The primary role of a food supplement is to supplement a diet as well as to compensate for certain deficiencies. However, more and more French people are moving towards this product in order to preserve their health and ensure their well-being. And for good reason: providing your body with all the nutrients, minerals and vitamins it needs makes it possible to prevent and respond to small daily worries and discomforts. We often talk about the benefits and virtues of food supplements. But what is it really? Focus on the many benefits of these small capsules.

What is a food supplement, concretely?

As the name suggests, a dietary supplement is intended to complement a diet (not replace it). The food supplement is then defined as a foodstuff in the form of doses (capsules, ampoules, powders, tablets, etc.) containing  nutrients, such as vitamins ,  minerals (including trace elements) and having a both nutritional and physiological effect for the person who takes it.

As such, the dietary supplement is not considered a drug. It then makes it possible to complete a healthy, varied and balanced diet and to provide the body with the nutrients it lacks. Taking it then makes it possible to preserve a good general state of health and to limit the risk factors of one or more diseases.

It is a “wellness” product. It is found a lot in pharmacies, but not only (even if more than 50% of food supplements are marketed there, source Synadiet) and taking it does not require a medical prescription, except in certain very specific and specific cases. especially in people on medication.

Why take dietary supplements?

There are many reasons why you might be interested in dietary supplements. It is often considered that a human body never obtains 100% of its optimal intake from a diet, however complete, varied and balanced it may be. However, some nutrients are essential for our well-being. These include, for example, vitamin C, which is essential for supporting the immune system, vitamin D, which is essential for supporting our bones and teeth, or even magnesium, which is essential for reducing fatigue and function our nervous system normally.

Taking food supplements is strongly recommended when you suffer from one or more deficiencies that a varied diet cannot satisfy.

Well beyond this observation, the food supplement allows you to preserve your state of health. An adequate intake of nutrients, vitamins, trace elements and minerals helps maintain a normal physiological state by reducing the risk factors for disease. An organism suffering from several deficiencies will then be more likely to fall ill: taking preventive food supplements can prevent this.

It is in particular for this reason that it is sometimes recommended to take multivitamin food supplements at the approach of winter in order to boost your immune defenses and protect yourself against seasonal illnesses such as colds or the flu. But  which food supplement to choose then?

Usefulness and benefits of dietary supplements

The effect of food supplements no longer needs to be demonstrated. Bringing your body all the nutrients it needs is really beneficial. For this reason, taking food supplements is accompanied by many beneficial effects for the body.

Thus, there are mainly three benefits to these products:

First of all, they make it possible to make up for certain nutritional deficiencies, without ever replacing a balanced diet.

They eliminate or reduce certain discomforts and ailments of everyday life, such as difficult digestion, stress, or difficulty concentrating or falling asleep.

They make it possible to maintain a good general state of health by reducing the risk factors of certain diseases. It is then a question of maintaining an optimal physiological balance. Their intake can, for example, act on cholesterol or weight maintenance.

As you will have understood, taking food supplements is above all preventive and their use is not intended to cure, but rather to maintain a physiological state and prevent risk factors.