When not to take mineral supplements?

Although the best source of minerals for our body is through an adequate, balanced and nutrient-rich diet, there are many occasions where mineral supplements are a reasonable and efficient alternative to meet the daily requirements of this nutrient in our body. It is important to know when a supplement is a good alternative and when it is not. The use of mineral supplements should be done with responsibility and advice to avoid misuse.

Taking into account the importance of this subject for our health, we will be dedicating this guide to analyze some of the circumstances where it is not recommended to use mineral supplements as an alternative to obtain this nutrient. In this way, we will be able to prevent the appearance of undesired effects for our health, as a result of an inadequate supplementation.

Intake of foods rich in minerals

The most appropriate way to acquire the minerals that our body needs is through food. If your diet is rich in minerals, it is better to have a good medical advice before starting an unnecessary supplementation. Many cereals and food products in general, come with high loads of minerals that are able to more than cover the minimum requirements of this nutrient that our body demands. That said, adding a mineral supplementation to a diet like this one, could derive in a hypersupplementation that destabilizes the nutritional levels in our body.

An excess in the consumption of certain minerals could have serious consequences for our health. Although these nutrients are not characterized by being harmful, some hyper-supplemented minerals can cause unwanted effects and unbalance the normal development of our vital functions. The key is always to maintain a reasonable balance that allows us to meet our body's needs without overdoing it to levels that are dangerous to our health.

Consumption of medicines

Mineral supplements, in general, are not characterized by maintaining a bad interaction with most of the medications that exist in the market. However, we should take the precaution of documenting the drugs we take and their compatibility with certain minerals. Some drugs often contain highly potent substances that seek to provoke effects contrary to those we seek to induce through the intake of supplemented nutrients.

For example, medicines to reduce blood coagulation are not compatible with supplements containing vitamin K, since these drugs are designed for a normal consumption of nutrients in our body through food, that said, they do not include supplementation in their formula.

Suffering from certain diseases

When we are facing certain diseases, it is likely to increase the nutritional requirements of our body. This is because our body may experience some reduction in its ability to absorb and retain nutrients. However, in some cases the opposite may happen, where causing a high rate of certain minerals may be counterproductive in the recovery of our health.

It is important to keep in mind that supplementation is never a natural way to obtain nutrients. When we make use of this source of minerals, we should communicate to our doctor about its consumption, preferably by sending him a sample of the type of supplement we consume, the doses and schedules.

This will help us to prevent unwanted effects with the consumption of supplements, since our doctor will always be giving us indications under the idea that our behavior at the time of acquiring nutrients is natural and not that of external supplementation.