Lifestyle diseases are those conditions to which your lifestyle habits contribute. Many medical conditions are the direct result of poor eating habits, a lack of exercise and insufficient preventive health care. They are diseases most common in affluent populations. Common diseases attributed to American lifestyles include alcoholism and drug addiction, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, obesity and some kinds of cancer. While vitamins cannot make you change your destructive habits, they can help increase healing and reduce the symptoms of your lifestyle-related disease.
Obesity
Obesity is one of the most common lifestyle diseases that carries a number of health-related complications. Obesity occurs when you eat more calories than your body burns, no matter the source. At the same time, some vitamin deficiencies may increase the likelihood that you will gain weight, adding to your poor eating habits and leading to obesity. A lack of sufficient vitamin D may lead to obesity, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Low vitamin D levels also may be related to other lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
Heart Disease
Fish oil supplements may help prevent heart disease, especially once you've lost weight and started a healthy eating and exercise routine. The omega-3 fatty acids found in vitamins containing fish oil may reduce your risk of a stroke or heart attack, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can lower your blood pressure and prevent you from developing an irregular heartbeat. Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E may reduce your LDL, or bad cholesterol levels, and prevent plaque build-up in your arteries. Vitamin D also may help to improve blood flow.
Diabetes
The antioxidants found in vitamins C and E may help reduce the onset and worsening of diabetes, according to the Joslin Diabetes Center. Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals that you get from food and the environment. Free radicals damage cells and can lead to a number of conditions in addition to diabetes. Cholesterol, triglyceride and blood glucose levels may stabilize more effectively with supplements containing vitamins C and E. Before taking any vitamin supplements, however, consult your physician to make sure they don’t cause additional complications.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly referred to as COPD, chronic bronchitis or emphysema, is a common ailment that results from smoking. Taking vitamin E supplements for a period of time may help prevent the onset of COPD, according to Cornell University. Damage from inflammation and the free radicals that get into your lungs from smoking and breathing in environmental toxins may be reduced by as much as 10 percent with vitamin E supplementation.
References
- UN Chronicle; Lifestyle Diseases: An Economic Burden on the Health Services; Fatma Maskari; 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Can vitamins help prevent a heart attack?; Martha Grogan, M.D.; April 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Heart disease; January 2011
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Vitamin D
- Joslin Diabetes Center: What Are the Best Vitamins and Minerals to Take?
- Cornell University; Study: Long-term use of vitamin E may decrease COPD risk; 2011
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