Stealing Your Own Vitality

Many daily habits, good and bad, can have the unintended effect of draining valuable nutrients necessary for good health. Keith Ayoob, nutritionist and spokesman for the American Dietetic Association, visits The Early Show Wednesday to point out a few pitfalls.

These include the nutrient-depleting side effects of drinking coffee and alcohol, smoking, taking prescription medications and extreme or improper dieting and exercise.

COFFEE:
The caffeine in coffee leaches calcium from the bones and increases the risk of osteoporosis. If you're a heavy coffee drinker, you may want to consider switching to decaf, or restrict your coffee to two cups a day. You could also add milk or take a calcium supplement.

ALCOHOL:
Drinking more than a moderate amount of alcohol can also lead to the depletion of vitmain E, C and B vitamins. People need to realize that moderate drinking is not very much alcohol at all - one drink for a women and two for a man per day. You can't average out your drinking by consuming a lot in one day and little or none on other days.

TOBACCO:
Smoking also takes nutrients like vitamin C, yet another reason to stop.

MEDICATIONS:
Many medications have a vitamin depleting effect. Inhaled steroids, for example, require increased calcium because they decrease new bone formation and can accelerate osteoporosis. Always check with a physician or pharmacist before taking medication that may interfere with calcium absorption. Ask about the nutritional effects of medications in general.

Another example are antibiotics, which not only kill bad bacteria but good bacteria in the reproductive and digestive system too. You can take probiotics in supplement form or as an ingredient in yogurt. Anti-seizure medications can take away vitamin D, which also leads to an increased risk of osteoporosis because vitamin D is essential for the body to absorb calcium.

DIET:
Extreme or improper diet can have a nutrient-sapping effect if you're trying to lose weight and cut out too many foods that might contain valuable nutrients.

Some people don't get enough vitamin E because they avoid foods that contain fats like nuts and oils. If people don't get enough iron, they can become anemic. Foods that contain acids like ascorbic acid (vitamin C) will help their bodies to absorb the iron.

Any diet that involves excluding certain food groups must be supplemented with other food types that will make up for any vital nutrients that might be omitted. Consult with a nutritionist to be sure you're getting what you need.

EXERCISE:
Regular exercise requires a balanced diet to replace all the nutrients burned up as you work out. Your body also needs more iron, vitamin C and vitamin E. Anti-oxidants like C and E help repair the damage that exercise heaps on your muscles by getting rid of free radicals that are formed in the process. It's always best to try to get the nutrients you need from a balanced diet that contains all the major food groups in recommended quantities rather than supplements.