Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 349, Taking Vitamins and Supplements.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 349.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Our website is eslpod.com.
If you go there, you can download a learning guide for this episode, an 8-10 page PDF file that contains all of the vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, comprehension questions, cultural notes, winning lottery numbers and a complete transcript for this episode.
This episode is called Taking Vitamins and Supplements.
It's a story about how I go to the doctor and the doctor tells me to take some pills to help me.
Let's get started.
The last time I went to the doctor for a checkup, she told me that I needed to start taking some dietary supplements that had the vitamins and minerals that my body needed to stay healthy.
I told her that I ate a balanced diet, But she said that many people, who generally ate well, still didn't get the nutrients their bodies needed every day.
And that's why she recommends taking a multivitamin.
I remember taking chewable vitamins when I was a kid because, but as an adult I never thought I needed it.
It wasn't because I had any signs of deficiency, she said, but that it was better to be safe than sorry.
I asked if it was possible to overdose on over-the-counter multivitamins.
And she said that it was highly unlikely if I followed the recommended dosage.
She said that most people's bodies are able to tolerate and absorb the multivitamins without any problems.
She's right, of course.
I shouldn't neglect my health.
I just wonder if I can find some of those chewable vitamins in the shape of my favorite cartoon characters.
I may be an adult... but I don't always have to act like one.
Our story begins by me saying the last time I went to the doctor for a checkup.
A checkup as a noun means When you go to the doctor on a yearly or regular schedule to have him or her look at your health.
Usually it's once a year.
They take some tests.
They look at you.
They check your blood pressure and other things to make sure that there isn't any major problems medically speaking with you.
To check up, as two words, is the verb to investigate something, to make sure that something is happening.
But this is the noun check up and it is the act of going to your doctor for an annual or regular medical examination.
Dietary comes from the word diet, which can mean the food that you eat, usually does.
Dietary supplements are things that are not foods, but things that you eat, usually pills or things that you drink like a tea, that are taken to improve your health or your nutrition.
Some people take dietary supplements such as vitamins and minerals.
A vitamin V-I-T-A-M-I-N is something that is found in a plant or animal foods and needs to be eaten for good health.
So vitamin C, for example, is a vitamin that some people take because they want to make sure they have enough vitamin C.
A mineral is something found in the earth.
And, like a vitamin, it needs to be taken so that your body has good health.
Vitamins and minerals are the most common types of dietary supplements that people take.
These supplements are very popular in the United States, especially in places such as California.
There are many people who take vitamins and other supplements because they think it is necessary for their health.
Not all doctors agree with that however, but in places such as California, for whatever reason, it's very popular.
I told my doctor that I ate a balanced diet.
Here we see the word diet again, meaning the food that you eat.
If you say you eat a balanced diet, you mean that you have a good combination of healthy foods fruits vegetables, what we would call whole grains, things like brown rice or whole wheat bread.
These are examples of things that might be in a balanced diet, meaning you have enough of each thing.
If you have a balanced diet, many people believe, including many doctors, that you don't need to take extra vitamins or minerals.
Some people do anyway.
My doctor says that I should take vitamins and minerals, because even people who generally eat well still don't get the nutrients their bodies need.
A nutrient, N-U-T-R-I-E-N-T, is something that you need in order to live, in order to be healthy.
That's why she recommends taking a multivitamin.
A multivitamin means many vitamins.
Multi means many.
A multivitamin has many different vitamins and minerals in one pill.
So instead of taking a separate pill for vitamin C and vitamin E and vitamin B12, you take one vitamin pill that has all of those in it.
I say that I remember taking chewable vitamins when I was a kid.
Something that is chewable is something that you can put in your mouth and crush in between your teeth.
That is something that you can make smaller by using your teeth so that you can swallow it.
Chewable vitamins are very popular for children.
They are often different colors and different flavors and come in different shapes animal shapes, cartoon character shapes that will make the child want to take it.
The child chews it and then swallows it.
If something is deficient, we mean it lacks something.
It doesn't have something.
It's less than what it should be.
If you had a vitamin deficiency, you would be lacking or not having enough of certain vitamins.
My doctor said that it was better to be safe than sorry.
That's an old expression.
Better to be safe than sorry means even though you may not need to do something, it may be a good idea to do it, just in case there's a problem in the future.
We often use this expression when we talk about doing something that will help prevent a problem in the future.
I asked my doctor if it is possible to overdose on over-the-counter multivitamins.
To overdose means to take too much of a medicine or another drug, and and that makes you sick or possibly even kills you.
You don't want to overdose.
Over-the-counter drugs are drugs that you can buy without a doctor's prescription.
That is the doctor's permission.
In the US, there are many drugs that you can buy without your doctor telling you it's okay, without having to give you what we would call a prescription, which is permission to take this drug.
The counter is the place in a store where you pay for something, where you buy something.
So over-the-counter refers to drugs that you don't need a prescription for.
My doctor said it was very unlikely I would overdose if I followed the recommended dosage.
Dosage is the amount of medicine that you should take, either because that is what your doctor tells you or that is what the company that makes the drug tells you the recommended dosage.
How much of the drug should you take?
My doctor said most people's bodies are able to tolerate and absorb the multivitamins without any problems.
To tolerate as a verb means to be able to be exposed to something, to have contact with something without being harmed or injured or hurt.
To absorb means to take in and use a substance, usually in your body.
So your body absorbs the vitamin C. It takes the vitamin C in and uses it.
To absorb has a couple of different meanings.
Take a look at our learning guide for an additional explanation.
I say that as I get older, it's all the more important to take care of myself.
The expression all the more means the same here as even more or much more.
I could say it's much more important to take care of myself.
It means the same thing.
It's all the more important.
I say that I shouldn't neglect my health.
To neglect N-E-G-L-E-C-T means not to take care of something, not to do something that you should do, not to pay attention to something.
If you neglected your homework, you didn't do your homework.
If you neglected your dog, you wouldn't talk to your dog or pay attention to your dog or play with your dog.
If you neglected your wife, you would have to find a new place to live.
Now let's listen to the story, this time at a normal speed.
The last time I went to the doctor for a checkup, she told me that I needed to start taking some dietary supplements that had the vitamins and minerals that my body needed to stay healthy.
I told her that I ate a balanced diet, but she said that many people, who generally ate well, still didn't get the nutrients their bodies needed every day, and that's why she recommends taking a multivitamin.
I remember taking chewable vitamins when I was a kid, but as an adult I never thought I needed it.
It wasn't because I had any signs of deficiency, she said, but that it was better to be safe than sorry.
I asked if it was possible to overdose on the over-the-counter multivitamins and she said that it was highly unlikely if I followed the recommended dosage.
She said that most people's bodies are able to tolerate and absorb the multivitamins without any problems.
As I get older, she said, it's all the more important to take care of myself.
She's right, of course.
I shouldn't neglect my health.
I just wonder if I can find some of those chewable vitamins in the shape of my favorite cartoon characters.
I may be an adult, but I don't always have to act like one.
The script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
