Myth 1, children in general do not need vitamin supplements In theory, if you can follow the principles of a balanced diet and reasonable food allocation, then there is no need to supplement vitamins in addition to the diet. But in practice, there are still many difficulties to achieve a reasonable diet, not to mention that people’s diet is often affected by the market supply of food, food processing and cooking, personal eating habits and the health of the body, so the body can easily lack a certain vitamin. In particular, the content of vitamin D in the daily diet is very little, so babies from 15 days after birth, we must start to supplement vitamin D and calcium supplements, until the full 2 years of age to eat. Myth 2: It is most appropriate to take vitamins on an empty stomach Because vitamins have small molecules and are absorbed quickly, if eaten on an empty stomach, their blood concentration rises quickly and water-soluble vitamins are easily excreted through the kidneys in the urine. Therefore, choose to take water-soluble vitamins after meals, not only will not affect its absorption rate, but also can avoid the loss from the body. Myth 3, all fruits are rich in vitamin C Only citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges, tangerines, mandarins, hawthorn, fresh dates, grapefruit and strawberries are rich in vitamin C. The vitamin C contained in apples, pears, bananas, peaches and watermelons that are usually eaten is not much, mostly below 10 mg per 100 grams, much lower than that in alfalfa (102), bananas (93), capers (68), peppers ( 50) and other vegetables in the vitamin C content. Myth 4: If you eat fresh fruits and vegetables regularly, you will not lack vitamins Fresh citrus fruits and colored vegetables are rich in vitamin C and a certain amount of beta-carotene, which can be converted into vitamin A in the body, but vegetables and fruits lack other kinds of vitamins, so eating them alone is not enough. It is important to pay attention to the balanced intake of all kinds of food for your baby to ensure the full absorption of vitamins. Myth 5, refuse to eat vegetables, eat more fruit on the line Vegetables contain more insoluble dietary fiber (such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, etc.) and some special ingredients, such as onions in the capsaicin, ginger in the ginger oleoresin, garlic in the allicin, radish in the amylase, etc., while fruits contain more fructose, organic acids and soluble fiber if gum, so fruits and vegetables can not replace each other . Myth 6, you can use fruit juice to replace fresh fruit Juice is convenient to drink, taste attractive and long hidden, so it is very popular, but the nutrients contained in it compared with fresh fruit is far from. Because only a small part of the juice is really from the natural fruit, most of the rest is composed of sugar, flavor and color, even if a small amount of vitamin C is added, but also because of the dissolved in water and very easy to be destroyed by oxidation, so the juice can not replace fresh fruit. Myth 7, a large dose of vitamin C can replace multivitamins Each vitamin has a different function, so vitamin C can not replace multivitamins. And with the increase in vitamin C intake, its absorption rate will gradually decrease, unabsorbed vitamin C can then stimulate the intestinal tract to cause abdominal pain, diarrhea. Even if it is absorbed, it will be excreted from the urine soon after entering the blood circulation, so it is not advisable to take large doses of vitamin C for a long time. Myth 8: Taking more vitamin C will promote cancer It is true that some people have found in cell culture that excessive vitamin C may cause chromosomal aberrations, but the required concentration is very large (the body does not reach this level at all), and there are also reports of the exact opposite result. As for human trials, so far there are only reports that vitamin C can inhibit the synthesis of nitrosamines (a substance with strong carcinogenic properties) and thus play an anti-cancer role. Myth 9: Regular consumption of vitamin C can cause kidney stones Vitamin C can be converted into oxalic acid in the body, so some people speculate that eating more vitamin C may cause kidney stones. But a large number of human trials (some testers up to 5000 mg of vitamin C daily intake) found that eating a lot of vitamin C can only increase the daily urinary excretion of 6 to 13 mg of oxalic acid, and no increase in the incidence of kidney stones reported. This is because vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, once too much intake, will soon be excreted from the urine, the body is unlikely to reach a high concentration. Myth 10, vitamins are supplements, it does not matter if you take a little more The human body’s need for vitamins is very small, only tens of micrograms to tens of milligrams per day. Excessive intake of vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins, can cause poisoning. For example, too much vitamin A can cause irritability, headache, vomiting, itchy skin, blurred vision and liver enlargement; too much vitamin D can cause dotted calcification of multiple organs and polyuria; too much vitamin E can lead to bleeding tendencies. “Water can carry the boat, but also can overturn it”, so vitamins should not be taken too much, but strictly in accordance with product instructions or doctor’s instructions. Myth 11: Which vitamin is most likely to be deficient in infants? Infants are most likely to be deficient in vitamin D. This is because daily food does not contain much vitamin D (no more than 100 units a day), which is far from the recommended amount. Infants are also not exposed to much sunlight and are unable to synthesize sufficient amounts of vitamin D (400 units per day), making them highly susceptible to deficiency. After the lack of vitamin D, calcium is poorly absorbed and bone development is also affected, which can lead to symptoms of rickets such as irritability, night terrors, excessive sweating, occipital baldness, bone deformities, and delayed motor development, while adults show chondromalacia. Therefore, infants should be supplemented with vitamin D from 2 weeks after birth. Myth 12: Do vitamins need to be supplemented every day? To eat regularly every day? The human body can not synthesize vitamins, or the amount of synthesis is very small, far from meeting the needs of the body, so it is necessary to supplement vitamins every day, never three days to fish, two days to sunbathe, otherwise there is still the possibility of deficiency. In the human body, all kinds of vitamins have their own “warehouse” of different sizes, the intake of vitamins first into the warehouse, and later, according to the metabolic needs of various tissues and organs, mobilization from the warehouse, so as long as you eat every day, do not have to be strictly timed. Even if you forget to take them for a few days, as long as the vitamins in the “metabolic pool” are not used up, there will be no vitamin deficiency. Of course, vitamin deficiency should not last too long. Myth 13: Should I take a large dose of vitamins or a small, balanced dose? If a certain vitamin deficiency is diagnosed, such as night blindness, foot disease, scurvy, or mange, larger doses of vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin C, and vitamin P should be given in a targeted manner, but in practice, we find that the majority of children exhibit mild deficiencies with vague symptoms, difficult diagnosis, and little basis for treatment. In this regard, it is generally advocated to use a balanced supplementation method in small doses, so that neither too much supplementation will cause poisoning, nor will a vitamin be missed so that it is still deficient, which is a relatively safe and effective method. Myth 14: Some multivitamin supplements contain all kinds of vitamins needed throughout the day, and we usually have to eat vegetables and fruits, so will it be too much? The amount of vitamins contained in multivitamin preparations is generally only the recommended amount per day, which is just the amount needed per day, equivalent to a score of 60, barely passing. The maximum allowed intake (that is, the safe range) is several to a dozen times the recommended amount, and there is a lot of space between the two, so even if you take multivitamin supplements in addition to your daily diet, there is no need to worry about overdose. Myth 15: There are many types of multivitamin preparations on the market, how can I choose wisely? There is a wide variety of multivitamin preparations on the market, which is overwhelming, and some counterfeit and shoddy products are mixed in with them to harm consumers. Therefore, the first thing we should do is to choose the products of famous brand-name manufacturers, and not to buy the products of unknown small factories for the sake of low prices, otherwise, once the quality problems are found, there will be no way to complain. Secondly, the production process, quality of raw materials, product requirements, clinical effects of non-prescription drugs are much stricter than health products, so generally speaking, we should choose non-prescription drugs. Some people believe that “medicine is three parts poisonous, health care products are much safer”, which is actually a stereotype that should be abandoned. Since vitamin supplementation is a long-term process, you should do some performance and price comparisons beforehand, not necessarily the higher the price, the better.