Vitamin Supplements

Old people are often the most ‘at risk’ group in our society. They do not always have the same nutritional education that most of us have today and their diet is governed by their budget, and their ability to do their own shopping and cooking. They may suffer from arthritis and rheumatism and be unable to reach the shops. Arthritis in the hands and wrists can make food preparation difficult and painful, and ill-fitting false teeth, or lack of any teeth, will prevent them from eating and chewing many of the foods that would be good for them. One of the vitamin deficiencies that is sometimes seen among old people is a mild form of scurvy, caused by a very low intake of vitamin C. Read the rest of this entry »

This is another borderline case which can be a medical or self help condition. Knowing whether or not you are anaemic requires a blood test which shows how much iron, as haemoglobin, you have in the red cells of the blood. Ideally it should be at a level of 14 mg per 100 ml of blood but many women have less than this amount, particularly after childbirth or heavy menstrual periods. Iron tablets may be recommended by the doctor for a short time to build up the iron in the blood but the long-term prospects should rest on correcting the diet. Unfortunately iron is not very ‘available’ in the foods we eat. This means that although we may eat plenty of iron in our meat, liver, kidney, eggs and fish it is poorly absorbed from the intestine. Read the rest of this entry »