Why are vitamin pills not a replacement for a balanced diet?
In: Biology
Vitamins don’t provide energy while macronutrients like carbohydrates, fat, and protein do. Also, when we’re talking about how a well-balanced diet contributes to wellness, vitamins are only one part of the equation (albeit a very important one). There are other things like fiber, minerals, zoochemicals (found in animal products), and phytochemicals (found in plants and vegetables) that contribute to wellness. Another interesting aspect of wellness is how our gut microbiome (an ecosystem of microorganisms living in our gut) plays a role. The microbiome affects immune system function, appetite control, mental health, and various other physiological processes. It’s a very hot field of research right now and a lot is being figured out, but to put it short, vitamin pills alone don’t really “feed” our microbiome. A healthy, well-balanced diet does in such a way that the benefits the aforementioned physiological processes.
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