Most people know that the human body needs a certain number of vitamins and minerals everyday to function properly and remain healthy. A well balanced diet will supply your body with the vitamins it needs but who always gets a balanced diet every day? Make bad eating a habit and problems and disorders can arise when your diet doesn't supply your body with the vitamins it needs. These symptoms of vitamin deficiency will normally present themselves when the lack of vitamins gets to an advanced level.

When you don't get enough vitamins A, B1, and B2, for example, you will start to always feel tired and feel a loss of appetite. You might also notice mental and emotional stress, chapped lips, and other annoying and puzzling and painful symptoms.

When you always feel like you don't have any energy or feel drained it's quite possible that you're not getting enough vitamins. Poor diet, taking a medicine that interferes with vitamin absorption or too much alcohol can all cause a vitamin deficiency. Your doctor will probably advise that you start taking vitamins or supplements to make up for the short fall. But don't try to make up for lost time by taking too much. In many cases, this can actually cause more harm.

You will still probably need to take vitamins and supplements even if you're on a healthy diet. Not everyone has the same requirements so as a backup, you should be taking essential vitamins to make sure that whatever happened to be missed will be made up.

Vitamins should be taken before or after every meal, depending on the instructions. Certain deficiencies in vitamins can be easily made up a regular habit of taking supplements. You may not even be aware of it on a day to day basis but vitamin deficiency can greatly hamper your overall health and performance.

So what are the things to look for?

When you look for supplements look for those that contain vitamins B6, B12, D, E, and folic acid. Along with being considered dietary supplements, these well known vitamins will help to fight cancer and help your heart remain healthy. This combination of vitamins will help your body to remain healthy, boost your immune system, and keep you feeling refreshed.

Consider an investment in vitamins as an essential part of keeping your body running at peak efficiency. With the widespread awareness of the importance of vitamins you can now get them at the big chains, small boutique nutrition stores and also online. As you get older this is a habit that even more important to stick with. Don't try to replace food with vitamins because you can't get all the nutrition you need from just a supplement.

Anytime you aren't able to eat the right food, taking vitamin supplements will give your body what it needs. Invest in your self - supplements and vitamins are one of the best investments you can make, as everyone needs vitamins in their body. For what you spend in vitamins and supplements, you'll be keeping your body healthy - and preventing a deficiency in vitamins. Even though vitamin deficiency is common these days, it doesn't have to be.