Can supplements take the place of a bad diet?
They'd better.
Despite decades of research and well-funded mass education, 70 percent of all adults and children in the U.S. do not eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day for good health.
The following are twelve reasons why you should consider supplementing your diet:
1) A 2002 landmark study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, using thirty-six years of data, concluded that everyone needs to supplement - regardless of age or health. Their study showed that people who did not get enough nutrition were at an increased risk of disease, including heart disease and cancer.1
2) Co-factors, which are found mainly in vegetables, are crucial for absorbing nutrition from food, making fuel for energy, neutralizing stress, and aging gracefully. Not having enough co-factors in your diet can result in inflammation and joint pain, cause the immune system to start misfiring, the skin to break out in unsightly acne, lesions and scabs. Soon, diseases can emerge, like allergies, arthritis, acne, osteoporosis, lupus, even cancer and heart disease.2
3) Cooking at temperatures over 120 degrees kills practically all of the nutrition in most foods.3
4) 72 percent of doctors and 89 percent of nurses personally use vitamin, mineral, herbal and other supplements either regularly, occasionally or seasonally.4
5) It is often cheaper to supplement than to buy nutritious food, especially out-of-season fresh produce. In order to get enough vitamin C, you would need to consume several dozen oranges a day. Not only is this impractical, few people can afford it.5
6) Virtually every popular diet plan, unsupplemented, is nutrient deficient. While vitamin supplements do not produce weight loss, people trying to lose weight can reduce cravings with concentrated nutrition.6
7) An estimated 100 million Americans have some type of digestive disorder. So even when nutritious food is consumed, the nutrients are not adequately being absorbed by the body.7
8) Women using oral contraceptives have lower levels of B-vitamins, (especially B-6, B-3 niacin, B-1 thiamin, B-2 riboflavin, B-12), folic acid and vitamin C.8
9) More than one-third of Americans do not get enough vitamin C in their diet. Just 500 mg daily of vitamin C results in a 42 percent lower risk of death from heart disease and a 35 percent lower risk of death from any cause.9
10) Kids who eat hot dogs once a week double their risk of a brain tumor. Kids eating more than twelve hot dogs a month have nearly ten times the risk of leukemia as children who ate none. However, hot-dog eating children taking supplemental vitamins were shown to have a reduced risk of cancer.10
11) The New England Journal of Medicine had two articles showing that persons taking vitamin E supplements had an approximately 40% reduction in cardiovascular disease. Nearly 40,000 men and 87,000 women took part in the studies. The more vitamin E they took, and the longer they took it, the less cardiovascular disease they experienced. Yet from diet alone, it is literally impossible to get enough vitamin E for optimum health. A daily intake of 100 to 400 IU of vitamin E is needed to prevent cardiovascular disease. Most people do not even get 30 IU of vitamin E a day. In fact, most get only 17 IU daily.11
12) People who eat a balanced diet still do not get enough adequate nutrition for optimum health. According to the 1992 Earth Summit, 85 percent of vital minerals have been depleted from the North American soil. As far back as 1936, the U.S. Senate issued Document 246, which says the impoverished soil in the U.S. no longer provides plant foods with the necessary minerals needed for human nourishment.12
The Bottom Line
Whole-food nutritional supplements make any dietary lifestyle, whether good or bad, significantly better. They are quick, easy and affordable. Why not put the odds for good health in your favor?
By the way, not all supplements are created equal. Some are created in a lab, while others are made from food. Synthetic supplements create chemical imbalances within the cells, resulting in an increased risk of disease and even premature death. This report shows why it is critical to use the right kind of supplements. Otherwise, you're better off taking nothing.
That's why my family and I take and recommend whole-food multis from Whole Food Nation™. No matter what, make sure your supplements are made from food. Your body knows exactly what to do with the nutrients and there are no side effects.
References
1. Robert H. Fletcher, MD, MSc, and Kathleen M. Fairfield, MD, DrPH, "Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults," Journal of the American Medical Association 287 (2002): 3127-3129.
2. Lipsky, Elizabeth, MS, CCN. (2000). Digestive Wellness (Updated 2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Keats.
3. Malkmus, George. God's Way to Ultimate Health. Shelby, NC: Hallelujah Acres Publishing, 1998.
4. Study Finds Physicians and Nurses Both Take and Recommend Dietary Supplements. "Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study. November, 2007.
5. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. Saul, Andrew W., Ph.D. 2003; Vol. 18, Numbers 3 and 4, p. 213-216.
6. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. Saul, Andrew W., Ph.D. 2003; Vol. 18, Numbers 3 and 4, p. 213-216.
7. LifeExtensions.org, "Digestive Disorders," updated June 5, 2003, http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-044.shtml.
8. Wynn V. Vitamins and oral contraceptive use. Lancet. 1975 Mar 8;1(7906):561-4.
9. Enstrom JE, Kanim LE, and Klein MA. Vitamin C intake and mortality among a sample of the United States population. Epidemiology 3 (1992):194–202.
10. Sarasua S, Savitz DA. Cured and broiled meat consumption in relation to childhood cancer: Denver, Colorado (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 1994 Mar; 5(2):141-8.
11. Antioxidants: What they are and what they do. Harvard Health Letter. Feb 1999; 24(5).
12. The Results Project, "Why You Can't Eat Well," http:www.resultsproject.net/Why_you_cant_eat_well.html, referenced in Colbert, "Curbing the Toxic Onslaught."
Related Articles:
What is a Whole-Food Multi?
The Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies
What Do Vitamins and Minerals Do For You?
© 2008 Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. Please feel free to peruse my blog for more great content.
My Other Websites: Are Your Vitamins Safe? Whole Food Nation Affiliate Link
3 comments:
Great, my decision of taking some vitamin supplements was not wrong at all.
Interesting site. I think that we should supplement for nutrients that are amiss in our diets and those that the body cannot manufacture on its own. Now that becomes the purpose of supplementing on vitamins and minerals.
Consequently, In the last 50 years or so, our feeding habits has undermined the body's requirements for Omega 3, whereas Omega 6 levels have increased at a remarkable ratio to cause disease. As supplement I take flax seed every day to somewhat balance the ratio of Omega 3 to 6. Supplementing with flax seed will help attain the recommended levels for Omega 3 EFAs in the body. Some related info on Omega 3, 6 and flax seed below.
http://www.herbalsupplementshealth.com/2008/06/flax-seed-promotes-omega-3-and-omega-6-balance-in-the-diet.html
Wow, I am sitting here with my jaw dropped over the item about kids eating hotdogs once a week doubling their chance of getting a BRAIN TUMOR! Wow.
Thanks for this post, it was very informative. I take a women's vitamin supplement but I think I need to research it and make sure it's not a synthetic version.
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