Since the discovery of the first vitamins at the beginning of the twentieth century, specialists have been prescribing them to patients suffering from diseases associated with vitamin deficiency.
It soon became clear that they were not always as effective as their natural diet counterparts, and doctors discovered that many of them could have side effects.
In this report, published by the French newspaper “Le Figaro,” Pauline Lina, the director of research at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Mathilde Tovey, a specialist in epidemiology and nutrition, said that “a small number of the population suffers from a deficiency in vitamins in general, with the exception of vitamin D” ( D)".
What is a vitamin?
Vitamins are an organic molecule unlike mineral salts and micronutrients which are mineral compounds.
Eating vitamins does not guarantee the provision of energy to the body, but they are necessary for the occurrence of various chemical reactions, and the body does not produce vitamins except for vitamins “D” and “K” (K), so care should be taken to take our sufficiency from the rest of the vitamins through foods.
It was necessary to determine the body's needs of each vitamin, and to develop tests to measure its percentage in the blood and to determine the most effective form and quantity to correct any deficiency of it.
Although needs are uniformly identified worldwide and risks associated with the systematic intake and ill-considered use of dietary supplements, dosages and follow-up shortcomings remain a matter of debate.
Today, after nearly a century of scientific research, it is clear from clinical and epidemiological studies - as at the beginning of the twentieth century - that food represents the best source of vitamin deficiency.
Only two types of nutritional supplement showed clear efficacy;
They are vitamin "D" and vitamin "B9" (folate), which is usually prescribed to pregnant women because it helps prevent serious malformations in newborns, as for other vitamins and in normal cases, the diet remains the best way to avoid deficiency or doses excess.
Professor Elisabeth Dobrin, a pediatric dietitian and gastroenterologist at Trosso Hospital in Paris, has observed a re-emergence of scurvy cases associated with vitamin C deficiency over 10 years in families following an unbalanced diet, either due to children's selective eating or dietary decisions. Eccentric.
Minor intolerances in children are often temporary and unrelated to allergies, Dobren explained, but sometimes lead parents to stop consuming certain foods.
She noted that only allergists can identify food allergies and suggest a diet to avoid vitamin deficiencies.
adaptive strategy
Blood tests are rarely useful in identifying or helping to correct a vitamin deficiency. Instead, questions about dietary and lifestyle habits may be asked to determine the risk of vitamin deficiency before symptoms appear. For example, doctors can verify that the amount of iron consumed by vegetarians from legumes is sufficient to compensate for the absence of red meat. A person who follows a vegan diet devoid of any animal protein needs to take vitamin B12 supplements and some other nutrients. Lack of exercise and lack of exposure to sunlight can make you more at risk of developing a vitamin D deficiency.
In most cases, providing good nutritional information is sufficient to reduce the risk of vitamin deficiencies, along with the need to adapt public health recommendations to changes in people's dietary habits.
For example, the famous advice "eat 5 types of fruits and vegetables a day" encouraged people to drink juices that contain less vitamin C and more sugar.
As a result, in April 2021, the National Food Safety Agency excluded juices from the list of fruits and vegetables in the hope that teenagers who used to have only fruit juice for breakfast would replace this habit with a glass of milk to compensate for the calcium deficiency.
The strategy of adapting recommendations helps to identify the most effective medical interventions, including at the individual level: knowing patients and determining their needs based on their age, lifestyle and health status, ensuring that their diet meets these needs, and determining the necessary dosage of nutritional supplements in case of changing habits Nutritional insufficient.
Often, this approach to treatment takes longer compared to a blood test or prescribing vitamins, but it is more effective in the long term.
Adolescents and growth
Not getting enough sleep and difficulty waking up in the morning prompt teens, whose bodies are still developing, to replace milk and nutrients with toast with chocolate or replace breakfast cereal with a glass of sweet fruit juice without nutrients.
In the event that parents or the school restaurant do not provide healthy and varied food options in the rest of the meals, or if adolescents follow an unbalanced diet, this may lead to a deficiency in some vitamins such as vitamins B12, C and A.
Pregnancy and Vitamin B9
Vitamin B9 and Vitamin D are necessary during pregnancy in order to ensure the full development of the fetus, as for other vitamins, if the mother does not suffer from a deficiency in them, the fetus will not lack them, knowing that excessive intake of nutritional supplements can negatively affect the health of the fetus .
During the lactation period, the child receives large amounts of vitamins and calcium, which the mother must compensate for the deficiency by following a varied and rich diet.
Elderly
Studies have shown that taking vitamin D supplements by the age of 50 helps prevent osteoporosis and avoid some cardiovascular disorders.
In fact, the body produces this type of vitamin in small amounts, so supplements should be taken regularly and in low doses to avoid high calcium levels.