You probably know that drinking milk gives you bone-building calcium and that a swig of orange juice will give you an extra dose of vitamin C to help you recover from a cold. But did you know that certain behaviors could actually be sapping the nutrients you’re putting in to your body? Engaging in common habits may counteract all of the good you’re doing. The good news is, even if you can’t stop the behavior causing the nutrient drop, in most cases, there are steps you can take to prevent it from happening. Here are four vitamin zappers ... some surprising, some not-so ... and how to keep them from sabotaging your nutritional efforts.
Smoking cigarettes
You know smoking is bad for your body in so many ways—now, you can add draining your body of vitamin C to the list. One of vitamin C’s main functions as an antioxidant is to protect the body from damage from things like smoking. Smokers’ bodies use more vitamin C than non-smokers’, so smokers need an extra serving a day of a vitamin C-rich food or drink. Better yet, use our advice to quit the habit for good.
Taking antibiotics
The whole point of antibiotics is to kill the bacteria that’s making you sick. The problem is that they also attack the good bacteria that helps keep your gastrointestinal system functioning properly. To prevent GI problems like gas, bloating and diarrhea when taking antibiotics, eat yogurt containing live, active cultures (the good bacteria known as probiotics) every day.
Drinking milk and eating whole grains
We don’t need to explain how important milk and whole grains are to having a healthy body, do we? But the calcium in milk and a substance called phytates in whole grains can keep your body from absorbing the iron in foods and supplements. Keep this from happening by avoiding taking iron supplements and multivitamins with iron and eating iron-rich foods at the same time as you eat large amounts of dairy or whole grains.
Sipping coffee and tea
Both of these drinks contain substances called tannins, which are responsible in part for their bitter flavors. Tannins also bind to what’s called non-heme iron … that’s the iron we eat that comes from plant-based foods like cereals and breads, not meats. Once bound, the tannins carry the iron right out of our body, meaning not much gets absorbed. Again, simple fix—be sure to eat plenty of iron-rich (both animal- and plant-based) foods throughout the day, when you’re not drinking coffee or tea.
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Top Vitamin Zappers
You probably know that drinking milk gives you bone-building calcium and that a swig of orange juice will give you an extra dose of vitamin C to help you recover from a cold. But did you know that certain behaviors could actually be sapping the nutrients you’re putting in to your body? Engaging in common habits may counteract all of the good you’re doing. The good news is, even if you can’t stop the behavior causing the nutrient drop, in most cases, there are steps you can take to prevent it from happening. Here are four vitamin zappers ... some surprising, some not-so ... and how to keep them from sabotaging your nutritional efforts.
Thinkstock
Top Vitamin Zappers
You probably know that drinking milk gives you bone-building calcium and that a swig of orange juice will give you an extra dose of vitamin C to help you recover from a cold. But did you know that certain behaviors could actually be sapping the nutrients you’re putting in to your body? Engaging in common habits may counteract all of the good you’re doing. The good news is, even if you can’t stop the behavior causing the nutrient drop, in most cases, there are steps you can take to prevent it from happening. Here are four vitamin zappers ... some surprising, some not-so ... and how to keep them from sabotaging your nutritional efforts.
