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1989/10/01 Agirre, Jabier - Medikua eta OEEko kidea Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Dietetika/Elikagaiak

In recent times, from the United States (how not), the use of vitamin complexes is increasingly listening and spreading. What I would like to know is what benefits the body offers the intake or ingestion of vitamins as well as the possible risks. In this sense, what compound should any of these complexes be, or which complexes are most suitable for each age or activity?

Vitamins are organic substances found in foods. They are in small quantities and are essential for the proper development and functioning of the body. Therefore, it cannot be denied that they are necessary. But it is also shown that a healthy and balanced diet gives us enough vitamins.

As for vitamins, they are usually classified into two main groups: water-soluble (or water-soluble) vitamins, which include B vitamins and vitamin C, and fat-soluble (or fat-soluble) vitamins A, D, E and K. This classification has special interest since the excess of water-soluble vitamins without any problem, while the kidney eliminates, overdoses of fat-soluble vitamins accumulate in the body, resulting in so-called hypervitaminosis.

Responding directly to your question, it must be said that vitamin complexes present special medical circumstances: recovery after an infectious disease or lack of food at certain times of life (pregnancy, lactation or childhood). In these cases and always following the doctor's instructions, there are no problems to consume vitamins. But in other cases, the best vitamins are certainly those of the fair and not those of the pharmacy.

The vitamin complexes that are usually recited and saved are very different depending on the case. There are compounds exclusively of vitamins, in addition to mineral vitamins, and vitamins associated with other incentives to improve appetite and body recovery. When vitamin complexes are formed from vitamins, doses usually vary from one to the other, but in general it can be said to fit daily vitamin needs.

Finally, to adulterate the new "fashion" that has spread in recent years around this problem (and perhaps we will rejoice?) we should always do it because moving away from the center and moving to the extreme usually causes more harm than benefits. And this means that sport is a good thing, but all paraphernalia (glucose) and vitamins, isotonic drinks, etc. that has been created in this regard. that the commercial aspect is more than that related to health.