Healthy diet 'better than supplements'
Author: Simon Macsis
Category: Insurance
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A health-conscious world has led to many people choosing the latest range of supplements over food which provides the same nutrients.
However, those who come to rely on tablets and pills over conventional forms of sustenance may not be doing themselves good in the long term, according to a healthcare expert.
Heather Caswell, a scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, says people who have a healthy, balanced diet should generally have no need for supplements of any kind.
Her comments come after biotech specialists announced a new tomato-based pill called Ateronon which is intended to deal with the prevention and treatment of cardio-vascular diseases.
Ms Caswell explains: "You should get everything you need from the foods that you eat. A lot of these pills contain the ingredient of active compound in such high doses."
Many nutrients are already stored inside the body, so when people take things such as water-soluble supplements it is often excreted without even being absorbed, she adds.
According to the expert, taking "loads" of vitamins is simply not useful, which may boost the need for health insurance.
Regarding the new Ateronon pill, Ms Caswell says it is not clear how the ingredients are absorbed in supplement form as opposed to in a food.
According to its creators, the product is a uniquely bioavailable form of natural lycopene - a tomato-based compound - and is not having to go through the long process of pharmaceutical approval.
The healthcare expert says tomatoes have many compounds which can be beneficial in combating heart disease, though it is not yet known whether other fruits and vegetables may have the same effect.
She comments: "Obviously, when you've got your pill you've not got those other compounds that might also be impacting upon these sorts of vitamins, minerals and anything else in the foods we actually eat."
For elderly people or those suffering from short-term illnesses, supplements are often an important source of essential nutrition, but Ms Caswell advises against taking them when unnecessary.
"The general population should be just aiming to consume a balanced diet and they shouldn't need to rely on supplements and things like that," the expert concludes.
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Keywords: private medical insurance, health cover
View Count: 220
Date Submitted: 7/3/2009
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