Spring is here! Time for a fresh start. We've left the cold weather and winter behind us and ushered in a season of sunshine, chirping birds, and blossoming nature. Sounds idyllic? Not so much when we're plagued by illness or allergies. But armed with the right nutrients, you can relax and enjoy one of the most beautiful seasons.
Give yourself the chance to make a fresh start with your health this spring. Taking the right vitamins can be an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, which also includes proper nutrition, exercise, and good sleep habits. But above all, the right micronutrients will help your body get back on its feet. They provide you with everything you need, aid recovery, promote detoxification, and give your body a helping hand.
The most important supplements for spring:
In spring, it's important to consume vitamins that keep you healthy, wake your body from hibernation, and enable you to participate in outdoor activities. They can help with allergies and maintain healthy skin and eyesight.
We don't want to keep you in suspense any longer. Here are the most important supplements for the best possible start to spring.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A has powerful antioxidant properties that support important immune system and organ functions. It also keeps skin healthy after sun damage by promoting repair and growth. This is especially important because our skin is exposed to more intense radiation after a long period of sunlessness.
Vitamin B
It's recommended to take a B-complex supplement because B vitamins perform a wide range of bodily functions. They are important for prevention, maintaining energy levels, and managing stress, among other things.
Vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), and B3 (niacin) maintain the nervous system, release energy from food, and ensure healthy skin and good vision. These vitamins are crucial in spring, as they protect the body from sun damage while providing the energy needed for physical activity.
Vitamins B6 and B12 support red blood cell production and ensure proper brain and nervous system function. These vitamins are easily lost through increased sweating in warmer weather. Another reason to ensure adequate intake.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a powerful source of antioxidants and plays an important role in supporting and functioning the immune system. Studies have shown that vitamin C's immunological benefits can shorten the duration of seasonal health problems and promote respiratory function, sinus health, and skin health.
Vitamin C helps the body cope with heat by protecting the health of skin and blood cells. Vitamin C also prevents cell damage and boosts collagen production, which protects the skin from sun damage. Vitamin C is also a natural antihistamine, making it especially important for hay fever sufferers.
Vitamin D
A bath in the spring sunshine has a positive effect on your mood. Conversely, numerous studies have confirmed that there is a clear connection between low mood and a lack of light. In addition to boosting your mood, it's also time to use the sun to replenish your vitamin D levels, as our vitamin D stores are depleted by the long, dark season. A moderate sunbath, exposing your hands, face, and parts of your arms and legs to the sun for 15 to 20 minutes, is sufficient.
The basic prerequisites for this are sufficiently high UVB radiation, which only prevails around midday, and the avoidance of sunscreen. The body uses the sun's UVB radiation to produce its own vitamin D from a modified cholesterol compound in the skin. Another important argument: A good supply of vitamin D supports our immune system during the sometimes still cold transition period.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E supplements have several benefits. They help improve physical endurance by increasing energy levels and reduce muscle damage caused by exercise. Because vitamin E is an antioxidant, it can also help repair cell-damaging processes, such as sun damage.
zinc
Zinc is a mineral and essential micronutrient that provides a wide range of health benefits and functions throughout the body and is excellent for supporting the immune system. The increasing popularity of zinc in the fight against seasonal discomfort is supported by scientific research, which shows that zinc may play a role in supporting respiratory function, muscle comfort, and sinus health. This is important for managing the symptoms of hay fever.
selenium
Selenium is a mineral and one of the essential trace elements. The human body cannot produce it itself; instead, it must be obtained through food or as a dietary supplement. Selenium performs numerous functions in the body. Among other things, it protects us from free radicals and thus from diseases and accelerated aging. It also influences our immune system, the health of our skin, hair, and nails, and is involved in the production of thyroid hormone.
Omega-3
It has long been known that fat is not inherently bad. Rather, the quality and composition of the fat are crucial. Omega-3 fatty acids are among the "good" fats and support important bodily functions. For example, they make a significant contribution to maintaining normal heart function. But the range of ways in which omega-3 fatty acids can influence essential functions of our body is even broader.
The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are essential fatty acids and cannot be produced by the body. EPA and DHA are found primarily in oily cold-water fish such as herring, mackerel, and sardines. They contribute to normal brain and heart function and support the maintenance of normal vision (according to EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority).
turmeric
An exotic ingredient has crept into our list of top active ingredients for spring: turmeric. The active ingredient in turmeric, called curcumin, has been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years and has a wide range of health applications. Of particular interest here is research that has shown that curcumin supports the immune system and provides powerful seasonal protection.
Studies have shown that curcumin supports respiratory health in those struggling with seasonal health problems while also boosting the immune system.
Conclusion:
To strengthen your immune system, you should ensure you get enough important nutrients and vitamins. You can get them through a healthy and balanced diet. But especially during the winter months and the period afterward, your immune system needs extra support. This can be supported by taking additional high-quality nutritional supplements. And spring can come!
Sources: Inadequacy of Immune Health Nutrients: Intakes in US Adults, the 2005-2016 NHANES
Refocusing vitamin A supplementation programs to reach the most vulnerable; Erin McLean1, Rolf Klemm2,3, Hamsa Subramaniam4, Alison Greig5
On the effect of vitamin C intake on human health: How to (mis)interpret the clinical evidence; Jens Lykkesfeldt.
Vitamin A: its many roles—from vision and synaptic plasticity to infant mortality; John E. Dowling.
Immunologic Effects of Vitamin D on Human Health and Disease; by Nipith Charoenngam 1,2 and Michael F. Holick 1
Pictures:
Photo by Andrey Zvyagintsev on Unsplash
Pic by Siberian Art/Shutterstock, number: 1027919113
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