If losing weight and succeeding at our diet was as easy as taking a pill, we’d all be svelte models. Alas, there’s no magic pill. However, some key vitamins and minerals can help you master your diet and lose unwanted pounds fast.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is often recommended as a weight loss supplement because lack of this essential nutrient has been linked to fatigue and lack of energy. The argument goes that if lack of vitamin B12 slows your metabolism, the reverse is true and more vitamin B12 can boost your metabolism.
You might be low on vitamin B12, which might impact your weight loss. If you’re older or if you’re on a strict diet that eliminates entire food groups. In general, adults need 2.4 mcg of vitamin B12 every day. Some of the best food-based sources for this metabolism-enhancing vitamin include eggs, beef liver, fish, and clams.
Vitamin D
Also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” many people are deficient in this vitamin, especially during the darker, colder winter months. Studies have found a link between low levels of vitamin D and higher rates of obesity. If you want to successfully keep extra weight gain at bay, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D.
Adults need 600 IUs a day, and this requirement jumps to 800 IUs once you’re 71 years old or older.
While sunlight is the best way to increase your body’s natural levels of vitamin D, you can also get it through some foods. Some of the best food sources of vitamin D that are also low in carbs and therefore helpful for most dieters include pink salmon, sardines, and egg yolk.
Fish Oil Pills
Omega-3 fatty acids are a form of healthy fat that some studies report may improve weight loss and enhance the rate of your metabolism, so you burn more calories at rest.
You can get omega-3s as a fish oil supplement available in either pill form, capsule form or as a liquid supplement.
Besides supplements, oily fish like tuna and mackerel provide lots of this healthy fat.
