Vitamins That Belong In Your Medicine Cabinet

A typical fish oil softgel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve never taken vitamins before, it’s easy to convince yourself that you don’t need them. After all, you’ve made it this far without supplements, right? Well, sort of. You may feel like you’re doing just fine, but in reality, there are vitamins and nutrients that your body just might not get enough of.

For thousands of years, people had to tailor their diets to include essential vitamins, like the sailors that regularly snacked on fresh limes to avoid Vitamin C deficiency-related scurvy. With the heavy use of preservatives and artificial ingredients in today’s food, you could be facing deficiencies that people did before they had access to things like vitamins! By keeping a few simple things on hand, though, you can make sure that your body is always getting exactly what it needs—no limes required.

Omega 3 Fish Oil Tablets

Fish oil comes from one of two places: Fatty fish, or Omega 3 fish oil tablets. If you’re not a big fish eater, then, taking a fish oil supplement can make sure that your body is still reaping the benefits of fish oil. Fish oil is used primarily to treat high triglyceride levels, which are traditionally associated with conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Even if you don’t have heart disease or necessarily high triglycerides, taking fish oil may work as a preventative. Research into the power of fish oil continues to unearth new information, but if you ever worry about your heart’s health, this belongs in your medicine cabinet.

Prenatal Vitamins

If you’re pregnant or trying to become pregnant, prenatal vitamins help make sure that you and your baby get all of the nutrients you need. Even if you’re eating a well-balanced diet during your pregnancy, taking a prenatal vitamin ensures that you aren’t missing out on any opportunities to nourish yourself and your little one. For example, the folic acid in prenatal vitamins helps prevent spinal cord problems in the baby, while the calcium ensures that you aren’t losing too much calcium to your baby.

While some conventional wisdom suggests that taking prenatal vitamins while you aren’t pregnant can result in stronger nails and hair, that doesn’t mean you should. Taking prenatal vitamins when you aren’t pregnant can overload your body with nutrients, even if you’re taking small prenatal vitamins. For example, too much iron in your system can result in constipation, vomiting and other unpleasant side effects. If you’re worried about your nails or hair, ask your doctor about more appropriate vitamin solutions.

Multivitamins

A daily multivitamin is almost always a good idea, whether you’re man or woman, big or small. Multivitamins for women, for example, are perfect for women that suffer iron deficiencies, or want to fill in the gaps left behind by a diet. As another example, if you’re cutting back on dairy as part of a dietary change, you could be missing out on valuable calcium and vitamin D. Men’s multivitamins are similarly tailored for gender-specific needs—in this case, prostate health. Ingredients like Lycopene have been shown the support a healthy prostate, which is increasingly important with age.

Collagen Supplements

You may have heard of Hollywood stars getting collagen injections to make their skin look plumper and younger, but you can reap the benefits of increased collagen levels just by taking a collagen supplement. While collagen is found naturally in your body, BioCell Collagen II is an engineered form of this protein that your body absorbs rapidly and puts to use in a variety of ways.

Small collagen tablets give your body a protein boost that helps it both inside and out. Inside, collagen goes to work in your joints, supplementing structural components and helping relieve conditions like arthritis and joint pain. Outside, collagen helps you put your best face forward—literally! When you’re young, you have higher levels of hyaluronic acid, which gives your skin the elasticity and suppleness that makes you look young and healthy. As you get older, your hyaluronic acid stores deplete and your skin loses elasticity, leading to wrinkles and sagging skin. Taking a collagen supplement, however, can deliver a dose of hyaluronic acid back into your body, giving it the youthful elasticity that had slipped away. Whether you’re considering starting a supplement regimen for health or beauty reasons, consult your doctor about appropriate dosing.

More Vitamin Resources

Study up, stock up and feel better!

Prenatal Vitamins

A primer on the importance of these supplements

Men’s Vitamins

What you should look for in a multivitamin

Omega 3 Fish Oil Tablets

Well-recommended supplier of different vitamins

Get Away to Grow Closer

 

Weekend Getaways Can Help

Relationships take work. In a perfect world, we could all just go about our daily lives and always come home to the person we love with a smile on our face; never a frown. However, that’s not the case. We need to actually work things out and grow together as couples. But how do we do just that?

One way to help spice up a relationship and make things work is by taking an annual trip with your loved one. It’s amazing how some alone time go can a long way towards making a relationship stronger. Whether it’s a weekend getaway at a local bed and breakfast or a fancy vacation far away, getting away together can be effective.

If you and your special partner are looking for ways to strengthen your relationship, consider getting away. Below are some reasons how an annual trip can be just the right thing for an experienced couple looking to mix things up.

 

Mental Break

The daily stress from work and other responsibilities can take a toll on any relationship. Sometimes, taking a break from it all can re-charge the body and mind. When you’re away from home with your loved one, you finally get the time to relax and worry only about yourselves. Here are some reasons why a couple’s getaway can offer you that mental break you might be looking for:

• Worry about yourselves. Being away from home allows you to focus on you and your relationship.
• Quiet time. Enjoying each other’s company can be done in the simplest and most quiet way, such as bathing in the sun or even enjoying a nice nap together.
• Ignore Technology. Straying away from your cell phone and computer can help remind you what’s important in life and why you were originally connected to your partner in the first place.

Getting away from your daily routine can be beneficial to your mental health. Taking your loved one with you only helps put things into perspective. Try doing this at regularly and you’ll be shocked as to just how refreshing this can be for your relationship!

 

Relive Old Memories

The nice thing about a weekend getaway or vacation is that you can go wherever you want. If you’re struggling to find a new place to visit, why not revisit somewhere you and your partner once had a fantastic experience? Reliving old memories is a great way to rekindle your relationship and fun way to spend your vacation.

Here are some quick ideas on how to relive those memorable experiences with your loved one:

• Go back to that one restaurant the two of you loved so much. Try to remember what you both had to eat and get it again. This should spark those fond memories you have from the last time you were there.
• Try to one-up yourselves! Go do the exact same fun activity you two did years ago, but try something else that activity has to offer. There’s usually at least one thing people look back upon during a trip and wish he or she would have tried differently. Well, now’s the perfect time to do so.
• Visit that same romantic spot. Most couples find one spot during vacation to sit down, relax and enjoy time together. Whether it was a park bench or ocean side view from a hotel room, find that spot again. You’re bound to revisit some wonderful memories.

 

There’s nothing wrong with reliving past memories. This might help remind the both of you why you got together in the first place. Additionally, you can always add to older memories, so don’t feel pressured to relive the exact same experiences.

 

Make New Memories

If you and your partner are into new experiences and adventures, try going somewhere you both have never been to before. Making new memories is always refreshing and can help increase the bond between a couple. Here are some fun ways to ensure that your new experience together will be worth your while:

• Try something challenging. Go hiking on a tough path or do something that faces your fears. This is an enjoyable way to rebuild your teamwork and experience an accomplishment together.
• Do something random. Out-of-the-blue activities are sometimes the most fun. Wake up one morning and do the first thing that comes up. If nothing seems to pop-up, ask a local; he or she probably knows of the best things to do around the area.
• Enjoy unusual cuisine. Trying the local fare or some type of food the both of you have never had before can be quite pleasant. You’ll never know if you don’t try, right?

 

Give It A Shot!

These are some short and easy answers as to how and why you can enjoy a romantic getaway with your partner. Doing this regularly gives the two of you something to look forward to every year. It’s a great way to build a relationship as well as continue the beautiful bond you might already have. If you haven’t thought about enjoying an adventure yet, try giving it a shot; you’ll be surprised how rejuvenating it can be. Good luck!