by John Hummel

Created on: December 03, 2007

We hear it all the time; forty is the new thirty! Thirty is the new twenty! Unfortunately this can also apply where the opposite is true, where twenty is the new thirty and thirty is the new forty, if we don't take care of ourselves properly by ensuring that our bodies get the proper nutrients that they need to remain hale and hearty.

As we age, many of us become more aware of the foods we ingest, shying away from the fattier, less healthy foods of our youth to foods with more substance, truer flavor, and better nutritional value. Even still, this cannot ensure that we are meeting our daily requirements.

For example, pregnant women, with many now waiting until their thirties or forties to have children, are already are already trying to consume balanced nutrition for two individuals; thus they may find that they are low in folic acid, calcium, and B vitamins, among others. Supplements can be very beneficial to this group, both for mother and child, in preventing anemia, easing fatigue, and to help prevent birth defects in the newborn.

Another reason that supplements can be useful for this age group is that they can assist in warding off diseases that could onset in later life, such as heart disease and certain cancers. Folic acid, beta-carotene, and the B complex vitamins are important in the prevention and/or lessening of these.

As well, as much as people try to be nutritionally complete in their diet as possible, many folks are low in trace minerals, which play vital roles in healing, absorption of other vitamins, and for strengthening and maintaining bone health.

In northern climes,studies have shown that a large percentage of people may not be getting adequate vitamin D levels; especially during winter months. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to weakened bones, which may develop into more serious osteoporosis if left unchecked. Lack of vitamin D is also a suspect in the development of multiple sclerosis.

If you're a person in your thirties or forties who smokes, you are more apt to be lacking in both vitamin C and D and should consider supplements as an alternative to boost bone strength and immune function if you are not yet prepared to quit.

Some foods, depending on where they originate, may also lack the nutrients that they once possessed due to mineral depletion of the soil in which they are grown. This can be caused by several factors including: lack of crop rotation, overuse of herbicides, and excessive cultivation and irrigation of the land. Thus, these minerals

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