Supplementation

Supplementation

The Need for Supplementation

• Page 1: The Need for Supplementation
• Page 2: Popular Methods to Choose a Supplement
• Page 3: How to Choose a Supplement

Our bodies require certain nutrients to maintain proper health. These nutrients are supposed to be supplied by the food that we eat, our diets. We say ’supposed’ because the truth is that depleted soils, green harvesting and other modern manufacturing processes eliminates the great majority of the nutrients^[1][2][3]. Additionally, we find that these are many times infected (as was the case with salmonella in jalapeños in mid 2008^[4]), antibiotics are injected in our meat products, heavy metals are found in our fish, high hormone levels are detected in our poultry, full of food colorings which are known to be allergens, and much more. It’s no surprise that the nutritional value in our food continues to decrease as time passes.

As a result, the USDA has increased the serving sizes of fruits and vegetables. Why? A study in Canada found that two peaches in 1951 would have supplied 100% of a woman’s vitamin A Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). Today, that same woman would need to eat 53 peaches to meet the requirement.^[2] When was the last time you ate 2 peaches in the same day? When was the last time you ate 2 fruits the same day? Can you imagine 53? And this is for ONE VITAMIN! The body needs 13 different types of vitamins!^[5]

It is physically impossible to eat or drink the nutrients that our bodies require on a daily basis. A healthy body requires more than just the 13 vitamins previously mentioned. A healthy body also needs:

• carbohydrates (for energy, cellular structure and intercellular communication)
• minerals
• phytohormones
• Phytochemicals
• amino acids (proteins)
• fatty acids (such as omega 3)
• oxygen (O₂)
• water (H₂)
• and more…

The more we look at the list and realize that the first items on this list are almost non-existent in our food, the more we realize that supplements are needed.

References:

[1] Mayer A-M. “Historical Changes in the Mineral Content of Fruits and Vegetables,” Brit Food J 1997; 96(6): 2007-11.

[2] Christian J. “Charts: Nutrient Changes in Vegetables and Fruits, 1951 to 1999.” CTV.ca News 2002. Available at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20020705/favaro_nutrients_chart_020705.
Accessed August 11, 2008.

[3] Davis DR, Epp MD, Riodan HD. “Changes in USDA Food Composition for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999.” J Am C Nutr 2004; 23(6): 669-82.

[4] Venkataraman, Bina. “Salmonella Strain in Jalapeños Is a Match.” The New York Times, July 22, 2008. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/us/22salmonella.html?ref=health.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

[5] MedlinePlus. “Vitamins.” Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitamins.html.
Accessed August 13, 2008.

Tags: antibiotics, depleted soils, fruits and vegetables, green harvesting, minerals, nutrients, nutritional value of food, phytohormones, phytosterols, rda, recommended daily allowance, supplementation, the need for supplementation, usda, vitamins