With dietary supplements making their way in our daily life, we find it difficult to survive without them. We have very smartly and effectively heralded these supplements as panacea for all ills. But as the saying goes, too much of even good things can be bad! So, we should be cautious enough not to make supplements our oxygen. To know your thresholds of the supplements, read on.

Myth: When it comes to vitamins and minerals, more is better!

Fact: A person might become hypervitaminosis if he eats too much of vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B and C don't affect the body much if taken in high quantity as they can be flushed out of the body but fat soluble vitamins like vitamin A,D,E and K gets stored in the liver and might become toxic eventually if taken in large amounts. We get most of the requirements from our daily food (provided it is a balanced diet) but incase of malnutrition and sickness, you may need to take multivitamins doses.

Myth: Intake of supplements during illness harm our body!

Fact: During illness, cells are destroyed and exhausted adrenal glands do not function properly because they are deprived of nutrients. Hence body needs its fighting team of vitamin c, B6, folic acid, zinc in higher amounts. Other important thing to be noticed here is, fever and stress deplete most essential nutrients from our body. Hence the need for extra supplements is all the very more. Piece of advice: Always take supplements during illness after consulting with your physician.

Myth: Even if vitamins do not help, they do not harm!

Fact: All chemicals can get toxic if taken in high amounts including vitamins and minerals. Hence, it is important to consult your physician before taking extra vitamins or minerals supplements. For e.g., too much of calcium can cause kidney stones. So, it is wrong to make assumption that extra vitamin and minerals wont harm your body.

Myth: Supplements can help me lose weight!

Fact: You might come across various herbal weight loss products making tall claims and promising you quick weight loss. But the fact is, none of these herbal remedies work and some like ephedra, the banned weight loss supplement, can have serious side effects. Regular exercises and a perfect diet plan just makes the perfect recipe for the effective weight loss. And this kind of weight loss is long term too.

Myth: Vitamin C supplements help in preventing cold and cures sinus.

Fact: Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling advocated high doses of calcium to prevent common cold But it showed no significant effect on common cold. There has been no scientific data to support the effectiveness of vitamin C towards common cold. Infact, excess of vitamin C can cause gastro intestinal problems like nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps.