The change: to take a daily vitamin.

Taking a daily vitamin has become a way of life for myself.  I have been pregnant and nursing babies for most of my marriage.  I have ALWAYS been on a prenatal vitamin and I know when I went off of it, I noticed that my hair and nails didn’t grow as well.  I have been sure to get back on the track of taking one daily even though I am not currently nursing or am not pregnant.  Prevention is a good thing.

My children, my first set of 4 I never really pushed giving them a vitamin each day.  My second set of 6, I am sure to give them one everyday and I can honestly say that I believe it helps in preventing colds and sickness.  We still get sickness but not as much as we usually do each year.  Plus the children’s overall health has been better.  I would definitely recommend making sure your child takes one. We take the one with “Plus extra C” .

Why make the change:

Vitamins should not be viewed as the “cure all” for our American life.  Most people instead of eating healthy and exercising will think that by taking a vitamin will ensure that they won’t get certain diseases or will assume that it will erase all of their bad eating.  But it does not.  A multi vitamin is a “fill in” per se for nutrients that you might not receive on a daily basis.

I know for myself when I was pregnant and nursing, being responsible to provide all of the proper nutrients to my child was important to me so I took a vitamin everyday in case I was not eating all of my vitamins in foods each day.

Now that I am losing weight, I know that my diet is not full of every vitamin that I need on a daily basis.  Taking a vitamin ensures that my body will not be devoid of those vitamins while I am temporarily cutting back on certain foods in order to lose a few pounds.

Even if my diet returns to the normal whole foods healthy choices, I will probably receive all of the vitamins and minerals that my body will need.  But as a Mom who could conceive at any time, I like to take the vitamin to ensure that my body is properly protected in case I would be carrying a life inside of me and not know it, while all of the important organs were forming:) better to be safe than sorry.

How to make the change:

Purchase a multi vitamin and take one each day.  I like to take mine in the evening as to avoid stomach upset.  Drink with water.

I know that our society is filled with the vitamin supplement craze right now and there are supplements for everything.  Instead of taking an “extra” vitamin, I would suggest looking into whole foods that are “rich” in that vitamin and be sure to eat more of that each day.

It is ALWAYS better to receive our nutrition from food than a pill.  Taking a multi vitamin is just a way to fill in the gaps if we are lapse during our days.  Is isn’t a cure all, but something that will aid us in taking care of our bodies properly.