Key Vitamins: Who Needs What in Your Family

A balanced diet is definitely the way to go when it comes to healthy eating. Taking supplements should never be the end-all or cure-all for your family’s nutritional needs. Giving your family a large variety of foods should supply all the vitamins/minerals they need for good health, strong bones, alert brains and generous energy supply.

We all know that it’s difficult to maintain this ideal for long periods of time. Weekend lapses, sickness, being too busy, or general family life can come between us and good nourishment. This is why taking supplements can be very useful indeed. Below is a list of some of the main nutrients the different members of your family require, based on their age.

Toddlers and pre-school kids

Vitamin A, C, D and E. These serve as a solid foundation in supplying needed nutrients for a small child. They take care of growing bones, eyes, the brain, the muscles, and give vital energy for all the running around they get up to. Milk, vegetables, fruit and potatoes have vitamins A and C. Vitamins D and E are found in fish and fortified cereals, nuts and soya. 

School age kids

Along with the vitamins listed above,  kids of this age can benefit from Omega oils, especially those who have a hard time concentrating on their school work. It’s hard to get children to eat oily fish, but vitamin D is vital for proper brain activity and growing muscles. In order to cope with the pressures of homework, P.E etc, give children a boost by making sure they have a regular intake of A, C, D and E vitamins.

Teenagers

Children are now growing rapidly and the body is making several new demands on them. Active hormones mean that the skin may be showing signs of over-active oily glands. School work is more pressuring and life in general is hitting them from all sides. Rapid growth takes its toll on their bones. Teeth are also settling down, and the child may even be wearing braces at this stage. Calcium suddenly becomes extremely important, as their stores of childhood calcium may be running down. Unfortunately, kids stop drinking milk at this crucial time. They need a regular dose of calcium and magnesium to stay healthy, so provide lots of milk and dairy products and consider giving a calcium/magnesium supplement.

Mum

It’s time to pay attention to the way the body changes at this time. Cells may be affected by free radicals, which can cause cancer and other illnesses.  Skin starts to age and the body attempts to run down on itself. Lycopene is an antioxidant which can combat both conditions. It will fight free radicals and improve skin condition. Lycopene is found in strawberries and (especially) tomatoes. Eat these several times a week. A supplement won’t hurt either. 

Dad

Men typically work and play hard. The bones have already started to condense and the joints are apt to be affected by regular sports etc. Glucosamine is a substance made naturally in the body but supplies may dwindle with age. In this case, a glucosamine supplement will help to maintain good health where the bones and joints are concerned. It will build up healthy stores for the coming years ahead. 

Grandma

Her supplies of the healthy oils she had as a young woman would be lacking at this age. Free radicals can attack in the absence of healthy anti-oxidants to fight them off. Lycopene is still very important for an older woman and so is lutein, which is great for eyes and joints (comes in handy when knitting for the grand kids). A good supply of green and yellow vegetables like spinach and sweet corn are great sources of lutein. 

Grandad

With age, the body’s ability to produce certain enzymes diminishes. Co-enzyme Q10 is a good example of this. Wholemeal bread and broccoli are great sources, and should always be on the older man’s shopping list. 

If you’ve enjoyed this article please visit my relationship and self-improvement blog for similar articles.