The Ultimate Supplement Guide: Are You Taking the Right Doses?

supplement guide

Dietary supplements can be a great addition to your health routine. Whether boosting deficiencies, improving your mood, or helping you shred fat, supplements have a lot of benefits.

But it’s important to educate yourself on the right supplements and the correct dosage of each supplement for your needs. The right dosage will help you achieve your health goals. But the wrong dosage can do lasting damage to your body.

Keep reading to follow our supplement guide to learn the basics of proper doses.

Define Your Goals

Do you want to lose weight? Are you trying to add muscle?

Or are your supplement needs related to a vitamin deficiency or a mood enhancement?

Before choosing any supplement, learn more about what your body needs to achieve your health goals. Research the types of supplements that work best to meet your goals.

There are critical differences between vitamins, supplements, and minerals. And with any dietary supplement or combination of supplements and vitamins, you want to be sure they work together.

Use only supplements that you need to achieve your goal. Taking too many supplements or vitamins can result in something called hypervitaminosis. This occurs when your body stores too much of one type of vitamin.

Hypervitaminosis A, for example, happens when your body has too much Vitamin A to process it effectively.

Your body could need more Vitamin A, and a supplement might be helpful. But too much can do more harm than good.

Do Your Research

Using supplements according to the correct dosages helps your body absorb and use the supplements as they are intended.

Most bottles and packaging for vitamins and supplements come with instructions about recommended doses. This is a good starting point to know how much of a certain supplement you should take.

However, not everyone benefits from the same dosage amount. It’s important to add your research or consult your doctor when adding daily supplements to your health plan.

Depending on your weight and activity level, your body absorbs and uses supplements differently than someone at a higher or lower body weight.

Doctors prescribe medicine based on your needs and factors, like your weight. An adult weighing 300 pounds can usually take a higher dose of medication than a child of 60 pounds.

The same idea applies to supplements and vitamins. Don’t rely solely on what the over-the-counter bottle tells you is the correct daily dosage.

How Much is Too Much?

When it comes to vitamins and minerals, you’ll see RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance), and the AI (Adequate Intake) noted on packaging labels. These come from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

These two metrics adjust to specific age groups and men and women. You’ll also see UL (Tolerable Upper Intake Level), which is the maximum level of a vitamin or mineral your body can tolerate without risk of serious side effects.

RDA and AI are different than a dosage amount. And RDA and AI don’t apply to things like weight loss supplements or muscle-building protein powders.

Your body needs certain amounts of specific vitamins and minerals to function at its best. Most of these vitamins and minerals need to be replenished every day.

The best source for these minerals and vitamins are in the foods you eat. Maintaining a healthy, balanced diet is the best way to get the critical elements your body needs every day.

But when you have deficiencies and your food isn’t enough, vitamin and mineral supplements help your body get what it needs.

To find recommended intake amounts for vitamins and minerals, figure out how a dosage of your vitamin fits in with the RDA.

One dosage might not be enough to get all of the valuable nutrients you need each day. But be sure not to exceed the UL when figuring out your doses.

What Do I Really Need?

You can find a supplement for just about anything. But your body probably doesn’t need one of everything.

We can group what your body needs into a few simple nutritional categories:

  • Calories (or energy, found in carbs)
  • “Good” fat (essential fatty acids)
  • Amino Acids (protein),
  • Dietary fiber (another form of carbs)
  • Minerals
  • Vitamins

Again, you’ll find these critical nutrients in the foods we eat. But depending on your health needs or goals, supplements can be a big benefit.

However, be very cautious of any supplements to “enhance,” “suppress,” or “change.”

A pill that promises to suppress your appetite is not a healthy way to lose weight. You risk starving your body of valuable nutrients and causing serious side effects.

Remember that taking a supplement is just that: something to “supplement” or “add to” your daily food intake. When considering doses and RDAs, factor your food into your daily nutrient count.

Megadosing

It’s tempting to want a big change in your health quickly. But taking larger doses or more frequent doses of your supplements can do more harm than good.

This is called megadosing. With most supplements, it’s a dangerous way to get results. Overloading your body with too much of supplement

But there are exceptions.

You might take a daily dose of Vitamin C. But if you catch a cold, a larger dose or extra doses of Vitamin C can boost your immune system to fight your cold better.

Use Dosage Recommendations for Your Supplement Guide

Remember that the FDA does not regulate supplements. Consult your doctor and do your own research as a supplement guide to understand the correct doses for your needs.

Be sure you also research where you buy your supplements. Cheaper isn’t always better.

The best dietary supplements come from reputable companies and pure sources. Contaminated supplements can cause more harm than good.

You’ll also want to consider the delivery method. Is a B12 spray better for you than a capsule or pill? Is a multivitamin as effective for you as taking several vitamins separately?

There’s no right or wrong answer. But do you your research to find what’s best for you.

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