Healthy Vitamins for Weight Loss
Vitamins and minerals are necessary for healthy body growth, development and basic function and should be a focus for general nutrition. Although certain vitamins support bodily functions that promote weight loss by providing energy, suppressing appetite, reducing fat and cholesterol absorption and burning calories, the best plan for lifelong weight control is to form healthy habits.
Dietary Vitamins
Vitamins and minerals are essential to your body's health and growth--supporting healthy digestion, a strong immune system, boosting energy and metabolism, fighting cardiovascular disease and cancer, creating skeletal tissue and promoting healthy bones and teeth. These dietary nutrients are available in the foods you eat and support your body on a daily basis.
When trying to lose weight, it is important that you focus on nutrition and continue to nourish you body even while cutting calories. You might omit starches, red meats and high-fat dairy foods, but you then need a vitamin B supplement to replace nutrients lost without those foods. It is important to listen to your body's needs and to adapt with your age, diet and lifestyle. Supplement a multivitamin only for those nutrients you are lacking in your diet or for special nutritional needs such as with a weight loss diet, pregnancy, disease or dietary allergies.
Vitamins for Weight Loss
Most vitamins and minerals don't directly control weight gain or loss but instead promote healthy weight-related functions of the body. Nutrients like vitamins A and C, magnesium, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus influence metabolism, appetite, the digestive system and calorie burning. The B-complex vitamins are considered the most important vitamins for weight loss because they are essential for normal thyroid function, blood sugar control and metabolic rate. B vitamins also affect your body's ability to convert food into energy, which is needed for basic daily body function as well as burning fat and calories for weight loss.
Where To Get Your Vitamins
It is important that you consume food first for healthy nutrients and weight loss--by teaching your body to absorb vitamins through food and to excrete what you don't need, you can healthfully manage your weight. B-complex vitamins are available in almost every food group; you can get them from milk, nuts, eggs, dark leafy greens, most fruits, liver, meat and poultry, whole grains, avocados, seafood and much more. Fiber, another important nutrient for weight loss, is available in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. It will satisfy hunger, decrease your body's absorption of carbohydrates and offer energy-boosting nutrients. Incorporate superfoods into your daily diet--such as quinoa, pomegranates, broccoli, nuts, barley, acai berry, green tea, salmon and yogurt--which have a high concentration of nutrients and antioxidants. Don't set unrealistic weight loss goals for yourself; instead, focus on nutrition and nourishing your body.
Weight Management
Weight loss is about much more than supplements and vitamins--it's about healthful living, daily exercise and consuming a well-balanced diet. Vitamins, however, will give you the energy boost to get your body moving, burn extra calories and promote healthy function. There certainly are foods you can remove from your diet to drop pounds, but it's usually those you add that will give you the best results. Choose foods that will promote weight loss, curb appetite, add energy and supply . Add a cup of green tea each day for that slight caffeine boost, antioxidant benefits, to block fat and carbohydrate absorption and supply necessary nutrients.
Eat Your Vitamins
If you do opt to omit certain foods from your diet, use vitamin supplements to fulfill your body's vitamin needs. For example, if you are a vegetarian--or if you don't eat enough vegetables--you might develop an iron deficiency like anemia. Iron supports your body's immunity, supplies energy and helps your red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to various cells in your body. If you are lactose intolerant, you may need to supplement calcium into your diet to prevent osteoporosis. If you don't eat seafood, you might be lacking fish oil or some basic B vitamins, which support weight loss.
Be careful not to overdose on certain nutrients. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) are stored in the body's fat tissue and can build up to toxic levels if improperly supplemented. Choose what you need and talk with your primary care physician before any crash diet or habitual supplement use.
Considerations
The foods you eat should be beneficial for you nutritionally and also help you maintain a healthy weight. Focus on healthful eating, and your body should naturally drop pounds. It's all about moderation. Minimize your intake of starches, red meat, sugars and dairy. Fill up on fruits and vegetables, which are vitamin-rich, low in fat and cholesterol-free energy boosters.
A healthy, varied menu should provide all the essential vitamins and nutrients the body needs. Take care of yourself--successful weight loss requires maintaining a healthful, consistent, vitamin-packed diet.
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