Keep yourself healthy and prevent illness by taking vitamins and supplements. Lawtons Drugs carries a wide range brands and types that can target specific health conditions or improve your general health.
Brands We Carry
- Compliments
- Ascenta
- Centrum
- Jamieson
- Nature’s Bounty
- One a Day
- Webber Naturals
A Multivitamin a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
While it may not be surprising that good overall nutrition can lessen the burden on the healthcare system by reducing the risk of chronic disease, recent evidence suggests that a daily multivitamin can do so as well.
According to a recent U.S. study conducted by The Lewin Group, the daily use of a multivitamin by older adults could lead to more than $1.6 billion in Medicare savings in the next 5 years.
For example, a study in The Lancet Journal shows that 70% of Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) could be prevented if all high-risk women of childbearing years consumed the daily recommended intake of folate. Since folate is difficult to get from diet alone, women are often encouraged by their dietitian or family doctor to take a multivitamin that contains at least 0.4 mg of folic acid. The Lewin Group study suggests that if 17% more women of childbearing age did this, approximately 600 babies would be born without NTDs, which would translate into over $300 million US savings per year.
The study also concludes that improved nutritional status, which includes meeting daily vitamin and mineral requirements, could result in healthcare cost savings from a reduction in hospitalizations for heart attacks or nursing home stays and home health care due to infections.
“More importantly, a daily multivitamin may reduce the risk of various chronic diseases and ensure your body is consistently getting all the nutrients it needs,” says Samara Felesky-Hunt, registered dietitian and nutritional educator in Calgary.
More research is needed to explore the potential savings if other chronic diseases and cancers could be reduced. However, many healthcare professionals agree that a well balanced, trusted multivitamin supplement is a safe and simple way to promote good health.
– News Canada
Combat Arthritis Symptoms Through Healthy Eating
Vitamins and minerals have been shown to reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis. Recent research is also showing that vitamins may play a role in protecting us against problems related to arthritis.
According to data from the Framingham Heart Study – an ongoing study of more than 5,000 men and women from Framingham, Mass., that started in 1948 – people with more vitamin C in their diets had higher bone density. Low bone density is a major risk factor for fractures. Higher bone density means stronger bones, as well as a reduced risk of osteoarthritis progression and even prevention of knee pain. This finding came from a study of 25,000 people conducted by British researchers at the University of Manchester and Cambridge University.
Vitamin C is needed to make collagen, which makes up cartilage. Cartilage cushions bones, and not having enough leads to deterioration and osteoarthritis. Vitamin C is thought to play a role in treating rheumatoid arthritis because it battles free radicals that injure cartilage.
Studies have also shown that osteoarthritis sufferers who took betacarotene daily exhibited a decreased progression of this disease. People suffering from arthritic knees who added vitamin D to their diets were less likely to suffer from arthritis in the future. Vitamin D is needed for the proper absorption of calcium. If you’re concerned that your diet doesn’t provide enough vitamins and minerals, consider the benefits of a daily multivitamin supplement such as Centrum as nutritional insurance.
– News Canada
