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Why take nutrition?
That
is a common question from the people who are not currently taking
supplements. Those who are taking supplements already have come to
understand the benefits and typically continue to take them due to
the results. Below are some thoughts on the topic:
1.
REQUIREMENTS TO ATTAIN PERFECT NUTRITION WITHOUT
SUPPLEMENTS.
What
would you have to do at attain perfect nutrition without
supplements? First of all you'd have to eat all organically grown
foods (no pesticides, no insecticides, no preservatives, picked at
peak ripeness), eat fresh fruits and vegetables when they are in
season, eat an adequate amount of food and have a diet that is
textbook perfect (no fast food or junk food), avoid stress, avoid
exposure to viruses and toxins, gets adequate sleep every night and
have no history of degenerative diseases in your family.
2. RDA'S NOT MEANT AS GUIDE
TO OPTIMUM HEALTH
Most of us know and realize that our
dietary intake is not very complete and is not as good as it should
be. It used to be thought that the government and the Recommended
Daily Allowance (RDA's) for vitamins and minerals would fulfill what
our body needs for optimum health and nutrition. Some experts joke
that to strive for ordinary poor health, follow the RDAs, which are
the minimum amounts of vitamins and minerals necessary to prevent
common deficiency diseases such as scurvy and rickets.
3. MODERN CIVILIZATION
REQUIRES ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS AND
MINERALS
Some scientists think we simply need
more antioxidant vitamins and minerals to stay even with the aging
process because we are exposed to increased barrages from the
polluted environment, including pesticides, radiation from nuclear
energy, auto exhaust smog, fat and chemical-loaded processed foods.
Exposure to these pollutants step up the free radical attacks on our
bodies and thus causes us to age prematurely. Maybe nature didn't
foresee the hazards that modern civilization would bring. Multiple
antioxidants are very important and should be balanced in our body
since we have more exposure to free radicals now than ever and
nutritional supplements can help to enhance the capacity of
antioxidants.
4. THE STRESS FACTOR
Stress, limited rest and sleep is another reason to take nutritional
supplements. Stress and sleep deprivation can have a depleting
effect on some of the essential nutrients. An example of this is
magnesium. When the body is under stress, magnesium comes out of the
cells and into the bloodstream, which then deposits that excess
magnesium into the urine and is discharged from the body. The
stressed body has now depleted its magnesium supply, and this can
result in irritability, lack of sleep, lack of energy, and even
mental depression.
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Why
You Need Vitamin Supplements
by
Michael Janson, M.D., President, APMA
Why
You Need Vitamin Supplements, by Michael Janson, M.D. Excerpt from
Dr. Janson's book, The Vitamin Revolution in Health Care (Arcadia
Press, 1996.)
One of the most frequently asked questions in my medical practice
is, "Why do I
need to take vitamins?" Many people feel, and some conservative
nutritionists would agree with them, that eating a balanced diet
provides all the vitamins they need. This is not so. Each person’s
idea of a balanced diet is different and it may vary greatly from
the recommendations of a contemporary nutritionist or nutritionally
oriented physician. In order to answer the question, we need to
examine five different and equally important personal and ecological
considerations: genetics, environment, agriculture, health history
and stress.
GENETICS:
Throughout all species there is wide variation in genetic makeup.
This variation includes differing abilities to survive in a given
nutritional environment. In other words, one animal may require much
more to survive optimally than another. Dr. Roger Williams has shown
in experiments with rats that after five generations of inbreeding,
litter mates, (which are very close genetically), can vary in
nutrient needs up to forty times for particular nutrients. There is
a much greater variation in human beings, as we have a wider genetic
diversity than other species. In nature, species improve when those
animals with greater nutritional needs fail to survive or reproduce
as well as those with lesser needs. Except in a few known genetic
disorders, we cannot determine subtle variations in nutritional
needs for human beings. It is therefore wise to make sure that our
internal environment (including all cells, tissues and organs) is
abundantly supplied with all the nutrients. I use the general term
"vitamins" for food supplements, but it may refer also to minerals,
enzymes, essential fatty acids and accessory food factors that are
important for health. In tissue cultures, (cells growing in
laboratories), the culture medium is made quite rich in all the
required nutrients. If the cells were only given minimum
requirements, some cells would not thrive and eventually the cell
line would be lost. In human beings the blood plasma is the culture
medium for the cells, and needs a constant and abundant supply of
all the nutrients. This requires both a healthy diet and
supplements. Supplements enhance a healthy diet, they are not a
substitute for it. "Biochemical individuality" is the term for the
basic principle of varied individual needs.
ENVIRONMENT:
Another reason you need food supplements is the poor quality of the
environment. You know that the air is polluted. Everybody is
subjected to toxic exposure from the air they breathe. Among the
many toxins are:
Carbon monoxide and lead from fuel exhaust.
Hydrocarbon pollutants from industrial waste.
Byproducts from the burning of fossil fuels.
Radiation leakage from nuclear power plants. Radiation is a
contaminant that cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. It is therefore
more insidious than other familiar pollutants.
Also, tap water contains more than water. It is often contaminated
with toxic heavy metals such as lead or cadmium or with fluoride
(associated with an increased risk of cancer). Often, industrial
chemicals and wastes have seeped through the soil to contaminate the
water table. You may be familiar with the toxic chemical water
contamination in Woburn, Massachusetts which led to increases in
childhood leukemia. Other examples abound.
Cigarette smoke exposure in smokers and non-smokers (sidestream
smoke is highly toxic) creates further problems. This and most
pollutants lead to an increase of high-energy molecular fragments
known as "free radicals." These free radicals can severely damage
tissues, destroy nutrients, and lead to premature aging, heart
disease and cancer. All of these environmental problems increase the
need for nutrients. We need extra supplies of those destroyed by the
toxins and those which help to prevent their harmful effects.
