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With the beginning of autumn, the demand for vitamins and dietary supplements has traditionally increased in Russia. So we try to strengthen the immune system and protect ourselves from colds and seasonal apathy.
Advertising and information overload have spawned many myths about vitamins, so the doctor reviews site turned to a therapist and gastroenterologist to answer the most popular questions from patients.
Inna Mazko, therapist, gastroenterologist:
– How to understand that I need to drink vitamins?
– Vitamin supplements are prescribed by a doctor, and only if a deficiency of one or another element is established in the laboratory (according to analyzes). In addition, vitamins are shown to some groups of people: pregnant women; people with gastrointestinal diseases that interfere with the absorption of vitamins; as well as those who, for some reason, cannot eat well. In all other cases, a varied diet is sufficient, with the obligatory presence of vegetables, fruits and herbs.
You can suspect hypo- and avitaminosis by the following symptoms: fatigue; muscle weakness; tingling or numbness of the tongue, legs, or hands; deterioration of hair, nails, increased bleeding of the gums, or the appearance of spontaneous hematomas (bruises) on the body.
– What needs to be done for the doctor to prescribe vitamin supplements?
– During the collection of anamnesis, the doctor may suspect a deficiency of a particular vitamin and will prescribe appropriate tests.
For example, the patient is pale, notes weakness, inflammation and a burning sensation of the tongue or a feeling of “goosebumps” in the lower extremities. In this case, the doctor will recommend taking a general blood test and blood for vitamin B12.
– Do I need to drink vitamins to prevent seasonal diseases?
– It has long been proven repeatedly that you do not need to drink vitamins for prophylaxis!
If you are healthy, you do not have serious chronic diseases, and you have a varied diet, you do not need any additional vitamin supplements.
A varied diet is the daily consumption of vegetables and fruits: apples, oranges, zucchini, potatoes, carrots, etc. In winter, to get vitamin C, eat sauerkraut, pickled apples, citrus fruits, drink tea with rose hips.
Walk in the sun with your hands and face open for 10-15 minutes a day. This will give you a supply of vitamin D.
To get Omega-3 and the same vitamin D, eat sea fish (herring, cod, sardine) and cod liver 2 times a week. This will be enough to prevent seasonal colds.
– How to understand that vitamins are absorbed in the body?
– If anemia or a deficiency of one or another vitamin was detected and the doctor prescribed the intake of vitamins, then on average the deficit will be replenished in 4-8 weeks.
You can understand that vitamins are not absorbed by the lack of improvements in laboratory tests. Then the doctor will prescribe additional examinations in order to understand the reason why the deficits are not being filled.
Ksenia Bondareva, gastroenterologist:
– Is it true that there are no vitamins in products that have undergone heat treatment?
– Vitamins are destroyed and lose their biological properties when exposed to a number of environmental factors: temperature, oxygen, ultraviolet rays and others. However, different vitamins have different sensitivity to these factors. Some can show high resistance, while others quickly collapse.
Vitamin A. During cooking, up to 30% of vitamin A and carotene is lost. Quite quickly, carotene is destroyed by grinding and drying vegetables, fruits and berries, especially in sunlight. However, if some fruits and berries are dried whole, then most of the carotene in them will be preserved (apricots, rose hips, black currants, etc.).
Vitamin V9 (folic acid). It is sensitive to light and degrades quickly when cooked (especially in vegetables). The loss of vitamin B9 increases with chopping and preserving food.
Vitamin C very unstable to everything. If you leave ready-made soup on a hot stove, then after 6 hours vitamin C will disappear. And each reheating of vegetable soup leads to 30% loss of vitamin C. When preparing juice, jelly and compotes, 20-40% of vitamin C will be destroyed, and jam and preserves – up to 80%. When storing food greens during the day, only 40-60% of the initial content of vitamin C remains. Also, its content decreases significantly when frozen.
Vitamin E resistant to heat, but sensitive to oxygen and sunlight. It keeps well when fruits and berries are frozen.
The most resistant to storage and cooking is vitamin PP… Canning, freezing and drying have practically no effect on its content in products. The high temperature reduces its content in dishes from 5 to 40%. It is not lost during the manufacture of flour.
– Is it true that dietary supplements can be taken without consulting a doctor?
– Dietary supplements are chemical agents that are a source of various active substances to improve the condition of the body. They have no evidence-based effectiveness, i.e. no clinical trials have been conducted with them. At the same time, some dietary supplements may contain a fairly large amount of the active substance (sometimes even more than in a registered drug). Therefore, it is not recommended to take dietary supplements and vitamins without a doctor’s prescription.