The inconvenient reality is that food isn't what it used to
be. The marvel of modern agriculture has robbed our soils of essential minerals
and consequently, our plants are deficient in these nutrients also. Plants need
over fifty vitamins and minerals, yet our abused and overused soils only
typically receive phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. If our plants are vitamin
and mineral deficient and our bodies cannot manufacture these essential
compounds, where else are we supposed to obtain them from?
While sustainable agricultural practices such as bio-dynamic farming aim to restore our soils to health, we have considerable work to do
before this option is universally adopted and available to everyone. In the
interim, most of us are opting to eat as best we can however the majority of
people fail to eat even the bare minimum required fruit and vegetable servings.
This is a tad worrying when you consider that even those who do are probably
also missing key nutrients. Importantly, supplementation is not a substitute
for a healthy diet. But until we can replenish our soils and eat produce
freshly picked in season, supplementation can be a tool to atone for the
shameful lack in our foods.
Thanks to our current insidious exposure to environmental
pollutants, we may also require higher doses of nutrients than any of our
predecessors. It is well established in the medical literature that smokers
require higher levels of vitamin C than non-smokers. Many cities around the
globe already exceed the air pollution limits established by the World Health
Organization. Simple logic follows that in a depressingly polluted world, our
bodies need all the ammunition that is possible to stay healthy.
Whole Food vs. Synthetic Supplements
Ideally, we as humans should be consuming our vitamins and
minerals through foods in their whole, natural and organic form with all the
essential co-factors and enzymes essential for delivering the nutrients
directly to our cells. We have however established that due to the state of our
soils and planet, food is unlikely to always provide the essential vitamins and
minerals required for optimal health. A reasonable option is therefore to
supplement (in conjunction with a healthy diet). However, when confronted with
the barrage of supplements available on the market, it is difficult to discern
whether natural or synthetic supplements are appropriate for your individual
needs.
Supplements may be natural food derivatives or laboratory
manufactured. The majority of vitamins that are sold in pharmacies, grocery
stores, and vitamin shops are synthetic vitamins, which are only isolated
portions of the vitamins that occur naturally in food. Vitamins and minerals in
nature do not exist as single components that act on their own, they are made
up of several different components – enzymes, co-enzymes, and co-factors– that
must work together to produce their intended effects. In this context natural
supplements are far superior to their synthetic counterparts however this is
not the end of the story.
In considering synthetic or natural supplements you must
look into why you are supplementing in the first place. If you are looking to
take therapeutic doses for a particular illness then it may be necessary to
take synthetic supplements to achieve high enough doses for the program to have
effect. There is much published work supporting this approach and in this
context synthetic supplements play their part. If you are generally healthy and
are looking to supplement your diet on a day to day basis then natural
supplements are your best option.
Designing a Supplement Program
There are countless studies showing that by simply
increasing your vitamin and mineral intake you can promote mental clarity, weight
loss, boost your immunity, reduce stress, prevent cancer and other diseases,
combat depression, lower blood pressure, reduce cravings, increase energy
levels, improve sleep, and regulate digestion. Given this information is it
little wonder that many experts now advise that an all-round supplementation
program, in conjunction with a healthy diet, is a savvy health choice. The
following supplement recommendations will cover the basic building blocks of a
robust supplement program:
- A high potency Multi-Vitamin & Multi-Mineral
- Vitamin C
- Essential Fats
- Probiotics
- Multi-Vitamin / Multi-Mineral
Supplementing a healthy diet can improve the body's ability
to detoxify and lose weight. There are many different combinations to promote
certain functions of the body however it is good to consider a high quality,
high dose multivitamin as a solid foundation to begin with. We are lucky there
are many multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplements available to us today from
your local health food store or pharmacy. These have great results but we
recommend where possible to chose raw, whole food nutritional supplements as
our bodies are designed to recognize nutrients best when they come from food.
Look for these in specialized health food stores.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is one of the most important antioxidants. It is
important to know that Vitamin C is not produced by the body. The therapeutic
properties of Vitamin C are plenty. They include very high anti-viral and
anti-bacterial properties, aiding in the prevention of cataracts and helping to
lower cholesterol. Vitamin C is a great antidote for neutralizing free radicals
that will cause premature aging. Vitamin C works wonders at the onset of a cold
or flu when taken to bowel tolerance. High doses of Vitamin C is effective as a
therapeutic agent in the treatment of cancer. Vitamin C is worth taking
separately because the amount you need does not fit in a multi-vitamin. This
can be taken in a powdered form or pill form. Look for Vitamin C as Ascorbic
Acid.
Essential Fats
Essential fatty acids or EFA’s cannot be made by the body
and we therefore need to get them from the food we eat. These oils are great to
maintain healthy hair and skin, elevate moods, nourish your brain, assist in a
healthy pregnancy, increase energy, and regulate blood sugar. There are two
ways of meeting your essential fat requirements: one is from the diet, either
by eating a heaped tablespoon of ground seeds every day, having a tablespoon of
special cold-pressed seed oils and/or eating fish three times a week; the other
is to supplement concentrated oils. For omega 3 this means either flax seed oil
capsules or the more concentrated fish or krill oil capsules providing EPA and
DHA.
Probiotics
Probiotics help to boost our immune system by assisting the
body to absorb nutrients. 80% of our immune system is located in the digestive
system. When good bacteria get destroyed by stress, poor diet and antibiotics,
probiotics help the digestive system by balancing out the good and bad
bacteria. They are necessary to keep your army of good bacteria alive to
continue to keep the bad bacteria in check.
