Important Vitamins For Young Women

Dear Ask The Doctor: Im 23 yr old woman i want to know should i be taking multivitamins?

Dear Ashley: If you have a reasonably healthy diet with variety of all food groups, balanced, five-a-day minimum fruit and vegetables, you have no medical conditions, you're not pregnant , you exercise often, and you're not over 50 years old, then you don't really need supplements. But if you want  to take vitamins, the following information might be useful : ten vitamins  are very important  for young women, these are:

• folic acid,
• zinc,
• iron,
• calcium,
• B vitamins,
• Vitamin C,
• Vitamin E,
• chromium,
• iodine, and
• Omega-3 fatty acids.

Perhaps the one that is most often overlooked is zinc,  which  is one of the fundamental nutrients that are utilized for more than one base use. The body uses both zinc and Vitamin E as an antioxidant. This means that both are counter agents against both disease and the impact that can come with aging. Zinc has one other use in the young woman's body though, as it is a base nutrient that the body uses in making many of the hormones that are needed to develop the female body. Vitamin B6 is another need of the body that varies between the genders, as it is used by the body to alleviate the premenstrual  syndrome. Iron is one need that every woman has after puberty, as their premenstrual cycle begins to take hold they will develop a need for both iodine for water retention (along with salt and water) and iron. The loss of iron can result in reduction of red blood cell production and also the risk of developing an anemic condition.