Why
Take Nutritional Supplements...
For decades people have believed that eating a balanced diet
provided all the nutrients they needed. It’s simply not true. This erroneous
belief is largely based on government pronouncements that the Recommended
Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are the bottom line in nutrient requirements. Although
a huge amount of work went into developing these dietary guidelines, they don’t
tell the whole story.
The RDAs were developed with one purpose in mind to determine
the lowest amount of a nutrient that must be consumed in order to prevent a
specific disease (in this case, called a “deficiency disease”) from
developing. For example, if your diet is deficient in vitamin B3 (niacin), you
will develop pellagra. Because of extensive research on this once common
deficiency disease, the minimum amount of niacin required to prevent pellagra is
now well known.
Nutritional guidelines based on this concept, however, face
three fundamental problems. First, a vitamin or mineral deficiency is much
different from an insufficiency. A deficiency suggests that there is a level
needed to prevent a disease, while an insufficiency suggests that there is a
level necessary for optimal functioning.
Second, the widely accepted concept of biochemical
individuality, developed in the 1950s by Roger Williams, Ph.D., holds that
individuals are biochemically unique. Williams showed that nutritional needs
within the same species—in this case, human—can vary up to 4 times.
How is this so? Genetic variation results in variable enzyme
activity. Enzymes are the proteins that drive biochemical reactions. The level
of enzyme activity in the body determines many things such as hormone
production, fat metabolism, energy supply and antioxidant activity. Vitamins and
minerals act as “cofactors” for most enzymes, meaning that they are
necessary for the enzymes to work. Higher amounts of particular cofactors can
“push” enzyme activity. For instance, one person may require 2 mg of vitamin
B5, while another needs 80 mg to achieve the same level of a certain enzyme
activity.
Third, we all live in different environmental situations and
are subjected to different stresses, so quite naturally we may have different
nutritional needs. Researchers know, for instance, , that our ability to
detoxify a variety of environmental toxins is based, in part, on certain key
nutrients. People exposed to high levels of pollutants may have increased
demands for specific nutrients.
Many people have parents and grandparents who lived to old
age without taking the best care of themselves—and without taking supplements.
These elders grew up during the time when the environment and the food supply
were healthier and certainly not dangerous. Today, frequent and early-onset
degenerative diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer are
much more common among the U.S. population than they were several generations
ago. Unfortunately, the average modern diet comes up short in nutrients that
might help solve the problem.
Supplements
help make up the difference.
Numerous studies show that supplements can help prevent
degenerative diseases and often can be part of an effective treatment programme.
On a preventive level, they also ensure that we have enough nutrients for our
needs. Human cells need a constant, abundant supply of nutrients including
vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and fats. This requires a healthy
diet and, in many cases, additional nutrient intake.
Nutrients also protect against environmental toxins and the
cellular damage they cause. Whether from food or water toxins, mercury in dental
fillings or aluminum in cookware and antiperspirants, our bodies are bombarded
with a huge variety of toxins. Such exposure taxes the body’s detoxification
system that relies on specific vitamins and minerals. Inadequate nutrient levels
in the face of rising demand may lead to health problems.
Tap water can be contaminated with heavy metals such as lead
and cadmium, and much of our drinking supply also contains fluoride. Although
fluoride is good for bones and teeth, it also may increase cancer risk, lead to
digestive and kidney problems, and discolour the teeth (a condition known as
fluorosis).
Industrial chemicals and wastes, as well as pesticides and
other farm chemicals, seep through the soil and contaminate the water table.
Volatile chemicals, (hydrocarbons that readily vaporize) can combine with
chlorine to form even more toxic products called chlorinated hydrocarbons (such
as PCBs—polychlorinated biphenyls).
Many of these pollutants increase the number of
oxygen-derived, high-energy, molecular fragments in the body known as free
radicals. These free radicals can severely damage tissues, destroy nutrients,
and lead to premature aging, heart disease and cancer. Other sources of free
radicals are certain highly processed foods and food additives; ultraviolet
sunlight; processed vegetable oils, margarine and shortenings; charcoal-broiled,
charred or burned foods; heavy metals; excessive iron and some prescription
medications.
Many supplements, particularly antioxidants, can help control
the damage that follows
toxic exposure. Supplements replace nutrients destroyed by toxins and supply
nutrients that help prevent the harmful effects of foreign chemicals. Vitamins
A, C and E, carotenes, the trace minerals selenium, manganese and zinc
bioflavonoids and Co-Q10 all help scavenge free radicals. They may also help
prevent cancer, heart disease, premature aging and tissue degeneration.
Don’t Leave Health To Chance
The idea of what constitutes a balanced
diet, what food components are essential and what amounts are beneficial is not as simple as the RDAs
would have us believe. Dietary supplements can foster good health and vigor in
all stages of life. You may have inherited a strong constitution, but is it wise
to wait 40 or 50 years to find out? Dietary supplements are good preventive medicine—consider them a form of health insurance. But remember, there is more
to a health programme than supplements. An exercise programme, stress management
and a whole-foods diet combined with a positive, energetic outlook on life and
lots of laughter will increase your chances of living a long and vigorous life.
