There is a growing interest in promoting healthy living across the nation with many people trying to increase the amount of exercise that they do and eat more healthily but should taking a daily vitamin supplement be part of this regime or can be get all the nutrients we need from our food?

To explore this idea, as silly as it sounds, we need to think back to how farming methods have changed over the years. In the past there were a lot less chemicals used on the land to control pests and weeds. Every few years the ground would have a fallow year allowing the nutrients in the soil to renew but now the intensive farming methods that are used do not allow for this to happen so the soil and therefore the crops do not contain the goodness they once did.

It is for this reason that the taking of a daily vitamin and mineral supplement is advisable as a huge amount of food would need to be eaten to supply the required number of vitamins in our diet.

At different times of the year we can become deficient in certain vitamins for example vitamin D supplements should be taken through the winter months when we do not get enough natural sunlight to top up our reserves.