Vitamins and minerals: brain boost for kids
Added 10.03.2009
Most vitamins and minerals cannot be produced by the human body so we must obtain them from food sources. However, not surprisingly, given their eating habits nowadays, many children are deficient in essential vitamins and minerals.
Why do children need vitamins and minerals?
Vitamins are essential for all body systems especially enzyme and metabolic systems, and deficiencies can have a drastic impact on a child's health. Likewise, minerals play an important role in practically all cellular reactions and are crucial to a child's growing body. But it's not just the body that suffers; the mind is also affected by nutrient deficiencies and will not function at its best, says a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition.Vitamins and minerals boost brain function
A study published last year showed just how important vitamins and minerals are for a child's brain function. Children who took daily supplements of vitamins and minerals performed significantly better on attention tests than children not taking supplements. Also, the results were almost immediate. "The most surprising facet of the improvement in attention task performance seen here is that it became evident by three hours post-dose on the first day," researchers said.Are the effects of different vitamin and mineral brands the same?
Unfortunately, this is not the case. The purity of ingredients, concentration of active substances, dose and bioavailability (how much is actually absorbed by the body) are decisive factors in a supplement's effects. Sadly, many manufacturers use cheap, synthetic ingredients that often result in little or no effect at all. One thing to keep in mind as well is to make sure vitamins and minerals are NOT taken together. Vitamins should be taken in the morning and minerals in the evening because some of them can reduce each other's absorption in the body.References:
Haskell, C.F. & all. "Cognitive and mood effects in healthy children during 12 weeks' supplementation with multi-vitamins/minerals." British Journal of Nutrition. Vol. 100. pp. 1086-1096. November 2008.
Doctor's Natural vitamins and minerals for children are specifically formulated with purity of ingredients, dose, concentration of active substances and bioavailability in mind. The vitamins and minerals will enhance children's learning, memory, concentration, IQ and social behavior as well as stimulate their immune function.
