|
|
|
Beyond Macronutrients and the Importance of Vitamin Supplements
Most healthy eaters are familiar with the three macronutrients that garner the most media attention within the diet world: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Indeed, some highly regarded eating programs, such as the Isometric Diet®, are designed to...
Common Treatments For Hair Loss In Women
Much has been said and written about modern day hair loss treatments but this tends to relate almost exclusively to men. Do these same treatments offer solutions to women suffering from hair loss or is there a completely different category of...
Food Sources That Boost Glutathione Naturally
Glutathione, the body's master antioxidant and detoxifier, is one of the 14 "Superfoods" listed in SuperFoods Rx : Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life, co-authored by Dr Steven Pratt.
Glutathione levels cannot be increased to a...
Splash Your Acne Supplement Expenses with Food
Twenty-one year old Lydia Garcia faces an imminent dilemma- poverty or acne. Lydia religiously uses three herbs to keep her skin clear and she’s always on the prowl for supplements to augment her health. Just last week she read that the Chinese herb...
The Right Way to Eat for Better Health and Weight Loss
Copyright 2005 Ryan Cote
Did you know that how and when you eat is important for good health?
For most of your life, you probably have eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now depending on your eating habits, this may be okay...but many people...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why should you take Nutritional Supplements?
A busy lifestyle leaves little time for planning meals and cooking. It's far too easy to fill up the diet with empty calories in fast and convenience foods. Packaged and prepared mixes make life easy, but seldom provide all the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. A good multinutrient supplement can help fill in the gaps in your diet when you're too busy to eat balanced meals.
But what if you eat a healthy diet? Do you still need to take vitamin and nutritional supplements? According to most experts on nutrition and the American diet, the answer is, quite honestly, yes.
Over the past ten years, scientists who study medical conditions like diabetes and coronary disease have all noted alarming rises in the incidence of those diseases. It's not just that there are more people being diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease. The profile of those being diagnosed has changed dramatically. For the first time ever, doctors are seeing significant number of children with adult onset diabetes and other conditions that were once thought to exclusively begin in middle age. Nearly every one of those conditions has been linked to diet and nutritional deficiencies. Why is this happening in a society as wealthy and well-fed as ours? The reasons are all wrapped up in our way of life and the changes to society and the environment over the past 100 year some nutriitonists argue.
One hundred years ago, most foods were grown and raised on small farms. Farmers rotated their crops regularly to get the best harvests because they knew that the soil needed replenishing in order for the food to grow healthy and strong. Their livestock was fed a varied diet because the animals were allowed to free range and graze at will. This meant that the meat derived from those animals contained the nutrients from the food that they ate. The vegetables and fruits that appeared on the dinner table had been sliced and cooked in the kitchen, not canned months or even years earlier. There wasn't as much of a need to add vitamins that processing robs from food simply because the foods weren't processed.
Farming has changed in major ways since then. Crops are grown in soil that has been sterilized and robbed of its
natural nutrients by overuse, insecticides, pesticides and chemicals meant to promote large, attractive fruits and vegetables--at the cost of vitamins and minerals. The natural fertilizers that kept soil healthy have been replaced with chemical fertilizers that contain only a few of the needed chemicals, and none of the enzymes that allow the body to process and absorb vitamins and minerals from food. Mass production and processing robs foods of still more nutrients. Cooking and canning and sterlization methods can remove or destroy as much as 90% of the vitamins present in a fresh peach or carrot. Even many foods that appear fresh are likely to have been sprayed with gasses meant to preserve their color and crispness as they travel across country. The end result is vegetables and fruits that contain a fraction of the vitamins and minerals that the same foods contained 100 years ago, much of it unusable by the body as it is.
When you add that to the fact that most Americans eat diets that are high on convenience and low on nutrition, the need to add vitamins and other nutritional supplements becomes very clear.
It's important to remember that taking nutritional supplements is not a substitute for a healthy diet. They are meant to be exactly that--supplements--to fill in the gaps that our lifestyle leaves in our diets. Most doctors recommend, at the very least, a high-quality multi-vitamin supplement daily, but nowadays sophisticated nutraceutical companies are producing products that go far above basic vitamins and minerals. These products may include speciality antioxidants that are much more powerful than vitamins, and other substances beneficial for health that won't be found in any typical multivitamin supplement, such as enzymes for digestive health, herbal extracts, or other natural supplements.