Specifically, vitamins A, C, and E, beta-carotene, the trace
minerals selenium, and zinc, and accessory food factors, such as
bioflavonoids and coenzyme Q10, all scavenge free radicals. They
help prevent cancer, heart disease, premature aging and tissue
degeneration. In addition calcium and iodine help prevent the
harmful effects of radiation.
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AGRICULTURE:
Modern agricultural practices have adversely affected the quality of
our food supply. Growing foods for quantity, transportation and
storage is often detrimental to their nutritional value. Soil
quality has been degraded through modern farming methods. Most
chemical fertilizers do not replace all of the minerals needed for
human nutrition. There is also wide variation in the natural mineral
content of the soil. In Northeastern States the soil has a very low
selenium content; in areas with low soil selenium, research has
shown a higher risk of cancer.
Foods are often picked before they are ripe and allowed to ripen in
transit. They do not acquire their full complement of minerals and
vitamins, which frequently increase greatly during the later stages
of growth. In addition, storage and transportation take their tolls.
Fruits and vegetables can lose half their vitamin C after three days
in cold storage, and even more at room temperature. Dried fruits can
also lose vitamins A, C and E if exposed to oxygen and light.
You can overcome some of these problems if you grow your own food or
buy organically grown fruits and vegetables (which are generally
fresher because they cannot be stored as long). Commercial fruits
and vegetables are frequently sprayed with toxic chemicals. These
harmful substances accumulate in body fat and have deleterious
effects over the years. A good example is DDT, which is still
present in human fat tissue although its use was banned years ago.
Nutritional supplements can help counter the ill effects of many of
these poisons. They include, vitamins C, E and B3 (niacin),
beta-carotene, bioflavonoids and others.
HEALTH HISTORY:
You
may have heard of someone’s grandparent who lived to a ripe old age
with little attention to diet or nutritional supplements. This is
quite possible. However, it is important to realize that potential
human life span is well over 100 years. Living to 80 or 90 years may
result from growing up with cleaner air and water, fresher food,
fewer chemical exposures and lesser availability of highly processed
foods. Also, many people who survive a long time have numerous
health problems. Remember, the quality of life is more important
than quantity. Food supplements can promote what most of us would
prefer-- good health and vigor in all stages of life, including
later years.
As I mentioned before, there is great individual genetic variation.
You may have inherited a strong constitution, but it is imprudent to
wait 50 years to find out. Nutritional supplements help people with
greater inherited needs to remain vigorous and active well into old
age. Many poor health habits, such as consumption of sugar, highly
processed foods and artificial food additives, lack of exercise, and
high stress increase nutrient needs. Stress reduction and relaxation
techniques, body therapies and exercise programs are part of good
health, but nutritional supplementation is important to the
comprehensive approach. Specific chronic and acute illnesses can be
treated with large doses of nutrient supplements. They can reduce or
eliminate the need for drugs or surgery.
STRESS:
This is a time of great stress, but this is not unique to our
age. Earlier generations did not have the advantage of high-dose
nutrients to help diminish the toll of stress. Stress, whether
emotional or physical or due to injury or illness, depletes the body
of nutrients, primarily vitamin C, and the B complex. Vitamin B6 and
pantothenic acid are also particularly important in times of stress,
as is the trace mineral zinc. Vitamins C and E and zinc promote the
healing process. Many illnesses are treatable partly or completely
by a natural healing approach, including nutritional
supplementation. Among these are arthritis, high blood pressure,
hypoglycemia, diabetes, allergies, chronic headaches, fatigue,
immune disorders and heart disease.
A comprehensive approach to good health includes practices which aid
in stress management, regular exercise and proper diet. Diet and
nutritional supplements provide the building blocks to form a
healthier, more vital organism.
One last consideration is your health future. Dietary supplements
can enhance your current state of vitality and well-being. They also
help to prevent and treat many serious medical problems. Taking
supplements is one positive action that you can take to stay
healthy.
A NOTE ON THE RDA’S:
The
recommended dietary allowances are the nutrient levels established
by the National Research Council which are supposed to prevent
deficiency diseases in most healthy people. Unfortunately, the
values are frequently influenced by the food industry and politics.
They are not useful in establishing optimal health. Our modern
problems are not deficiency diseases but degenerative diseases. Most
people who get the RDA’s from the diet still go on to develop
premature aging and degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart
disease. Nutrients play an important role in preventing these
conditions. The RDA’S cannot be used in evaluating the therapeutic
and preventive value of large doses of supplements.
In fact, if you look around, you will see a large number of people
who get the RDA levels of most nutrients and still go on to develop
early heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes. They have an
average of six colds per year, are overweight, and lose their teeth
by the time they are in their forties. They have a lower life
expectancy than in some third-world countries, and a higher infant
mortality than in Holland, where health care costs a fraction of
what it does here. Things can be done to improve the health status
of the population, and taking supplements is one of them.
Large doses of specific nutrients have been shown to lower
cholesterol, decrease blood pressure, enhance immunity and
resistance to infection, decrease the risk of cancer, slow the aging
process, increase energy and stamina, improve sugar regulation, and
restore healthy gum tissue. They also reduce the incidence of birth
defects and miscarriage. As I tell my patients, these are only some
of the many reasons to take dietary supplements.
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Please Note: It is not our intention to prescribe or make specific
health claim for any products. Any attempt to diagnose and treat
illness should come under the direction of your health care
practitioner.
The statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food and
Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose,
treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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