Answer:

You are doing some very important things to keep yourself healthy--congratulations! Exercise and eating fruits are both essential, and taking some supplements is also a good idea. But which inds of supplements to take can be a difficult question. In general, despite eating a generally healthy diet, people usually need some form of dietary supplementation. This is usually because the foods we eat today are grown in depleted soils, that is, soils which no longer have the nutrients such as iron, selenium, zinc, copper and others which they once did. The plants still grow and they still taste good, but they are often devoid of many of the nutrients we need. We also live in much more highly polluted environments than before. Pollution creates a great many more highly energetic particles called "free radicals" in our bodies, and we need certain nutrients called "antioxidants" to combat these free radicals. In the past, when we lived in a much cleaner environment--when the air and the water were pure--it was possible to get enough antioxidants from our food, but today, we need larger amounts of antioxidants than before, and we can't get them from food. Medical research has shown that antioxidants such as vitamins E and C are essential daily nutrients, and there are many others which are important as well. It is probably important to get at least 400 IU of vitamin E and 500 to 1000 mg of vitamin C a day. Women need about 1 gram of calcium every day before menopause, and 1.5 grams per day after menopause. Getting more calcium than that is almost never a problem. So there are certain nutrients which are essential. Iron is also important, but unlike other nutrients, unless you are pregnant, it is probably not necessary to take an iron supplement. In fact, getting too much iron over a long period of time can actually be a big health problem.

Exercise is very important, as is eating vegetables. There are good medical research studies which show that exercise helps people to stay in good health for much longer in their lives than people who do not exercise. And you're right--eating vegetables (and fruits of all kinds!) is important because they provide important nutrients it is not possible to get in supplements, and the fibre they contain is essential for keeping cholesterol levels low and aiding in digestion.

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