Whatever kind of supplement you decide to take, it's still important to consult with your doctor to let him know of your intent.
About the Author
Dan Ho is chief editor of one of the most popular resources for nutritional, dietary, and herbal supplements on the Internet, http://www.nutritional-supplement-info.com, which discusses their pros and cons, and how to choose a quality supplement.
|
|
|
|
|
| Office of Dietary Supplements - HOME |
| The mission of ODS is to strengthen knowledge and understanding of dietary supplements by evaluating scientific information, stimulating and supporting ... |
| dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov |
|
| International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements ... |
| A database of published, international, scientific literature on dietary supplements including vitamins, minerals, and botanicals. |
| dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov |
|
| US FDA/CFSAN - Dietary Supplements: Overview |
| Overview of dietary supplements and the FDA's role in regulating this group of foods. |
| www.cfsan.fda.gov |
|
| All About Nutritional Supplements: Consumers Review Supplements ... |
| NutritionalSupplements.com is the Internet's premier source for unbiased information about nutritional supplements and prescription drugs. |
| www.nutritionalsupplements.com |
|
| Times Online - Supplements |
| Supplements. ... For information on supplement opportunities in The Times, The Sunday Times and on Times Online, e-mail us at supplements@timesonline.co.uk ... |
| www.timesonline.co.uk |
|
| Drug Information and Supplement Information - MayoClinic.com |
| Research prescription and over-the-counter medications and supplements. |
| www.mayoclinic.com |
|
| Supplements : Nature |
| Journal home > Supplements. Supplements. Latest Insights; Latest Outlooks; Latest Collections ... Order your supplement reprints; Downloadable forms: ... |
| www.nature.com |
|
| Bodybuilding.com - Huge Supplements Article Database! |
| Learn the secrets to using supplements for fast results! |
| www.bodybuilding.com |
|
| New Zealand Herald - Supplements |
| The New Zealand Herald publishes over 60 supplements, features and composites a year - packed ... Links to current supplements carried online are below. ... |
| www.nzherald.co.nz |
|
| Dietary supplement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| A prescribed dietary supplement is intended to supply nutrients ... The medical utility and regulatory status of dietary supplements is controversial. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Vitamin Supplements - Ask the Dietitian |
| Got questions about Vitamins or Antioxidant supplements? Ask Joanne Larsen, Registered Dietitian and nutrition counselor. |
| www.dietitian.com |
|
| Supplements Canada.com - Canada's Sport Supplement Superstore. Get ... |
| Sells sports nutrition supplements. |
| www.supplementscanada.com |
|
| Food and Nutrition Information Center: Dietary Supplements |
| Information on nutritional supplements aimed at athletes and exercisers is provided, including potential supplement dangers. ... |
| healthymeals.nal.usda.gov |
|
| Bodybuilding Supplements - Xenadrine, Stacker 2, Hydroxycut ... |
| Offers articles on supplements, reviews, fitness, routines, workout tips and diet. |
| www.bodybuildingforyou.com |
|
| Affordable Supplements - Your Source for High Performance Nutrition |
| All major brands of bodybuilding supplements. Weight lifting gloves, belts, and straps. Free newsletter. |
| www.affordablesupplements.com |
|
| Bodybuilding Supplements Exercise Equipment Gakic Life Fitness ... |
| Bodybuilding Supplements Exercise Equipment Gakic Life Fitness Treadmills Muscle Milk Elliptical. |
| www.bodyconcept.com |
|
| Supplements - legal ways to improve performance and or hasten recovery |
| Supplements to improve performance. ... Supplements. There are a number of supplements that have been identified as potentially beneficial to the athlete: ... |
| www.brianmac.demon.co.uk |
|
| Natural Health Herbal, Vitamin and Nutritional Supplements ... |
| NutraSanus natural health care products, herbal, vitamin and nutritional supplements for a longer healthier life. |
| www.nutrasanus.com |
|
| MMWR: Supplements Past Volumes |
| Volume 55 (2006) MMWR Supplement Issues · Volume 54 (2005) MMWR Supplement Issues · Volume 53 (2004) MMWR Supplement Issues · Volume 52 (2003) MMWR ... |
| www.cdc.gov |
|
| Bodybuilding Supplements EAS Optimum Nutrition Sports Nutrition ... |
| KeySupplements.com wholesale bodybuilding supplements sports nutrition health store same day shipping fixed rate. |
| www.keysupplements.com |
|
|