Stay winter proof with vitamines

If you want to stay in shape during the winter months, then make sure you get enough vitamins by taking healthy foods and supplements. Know what to take and why.

When the snowflakes start to fall outside, there are lots of changes taking place in your body, which change your needs for certain vitamins. The influenza virus is also floating about in the air, which can lead to you getting a cold or the flue. Even extra vitamins cannot prevent that you get infected, so it is no use to take supplements against that. But by taking vitamin C daily you can reduce the intensity and the duration of the flue. It is recommended to take a dosage between 200mg and a 1000mg.

Zinc is a mineral that you also need during the winter. Zinc is effective against the common cold. But then you have to start taking zinc in the form of tablets that dissolve in your mouth as soon as you notice the first symptoms. Take at most 3 tablets of 15mg of zinc daily. Very handy are supplements that contain both vitamin C and zinc.

From A to D

Vitamin A is probably even better than vitamin C in preventing that the flue gets you. This vitamin is essential for a strong immune system. By taking extra vitamin A, the amount of immune cells in the body increase by 8 percent. Researchers at the American ministry of Health discovered that a few years ago. This is not only important for the flue, but also with other infectious disease.

The most important vitamin for the winter is vitamin D. This is, among other things, involved in absorbing calcium in the bone tissue. Vitamin D is found in the infamous cod liver oil that young children were forced the take in the past. Vitamin D is also made in the skin when it is exposed to sun light. But in the winter when there is less sun, you run the risk of getting a vitamin D deficiency. When your skin contains a lot of pigment, you always produce less vitamin D. People with a darker skin have a higher chance of bone decalcification when living in the northern countries.

Vitamin D in higher dosages can not only prevent bone decalcification, but also help prevent breast cancer and prostate cancer and works against diabetes and cardiovascular disease. That why it is important, especially in the winter months to supplement your vitamin D intake. Recommended daily dosages vary from a conservative 5mcg to a high 50mcg. New research has shown that taking vitamin D in higher dosages is not as dangerous as has always been thought.

The holidays and vitamins

Finally a phenomenon that occurs often around Christmas and New Year and against which you can protect yourself with vitamins, alcohol! When you drink a lot of alcohol your body uses a lot of vitamin B1, but alcohol also prevents good absorption of vitamin B1 from food by your body. The result is that you will get a shortage of vitamin B1. This can lead to a malfunctioning of the nerve system (Korsakoff Syndrome). So make sure you supplement your vitamin B1 intake when drinking alcohol.

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