| |
| |
|
Supplements Information |
|
|
|
Multivitamins: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Ideally, humans would eat wholly nutritious diets rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. The fact is, most people do not meet all their nutritional needs through their food. As a result, many of us rely on multivitamins and supplements to achieve more complete nutrition. Question: Do you know what those vitamins and minerals are doing in your body? Do you know how much of the product your body actually absorbs when it comes to taking a multivitamin No federal regulations Vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements produced and distributed in the U.S. are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. In fact, if you or I wanted to start selling our own personal brands of vitamins, mineral supplements or similar products, we could do so without anyone, including the FDA, having a say in the matter. This lack of regulation should sound a warning signal about these products' contents. Most supplements on the market are basically garbage. While they may contain good-for-you ingredients, they do nothing to bolster your nutrition because your body cannot absorb them. Nutritional companies spend thousands of dollars marketing their products to convince consumers how great they are. For example, the best-known multivitamin brands found in drug and discount stores are virtually useless. Rather than trying to dazzle you with their exaggerated claims, supplement companies would be better off spending their dollars on research to determine that their products really are benefiting you. The quality of a supplement's contents is far more important than any sexy claims its manufacturer can make. Your main concerns should be the quality and bioavailability (level of absorption and use by the body) of any product you purchase. Supplements cannot repair the effects of bad eating Hippocrates said it best, "Let food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be thy food." Eating naturally nutritious food is the most important aspect of your diet. The foundation you lay with proper eating habits is far more important than any food supplement you can take. Examine your eating and exercise habits before you consider seeing a doctor for almost any problem. However, even the best vitamins and supplements available will not propel you to optimal health if you otherwise eat unhealthy food. Say your diet consists mainly of pre-packaged and/or fast foods, but you take your Centrum or One-a-Day, so you talk yourself into thinking you feel fine. Your body knows otherwise, and you may find yourself in big trouble in a few years. All this amounts to is killing yourself slowly. Why take supplements at all? Even the most healthful eater might want to consider supplements, due to the lack of nutrients in our soil. Soil in the U.S. slowly has been losing more and more nutrients each year, making our foods less tasty and less nourishing to our bodies. The single most important health factor is nourishment. If we lack proper nourishment, we will slowly die of disease, obesity and malnutrition. Yes, extremely overweight people are largely malnourished! The way to achieve optimal health is to eat as few calories as possible, while still providing your body with the highest levels of nourishment. This is where organic food plays a key role. Organic food has been shown to contain 40 percent more nutrients than regular commercially produced food. Add high quality supplements which provide your body with bioavailable vitamins and minerals, and it becomes easy to live a long, healthy life while consuming fewer calories and still obtaining the nutrients you need to function optimally. What to look for in a supplement Almost everyone should start off with a multivitamin supplement. Multivitamins work better than taking individual supplements because they provide the body with a combination of all the vitamins a minerals it needs in a single source. The body prefers this delivery method because it can better absorb and utilize them in combination than it can when you take each vitamin and mineral separately. Other beneficial supplements include antioxidants found in trace minerals, and some specific vitamins and minerals not contained in most multivitamins. Antioxidants contain nutrients to help fight off the oxidative properties in free radicals that cause your body to break down. Taking an antioxidant supplement will keep your body strong and healthy, allowing less breakdown. Still other important supplements are cod liver oil, fish oil, flax seed oil, and whey or egg protein (sometimes used as a form of meal replacement). Each individual requires different nutrients and a generic multivitamin certainly can help address these deficiencies. Remember, though, any supplement is still a synthetic and not real food. Experiment until you find a high-quality product that works for you. There are dozens of good products out there, but none is "the best." Because we're all unique, no single product can be all things to all people. Specialty vitamin companies do develop personalized products. By performing blood, hair, and saliva work, they determine the necessary ingredients to create the best multivitamin for an individual. As you can imagine, that level of individualized production comes with a hefty price tag. High-quality general-use supplements are out there. They can be found at the health food store and almost certainly will cost more than the famous name brands. But if you don't invest in your health first, every other investment in your life will be wasted. Isn't optimal health worth the cost and effort it takes to purchase quality products? It might sound cliché, but it's true: You take care of your body, and your body will take care of you. Scott White is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist located in Scottsdale, Ariz. For more information about nutrition and fitness, reach Scott at 480-628-1607 or swhite@personalpowertraining.net. Also: http://www.personalpowertraining.net.
