Aside from most of us eating fast-food as part of our diets then skipping meals throughout the week, do we really need to take vitamins or other supplemental nutrients?

When we are young, our bodies are very forgiving to us. We have lifestyles that do not adhere to the guidelines of anyone's idea of a proper nutritional diet. A candy bar and soft drink for lunch a few times a week never seems to do any permanent damage to us because we bounce right back after dinner.

The American Medical Association published a report by two doctors that states all adults should be taking a multivitamin every single day.

The research behind this report proved that if we did this, the chances of getting cancer and several chronic diseases would be greatly reduced. This goes to show that the average diet most of us follow is not enough to provide our nutritional needs.

There a some people that take a vitamin or supplemental nutrient and expect to suddenly feel energized as if they just drank a cup of coffee. Vitamin supplements are not meant to have that "instant rush" characteristic. They work in the body to protect it and regenerate. When some of these individuals take a vitamin and do not feel it working, they believe that they don't really need to take them. This is a mistake.

The research into these studies published in the Journal of the AMA show conclusive evidence that-

1. A pregnant women in the first trimester reduces the risk of birth defects when the diet is supplemented with folic acid.

2. Women with osteoporosis will reduce the risk of bone fractures when supplementing their diets with vitamin D and calcium.

3. Supplements of vitamin B6 and B12 with folic acid lowers homocysteine levels helping to prevent heart disease.

4. The risk of colon cancer and breast cancer may be reduced by taking vitamin supplements.

This research proves that we do need vitamins and other natural supplements as part of our daily diet for optimum health and to ward off disease.

Because so much of our food source today comes from mass manufacturing, we are eating a lot of processed foods that have been stripped of their natural nutrients in many ways.

Most of the natural resources that our bodies depend on are not in our diets because of the lack of nutrients in the foods we buy. When our bodies are deprived of natural nutrients, then we need to begin taking supplements to make up for this.

Also, as we age, our bodies need more focused nutrients, such as antioxidants to fight off the destruction some free radicals can cause. Free radicals work at breaking down our cellular make-up. When free radicals go unchecked, this eventually will allow our bodies ability to ward off chronic disease and cancer to be compromised.

We may not feel the effects of not eating the right foods our bodies need, but that does not mean we do not need certain nutrients for our bodies to stay healthy. As we age, this need for the right nutrients in our bodies is even more so.