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Top 10 Supplements for Women For healthy people, supplements may help prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies when the diet does not provide all necessary nutrients. They can also supply amounts of nutrients larger than the diet can provide. Larger amounts of some nutrients may help to protect against future disease. Here are our top 10 picks for vitamins especially important for women (click vitamin name to learn more): Vitamin A Helps in the formation and maintenance of healthy teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucous membranes, and skin. It also promotes good vision, especially in dim light. B Vitamins (B6, B12, thiamin, niacin) Folic Acid Folic acid is a B vitamin needed for cell replication and growth. Folic acid helps form building blocks of DNA, the body’s genetic information, and building blocks of RNA, needed for protein synthesis in all cells. Therefore, rapidly growing tissues, such as those of a fetus, and rapidly regenerating cells, like red blood cells and immune cells, have a high need for folic acid. Folic acid deficiency results in a form of anemia that responds quickly to folic acid supplementation. Vitamin C Helps the body’s immune system, promotes healthy teeth and gums, helps in the absorption of iron, aids in the maintenance of normal connective tissue, and promotes healing. Fatigue, easy bruising, and bleeding gums are early signs of vitamin C deficiency. Smokers have low levels of vitamin C and require a higher daily intake to maintain normal vitamin C levels. Vitamin D The fat-soluble vitamin D’s most important role is maintaining blood levels of calcium, which it accomplishes by increasing absorption of calcium from food and reducing urinary calcium loss. Both effects keep calcium in the body and therefore spare the calcium that is stored in bones. When necessary, vitamin D transfers calcium from the bone into the bloodstream, which does not benefit bones. Although the overall effect of vitamin D on the bones is complicated, some vitamin D is necessary for healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin E Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects cell membranes and other fat-soluble parts of the body. Vitamin K Vitamin K is needed for proper bone formation and blood clotting. In both cases, vitamin K does this by helping the body transport calcium. Calcium Calcium is the most abundant, essential mineral in the human body. Of the two to three pounds of calcium contained in the average body, 99% is located in the bones and teeth. Calcium is needed to form bones and teeth and is also required for blood clotting, transmission of signals in nerve cells, and muscle contraction. The importance of calcium for preventing osteoporosis is probably its most well-known role. Magnesium Magnesium is an essential mineral to the human body. It is needed for bone, protein, and fatty acid formation, making new cells, activating B vitamins, relaxing muscles, clotting blood, and forming adenosine triphosphate (ATP; the energy the body runs on). The secretion and action of insulin also require magnesium. Iron Iron-deficient people tire easily in part because their bodies are starved for oxygen. |
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