredients that fortify your immune system and enable you to protect yourself and others around you against all regular illnesses and diseases all year round. Whether it is time for a change of weather, you are going on a trip, or just in a quest to enhance the body’s capacity to fight diseases, an immunity booster supplement could serve you well.

3. Joint Support Supplements (Glucosamine): Reducing the Pain and Stiffness in the Joints and Advancing Movement

Some symptoms include joint pains and stiffness, which are experienced chiefly in elderly people or when you have to subject your joints to more strenuous activities than usual. Joint support supplements can reduce pain, decrease inflammation, and enhance functional ability. According to the current information available on the nutritional supplement market, glucosamine is one of the most used compounds in joint support products and it is a compound of cartilage.

The most common treatment with glucosamine is the alleviation of painful symptoms of osteoarthritis which is a progressive process of cartilage degeneration. Glucosamine operates by participating in the body’s ability to rebuild cartilage and to maintain a healthy cartilage, which is the protective layer between bones that gets worn out by activity. Besides relieving pain, glucosamine slows down inflammation, resulting in flexibility and better joint movements.

Young and old people who engage in physical activities, who are required to do strenuous tasks, and people with joint problems arising from age can take glucosamine supplements. There are products like JointRevive, designed to support joints and allow you to do your activities without getting aches.

If one is seeking for a natural solution to supplement the joint health and ease in mobility then glucosamine supplements would be ideal. These supplements are very useful concerning joint comfort when procured and consumed with the right diet, exercise, and weight control.

4. Glowing Skin Supplements (Glutathione): The Secret to Reveal Beautiful Skin.

Getting flawless, young-looking skin is everyone’s dream, and although creams and lotions can fix many skin problems, beauty starts on the inside. Beauty food products are meant to detoxify your body and feed your skin from within, hence allowing it to glow and fight aging. Out of all the parts that could be contained in the glowing skin supplement, the most essential one is probably glutathione – an antioxidant that has the potential of minimizing the amount of oxidative damage done to skin cells.

One might add that glutathione supplements are used a lot, particularly, for the purpose of attaining pale skin tone. This is because Melanin is a pigment, which forms dark skin areas and skin discoloration and presumed to be in excess production leading to usage of this medicine. In addition to improving the skin tone and making it fair, glutathione has the chances of erasing fine lines and wrinkles because it can eliminate those tiring free radicals that also cause aging skin.

The benefits of glutathione are not only skin deep. This antioxidant product is also very useful to the body’s health as it aids in the cleaning of the liver, boosts immunity and has anti-inflammation properties. With those GlutaGlow glutathione supplements, there could be no better solution for women and men who ask for the skin of young people.

If you have any skin issues i.e dark spot, dry skin or uneven skin tone, you need to take young skin supplements that will give you healthy skin from inside.

5. Energy Support Supplements: Boosting Your Vitality

Nowadays, weakness and fatigue in some hours of the day is a concern to everyone. Whether from lack of sleep or stress or hectic work schedule, every person would want to eliminate such feeling of irritability and tiredness. Energy supplementing foods, drinks etc are in a way designed to help you get an organic energy boost to help you stay awake and focus in the process.

These supplements may contain vitamins, minerals, and herbs that help improve energy generation and general well-being. Some of the nutrients that are present in energy support supplements include Vitamin B, Magnesium and some of the adaptogens such as Ginseng and Ashwagandha. B vitamins are involved in the metabolism of the food you take into energy and magnesium helps in muscle function and tackling tiredness. Adaptogens are beneficial in helping the body manage stress and maintain the energy levels in your body and thus should be taken on a daily basis.

If taking as pre-workout, energy for the strength of the exercises, anti-noon slump for the energy in the afternoon, or just an overall day energy for increased activity, energy support supplements provide that constant power.

HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS FOR YOU?

In the choice of the specific health supplements there are so many of them in the market, and this makes it very difficult to choose the correct one. So, here are a few tips to help you make an informed decision:

Identify Your Health Needs

The first thing that a consumer ought to do when selecting a particular type of supplement is to define one’s specific need, that is, whether you want something that will change your health status or improve your performance in some way. Specifically, are you interested in boosting your immune system to avoid falling sick and enhance the health of your skin, or desire more energy in your body? If you are now clear about what issues you want to address, then it will be simple to get the supplement for the problem you want to solve.

Check the Ingredients

When purchasing dietary supplements, one should always read the label and look at the ingredients used. Choose ingredients that have relevant research behind them and are of premium nutrition value. Avoid useless ingredients, artificial colours, or preservatives in the supplement you intend to take.

Consult a Healthcare Professional

So, if you feel confused about which supplement suits you, it is always better to seek advice from your healthcare provider. They can advise which supplements should be taken and which ones to avoid depending on some factors, like the disease one is suffering from and other drugs that one is using.

Choose Reputable Brands

As much as most people are willing to consume well-formulated health supplements, people should know their quality. The selection of supplements that should be purchased should be affiliated to known companies with high standards of quality and safety. Brands that invest effort into independent testing and certification will go a long way to seeing that their products do not contain any contaminants and are of high quality.

Start with a Balanced Diet

Let it be clear, though, that supplements are never intended to be standalone for proper nutrition; they are merely to augment the same. Ensure you’re consuming good quality and healthy proportions of carbohydrates such as whole grains, vitamin and mineral-dense fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and Good fats. They should then opt to use supplements to try and make up for the missing nutrients and use the necessary nutrients for their body.

Conclusion: Supplements as a Path to Better Health

Health supplement products can help you easily supplement your nutrient intake and get you where you want to be in terms of health. If you want to have a strong bone, calcium product; if you want to enhance your immune system, an immunity booster; if joint support is what you need, the glucosamine will do the magic; and if you want to have beautiful skin, glutathione is the magic pill for you; if you want to increase your energy levels, energy support supplement is for you.

Also, do not think of supplements as the end-all-be-all because they are just one of the many factors. Wellness and health is not only the absence of diseases or sickness, but it involves eating right, exercising regularly, reducing stress, and getting enough rest or sleep. Taking multivitamins and other nutrient supplements, along with making wise decisions help in improving the overall health status of an individual.

Dr. Swathy N, BAMS

Dr. Swathy N Ravindran, BAMS, graduate from the prestigious Vaidyaratnam P.S. Varier Ayurveda College in Kottakkal