Top five supplements for Latinos

Taking supplements based on ethnicity or race may not cross many people's minds, but Good Morning America reports targeted nutrient pills may, in fact, be a good approach for many individuals.

"There was a time when there was one vitamin, everybody took that. And then a few years ago, we had the gender, the male and the female [vitamin]," said Dexter Russell, vice president of GenSpec Labs about targeted vitamins. "Well this is just a natural evolution."

Russell's laboratory creates vitamins based on the nutritional needs of certain demographics. Hispanics and African-Americans, for example, tend to be deficient in vitamin D due to darker skin tones.

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What are the top five recommended supplements for Hispanics?

• Zinc: According to faqs.org, Hispanics are traditionally low in zinc, an essential mineral needed for cellular metabolism. Zinc assists with protein synthesis, wound healing, pregnancy growth and development, proper senses of smell and taste, and DNA synthesis.

  

  Supplements based on your ethnicity or race may be a good approach for many individuals. Here's a list of supplements for Hispanics. (Shutterstock)

• Vitamin E: Hispanics also traditionally have low levels of vitamin E. Without vitamin E, the body is not as well-protected against free radicals. Vitamin E is also needed for proper immune function, cell signaling, gene expression and other metabolic processes.
• Calcium: Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body—and one of the most important. For Hispanics, calcium is often lacking in the diet, thus leading to a deficiency. Without calcium, bones become weakened, and muscle function, intracellular signaling and hormonal secretion can all be affected.
• Vitamin B-12: This deficiency is most common in elderly Latinos, though anyone of any age can have a vitamin B-12 deficiency. In the body, vitamin B-12 is very important for red blood cell formation. It is involved in DNA synthesis and neurological functions. Without vitamin b-12, Hispanics can suffer from anemia and neurologic disorders.
• Vitamin D: As stated before Hispanics generally are deficient in vitamin D. Without vitamin D, calcium cannot be properly absorbed, which is why calcium deficiency usually goes hand-in-hand with vitamin D deficiency. Within the body, vitamin D regulates cell growth, encourages proper muscle function, and reduces inflammation.

"There's so much science out there that agrees with the various deficiencies in the ethnic backgrounds," said Joseph Lander, founder and president of GenSpec. "Is it a marketing gimmick that for every six Caucasians who die of prostate cancer, there are 10 African-Americans? The American Cancer Society has said there's a direct link between vitamin D deficiency and prostate cancer."

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The link between chronic disease and vitamin deficiency only solidifies the need to look at the differences between racial and ethnic groups' health needs, say experts, who point out it's not necessarily genetics that are to blame.

"There are minimal differences between races," said ABC medical news contributor Dr. David Katz . "We make a mistake thinking we're all that different from each other. The differences in our health are more related to lifestyle, education, finances and poverty than they are to genetics."