the vegies versus vitamins debate

According to Dr Wooldridge, although Australians are moving towards eating a balanced diet, we need to eat more breads and cereal products; several more serves of vegetables and another serve of fruit and milk and milk products each day; and fish two or three times a week. A big ask indeed for many busy Australians who frequently reach for fatty fast food rather than prepare nutritious meals from fresh ingredients. It is often easier to pop a nutritional supplement or two to ensure we obtain the recommended daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. But are dietary supplements necessary? More importantly, are they adequate substitutes for a nutritious and balanced diet?

Why is it important to eat a healthy and balanced diet?

In Use and Abuse of Vitamins, nutritional experts Mark Wahlqvist, Soo Huang and Anthony Worsley say the prevalence of nutritional deficiency diseases in Third World countries highlights the relationship between nutrition and health. When combined with inadequate sanitation and water supplies, energy, protein and vitamin and mineral deficiencies in Third World populations lower resistance to infectious diseases, particularly in children.

These diseases aren't common in affluent nations like Australia but our increasingly sedentary lifestyles and high fat, sugar and salt and low dietary fibre diets have led to a surge in diseases related to overconsumption including: heart disease, strokes and various forms of cancer (lung, breast and bowel). Furthermore, Wahlqvist, Huang and Worsley say there are certain groups in First World countries at risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. These groups include the elderly; women of reproductive age; alcohol abusers; and people on certain medications (e.g. antibiotics).

What are the roles of vitamins and minerals ?

According to nutritionist Rosemary Stanton in the Complete Book of Food and Nutrition, although vitamins do not provide energy themselves, very small quantities of them are needed to assist our bodies in producing energy from the proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the foods we eat. Wahlqvist, Huang and Worsley also agree vitamins are essential for human health. As our bodies cannot produce vitamins, we must obtain them from food. Furthermore, Stanton says minerals are important in bones, teeth, the blood and connective tissues. Like vitamins, they also allow many of the body's chemical reactions to proceed.

What are some of the essential vitamins and minerals?

The list of essential vitamins and minerals is exhaustive but here is a brief summary of some of the most common:

Vitamin A:essential for vision, growth and reproduction

B Group Vitamins: including thiamin, riboflavin and niacin, they assist in energy release and the health of the digestive and nervous systems and the heart and body tissues

Vitamin C: needed for the production of collagen, some proteins and hormones, and to help prevent infections

Calcium: essential for building strong teeth and bones

Vitamin D: enables the body to absorb calcium and phosphate from the intestines into bones

Vitamin E: essential for the health and longevity of body cells

Iron: assists in the formation of haemoglobin in red blood cells and is vital for good health and peak performance

Zinc: important in wound healing, growth and reproduction

Why can't we just substitute vitamin pills for food?

Even if you were willing to deprive yourself of the pleasures of eating food, Wahlqvist, Huang and Worsley say foods provide a range of nutrients, not just single vitamins, and that while a period of nutritional supplementation may benefit those at risk of nutrient deficiency, nutritional problems often suggest a wider food or health problem.

Still, Stanton says the water soluble Vitamins B and C, which are not stored in the body to any extent, need to be regularly supplied. A cautious approach to dietary supplements needs to be adopted, however, as amounts of vitamins above the recommended daily intake may lead to symptoms of vitamin toxicity.