Getting Nutrients from Food, Not Capsules

Many health care practitioners recommend that you take a multi-vitamin each day to make up for the nutrient gaps in your diet. But what if there weren’t any gaps to begin with? You may not need that multi-vitamin after all if you are dedicated to ensuring you get the right combination of foods every day with the right nutrients.

One of most important nutrients to get every day is calcium, and most people get it by taking in dairy products, including milk, cheese and yogurt. While milk and milk products are some of the best sources of calcium, you may also want to consider non-dairy calcium foods, such as leafy green vegetables like collard greens and bok choy, broccoli, fortified orange juice or soy milk, or baked beans, according to the the Harvard School of Public Health.

Going along with calcium is vitamin D, a nutrient our body is intended to glean from the sun. But considering many people work mostly indoors during the day, we still need to get plenty of vitamin D from foods. Many people get vitamin D through milk and cereal, which are usually fortified with it, but foods that contain it naturally include fatty fish like salmon and tuna, Harvard’s site says.

Fiber is another nutrient our body can easily get from food. The best way to get plenty of fiber is by making your diet rich with whole grains and whole wheat pasta (ditch the stripped white bread), whole fresh veggies, whole fresh fruit (juice isn’t nearly as helpful) and beans.

You likely already know you can get plenty of vitamin C from eating citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and grapefruits, but did you know you can also get vitamin C capsule-free by eating green and red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli and spinach? It seems like the most colorful fruits and veggies have vitamin C in store for you.

Carrots are well-known for being a rich source of vitamin A, but other foods that are rich in this essential nutrient include spinach, kale, cantaloupe, apricots and sweet red pepper, according to the National Institutes of Health.

You can get enough potassium by eating bananas, watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, beets, spinach, peas and more, according to the American Heart Association.

Be sure to speak with your physician and/or nutritionist before embarking on any nutritional journey or foregoing multi-vitamins. Just know that it is possible to get everything your body needs in tasty food form rather than a tasteless capsule.