Managing your health

If you have read some of my previous articles, you would have noted that I always ask you questions. Today, my question is: “How many tablets do you take every day?”
Every day, we see nutrition and vitamin tablets advertised on television, newspapers, magazines and plenty of them on the online media. Some vitamin tablets promise to make you feel fresh, others promise to make your hair stronger, reduce your wrinkles and make your skin brighter. Their properties sound very attractive and often make us think of trying them out. Because we have no time to exercise and/or we have not enough nutrition from our daily food, we need something like instant health.
I developed an allergy for the weather since I was an undergrad because I had to travel by three vehicles – a motorcycle, a bus and finally a train – from my home to the university every day. It took around three hours on Thailand’s dusty roads and rail. Some years ago, while having dinner with friends, I had a bad bout of sneezing. A friend, who is a doctor, suggested that I take a vitamin C 1,000mg tablet every day. She said when we are in our 30s, vitamin C is needed but we rarely get enough of it from our daily food. It has worked very well for me as I have less allergy symptoms now. Does this mean I should take some other vitamin supplements as well?
Recently, two separate studies sounded a note of caution to vitamin tablet lovers. The first one was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research was funded by America’s National Institute of Health to study whether vitamin E might decrease the risk of prostate cancer. What researcher Eric Klien discovered was quite to the contrary. He found out that there is a 17-per-cent increase in prostate cancer among men who took the vitamin compared with those who took a placebo. The second one was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study investigated the health and habits of almost 40,000 women over two decades. Jaakko Murso of the University of Eastern Finland found out that there was a higher rate of death among women who took multivitamins. Although both papers do not have much acceptance due to some weak points in the research methodology and explanations, they trigger us to think about something.
When we feel pleasure devoting all our energies and time towards our work, how often do we spend a few minutes asking ourselves how to take better care of our health? Do we really need vitamin from tablets or should we just change our habits? Jogging in a park around your workplace, giving up smoking, drinking less, having good food are some examples of habits that you can change easily. If you can do this, you will not need “instant health” from vitamin tablets that may have unforeseen effects in the future. In my own experience, my yearly health checkup this year found some strange figure in my liver. The doctor suggested that it may be a side-effect of the drug I take for my hair. Even though it was not dangerous, the doctor advised me to stop taking it.
I personally believe having some vitamin tablets might help you maintain good health, but it should be under medical supervision. At the end of the day, taking good care of ourselves is the best way. Yes, we do hear of people dying despite regular exercise and taking healthy food. I don’t want to die thinking why didn’t I do this and that. When the time arrives, I just want to sleep peacefully.

Jirat Sirichalermpong is customer and marketing analysis manager at Siam City Cement.