It’s not unusual for celebrities to be health-conscious (hello, Miranda Kerr and Gwyneth Paltrow), but some of them take it a lot further than others.
In a recent interview with Into the Gloss, country singer LeAnn Rimes admitted to quite a serious vitamin habit: she takes 40 of them (yep, that’s four zero, as in FORTY) every single day.
“I’m a big vitamin person. I take like 20 pills in the morning and 20 at night—fish oil, prenatal vitamins, probiotics, biotin… I have an herbalist I work with who has put me on a bunch of different things. I’m very strict about making sure I take them,” the 32-year-old told the website.
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Does that seem a bit over the top to you?
Accredited Practicing Dietitian Nicole Senior tends thinks it is. “It doesn’t seem likely that [Rimes] needs to take all of those,” she says.
“I think for many of us, we can hope that taking nutritional supplements might make up for some dietary ‘indiscretions’, shall we say… unfortunately they don’t do that. There is nothing you can take in a pill that is as beneficial to your body as a healthy balanced diet,” Senior explains.
In fact, taking vitamins and minerals can be risky business if you're not sensible about it. Senior says certain vitamins can become harmful in large doses, and certain combinations of supplements can actually counteract any effects.
Although supplementation is necessary in some circumstances, there are a lot of people out there who are splashing out on vitamins when they don't actually need them - and when they haven't been advised to do so by a health professional.
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"You don't want to be taking anything you don't need and you don't want to take too much of the wrong thing. So if you're concerned about your diet, it's a good idea to talk to an accredited practicing dietitian to have an assessment - they will recommend if you need any supplements and how much to take," Senior says.
Clearly, Rimes isn't taking supplements based on self-diagnosis - she does so under the guidance of a herbalist, and Senior says it's therefore likely some of the singer's "pills" are herbs rather than nutritional supplements. All the same, it's important to consult with a doctor when taking any natural or complementary medications as they can potentially interfere with prescription medication. (Post continues after gallery.)
Leann Rimes on Instagram.
Senior says the most common vitamins prescribed by health professionals include calcium, iron and vitamin D. Pre-natal vitamins, particularly folate, are also frequently recommended for women who are planning to fall pregnant or are already pregnant.
"It's standard pregnancy care in Australia to take folate supplements ... it's to reduce the risk of neural tube defects," Senior says.
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Ultimately, however, there are a lot of people out there buying vitamins they don't need, and flushing their money down the toilet. Quite literally.
"Especially with a lot of the common vitamins like Vitamin B and Vitamin C, what you don't need you just excrete in your urine. So there's a lot of very expensive wee being made around Australia by people taking unneccessary supplements and in large amounts," Senior says.
In the interview, Rimes also discusses her lifelong experience with psoriasis, a skin condition also suffered by Kim Kardashian and Cara Delevingne. The singer has been living with the condition since she was two years old, and it took her a long time to get it "under control".
"I had to wear a lot of long pants or jeans and two or three pairs of pantyhose in the summertime. It was a nightmare. I started taking a biologic drug [called Humira]. I take a shot every two weeks, and I hate needles, but that’s what I had to do to get my skin clear. I went through every type of treatment known to man," she explains to Into The Gloss.
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Although Rimes still experiences the occasional breakout, which she treats with topical products, her psoriasis doesn't affect her self-confidence as much as it once did.
"When I was younger, I always wanted to hide it and never wanted to talk about it... When they say beauty is way more than skin deep, it’s hard for people who have psoriasis to wrap their minds around that. Some people even think it’s contagious and want to stay away," she says.
"I’ve had it under control for about 10 years, so it’s been this liberating thing for me to be able to wear shorts and a bikini. People make so much fun of me and my bikinis, but I would walk around naked if I could because I was one big scab at one point!"
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Having said that, Rimes isn't immune to moments of insecurity; she admits it's challenging to perform in front of thousands of people when she feels "completely bloated and disgusting".
"Working out, taking care of myself, and knowing that I’m doing the best things for myself and putting healthy things into my body makes me feel beautiful—even on the days when I feel like crap," she says.
Do you take health supplements? If so, which ones and why?