MORE RESOURCES:
Supplements - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Secrets of Looking and Feeling Younger and HGH Supplements The mankind has never stopped searching for the scerets of youth ever since the dawn of intelligence. The tales date back to at least the time of the Alexander Romance in the West. What to Look For In Selecting A High Quality Nutritional Supplement! Have you ever purchased something thinking you had bought a really good product only to later find out that you could have had a better product for the same money? I know I have. And our friend Henry is shortly about to discover this sick feeling for himself in a very personal way. Is Citrus Aurantium Really Bad for Your Health? Once again the "wisdom" of the FDA and the supplement hating Academia and the out of control trial lawyers - have gotten it wrong. And are doing everything they can to take away your right to take control of your own health. Why Fucose? Haven't heard of fucose? Think it's the latest teen dance craze? Think again, because fucose could make a huge difference in your quality of life.Fucose is a rare sugar, one of the eight known bioactive sugars essential for proper cell to cell communication. Health Supplement Health Supplement - what is it?So what is a health supplement? Health supplement is a term that means products made of one or more of the fundamental nutrients, for example vitamins or minerals and which is very beneficial for our health. It provides you with some specific (or a mix of) vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, amino acids, metabolites, etc. Amended Bitter Orange - Ephedra in Disguise? So Why Do People Still Take It ? If you read my last article about bitter orange, it was pretty clear how I felt about the herb. I'd read the available research concerning bitter orange, and while there was some evidence supporting bitter orange, the overall picture did not look good. Calcium Supplement - The Importance of Taking One Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body and also an important supplement to take. Calcium is needed to form bones and teeth and is also required for blood clotting, transmission of signals in nerve cells, and muscle contraction. Herbal Nutrition Supplements: The 5Ws Herbal nutrition supplements are everywhere these days. So should you be taking them? To help you decide for yourself, here are the whos, whats, whens, wheres and whys on herbal nutrition. Popular Applications of Hyaluronic Acid Hyaluronic acid has received much press lately as a natural source of health and beauty. In fact, there are so many uses and benefits of hyaluronic acid, it is instructive to clarify and organize them. Not all Antioxidants are Created Equal! The growing numbers of health conscious people today living more vibrant lives owe much to the efforts and research of certain pioneers who braved ridicule, for without them, many of us now wouldn't be aware of the general benefits of taking antioxidant supplements.To take a particular notable example, great scientist and humanitarian Linus Pauling (the only man to win 2 unshared Nobel Prizes, one in Chemistry and one for Peace) urged people to supplement with Vitamin C after he became convinced of its myriad of benefits. Immune System Supplement Your Immune system Needs BalanceTaking an immune system supplement daily is very important. However most of us don't do it until we get sick or don't feel good. The Importance of Taking a Multivitamin Supplement It's absolutely crucial that your body gets the nutrients it needs to function effectively and efficiently. The daily stress of pollution, fatty and processed food, and stress deplete your body of nutrients and it's up to you to replace these nutrients. Glyconutrients Will Be Revolutionary In Future Medicine - A Health Supplement (Part Two) PART TWOFor those of you that read my previous article about Glyconutrients, the Essential Sugars for Good Health, you will perhaps have realised that I am very passionate about them and the benefits that they can and have, already given to so many people around the world.I am passionate about them, not just because we can sell a product and make money, but, because we can help so many people to improve their health, wellbeing and lifestyle, and this makes us feel good too. I Have a Headache! Actually, my headache is not the result of just thinking - it's due more to what I've been thinking about. I can normally go for months and months and months without any perceptible twinge of intracranial discomfort. Grreen Power It's green, it's valuable, and it can vastly improve your quality of living.One more hint: It's not money. Discount Supplement Discount Supplement - what is it?Discount supplement is a term that means products made of one or more of the fundamental nutrients, for example vitamins, minerals, and proteins and is priced below the average prices of supplements. The examples of discount supplement products that are sold in the US market nowadays are supplements like bottled herbs, or vitamins and minerals in various doses. Eight Glyconutrients Glyconutrients- the latest development in the health industry. What are glyconutrients? Is this just a craze or is there actually substantial evidence to their effectiveness. Nutritional Supplements: The Amazing Vitamin C The real facts about Vitamin C may surprise you. First of all what is Vitamin C? Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin. Mangosteen Rarely has a fruit that has been so unknown to the common man of the Western World been so studied, examined, researched, and scrutinized by science than the remarkable Mangosteen.Studt after study, research paper after research paper all extol the extraordinary benefits of the Mangosteen and its rich supply of antioxidant xanthones. Why Supplements and Glyconutritionals? Food is one of our most basic needs. However, in our modern society fresh food is a thing of the past.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
