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When many of us grew up, our parents taught us the importance of consuming the right vitamins and minerals, but they also taught us we could get all we needed if we just ate the good food they prepared. Of course, that was when most mothers stayed at home and prepared three meals a day for their families, and snacks consisted of fresh fruit with occasional sweets. With the fast-paced lifestyles we live today, do our children get all the nutrition they need from food alone?

Eating Nutritious Foods

It seems easy enough to say we can get all the vitamins and minerals we need by eating nutritious foods, but the problem is that most of us don't eat food that is good for us. With the fast paced lifestyles we lead today, we are eating fast food and processed foods instead of home-cooked meals like our mothers used to prepare. There is little to no nutritional value in fast food, and because of the amount of fast food children consume today, it's essential to make sure they receive vitamin and mineral supplements to make up for the lack of nutritional foods.

Unfortunately children are not the only members of our modern society who lack proper nutrition. As they hurriedly rush out the door in the morning with no breakfast and rush through their days often with no lunch, dinner consists of a trip to the local fast food restaurant or a bag of chips to stop the hunger pangs. It isn't exactly the kind of diet that one considers healthy by any means. The parents must set the example for the child, but too many times parents feed the children and don't eat themselves because they 'don't have time.'

Are Dietary Supplements a Good Substitute?

Although they are not the best answer, using dietary supplements, vitamins, and minerals to obtain the necessary nutrients is better than not having them at all. Natural sources of vitamins and minerals are certain preferred to that of supplements, but if supplements are necessary in order to give the body everything it needs, then they become necessary parts of our daily routines. The body requires specific nutrients in order to perform its essential functions, and if it doesn't get these nutrients from food, you must provide it in the form of nutritional supplements.

Failure to provide the body with the nutrients it needs will lead to malnutrition and a host of other ailments up to and including the break down of the body's natural disease fighting mechanism, the immune system. Choosing the right vitamin and mineral supplements is important to your good health. Do not assume you need to take every supplement on the shelf in order to make up for the foods you are not eating. Most of what you need is available in multi-vitamin form, but you may want to choose others based upon your lifestyle and the condition of your health.

Are Dietary Supplements as Effective as Natural Nutrients?

One thing of which you must be aware is that some nutrients are more effective in their natural state. This is especially true of some of the herbs that have cancer-fighting agents as part of their components. Before you choose any nutritional supplement, make sure you know whether the supplement is going to provide the same benefits you will derive from the natural product. Although in many cases you will find the same nutritional value, that is not always the case. You do not want to spend your money on supplements only to find they do not work as well as the natural form of the nutrients.