© DIE PTA IN DER APOTHEKE
© DIE PTA IN DER APOTHEKE

English for PTA

AUTUMN AND WINTER VITAMINS

Many of us are probably looking back yearning for the long sunny days of the summer of 2018. While many of us will have been able to “tank up” on vitamin D, others will have avoided the sun.

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Not just vitamin D, but also vitamins such as the B vitamins and, most important of all, vitamin C are essential for our immune system. Some research suggests that vitamin D deficiency for example, may play a role in the prevention and treatment of a number of medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosis. Female pharmacy customer: Good afternoon. Do you speak English?

PTA: Good afternoon, yes I can. How may I help you?
Do you have any kind of vitamin C tablets? A friend of mine was telling me the other day that she starts taking vitamins in September to help her through the autumn and winter. She said she hasn’t had a cold or the flu in years.

We have a few different types of vitamin C, but have you thought about other vitamins? You know such as vitamin D?
Not really. I thought that vitamin D was just for healthy bones and teeth.

Vitamin D is good for bone health, but it has been known for some years now that vitamin D also plays a very important role in our immune system. There seems to be a connection between vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune illnesses. In one study that I was reading only last week, it was stated that susceptibility for infection is directly connected to the deficiency.
I wasn’t aware of that. You said ‘vitamins’. Did you mean other vitamins?

Yes, certainly. Not just vitamins really, but a combination of vitamins and minerals. Multivitamins are great for your immune defence, especially in winter. Zinc, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, copper and a variety of vitamins, including vitamin D, are right here in this product.
I see. Can’t I get vitamins from a healthy diet?

Of course! Multivitamins, or any type of dietary supplement should not replace a healthy diet, but rather support it. Vitamin C, for example is destroyed by heating, and even though it’s possible nowadays to get all kinds of fruit and vegetables all year round, they start to lose their goodness a few days after harvesting. Local and regional produce are much better.
Are there any local vegetables that you can recommend?

Cabbage such as kale is a great source of a whole variety of vitamins and minerals. And what is not well-known is that mushrooms are a great source of minerals! Mushrooms contain the antioxidant selenium, for example.
Antioxidant?

Antioxidants protect the body’s cells from free radicals, which are natural by-products of metabolic processes that can damage the cells.
I think I’ll stick with the multivitamin tablets there in your hand.

These are actually a combination of vitamins and minerals and you only need to take one a day. And please remember: they should not replace a healthy diet.
Thank you. I’ll remember that.


You can find this article at PTA IN DER APOTHEKE 10/18 on page 102.

Catherine Croghan, Lecturer in English and native speaker

Vocabulary
autumnHerbst
vitaminsVitamine
yearningsich sehnen
avoidedgemieden
deficiencyMangel
cold(hier) Erkältung
flu(ugs.) Influenza, Grippe
autoimmune illnessesAutoimmunkrankheiten
susceptibilityAnfälligkeit
immune defenceImmunabwehr
dietary supplementNahrungsergänzungsmittel
replaceersetzen
destroyedzerstört
harvestingErnte
cabbageKohl
kaleGrünkohl
sourceQuelle
mushroomsPilze
damagebeschädigen
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