Why You Can't Depend on Food Alone for Essential Nutrition

Finally, after more than 50 years, leading medical journals now
recommend all adults take multivitamins.A large body of research has
clearly demonstrated that the nutrients found in dietary supplements
reduce your risk of chronic disease, improve quality of life, and
increase longevity.

Listed below are 22 reasons why you cannot depend on food alone to
provide you with all of the nutrition you need to stay healthy.

Reason #1. Overfed and undernourished. The average American is overfed
and undernourished. It's no secret. Just look around you. Most people
are gaining weight. Even kids are overweight these days. You or
someone you know has a chronic disorder of some kind.
If you're like most Americans, you're consuming fabricated convenience
foods high in calories but low in food value (nutrition). This type of
diet leads to "subclinical" or marginal deficiencies that lead to
vague health complaints such as nervousness, listlessness, recurring
minor infections, general aches and pains, difficulty concentrating,
irritability, depression, muscle weakness, fatigue, insomnia, and just
not feeling right.
A large body of research has demonstrated that most Americans are not
getting what they need from their diet. For example, in one recent
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture survey of 20,000 people, not a single person
was consuming adequate levels of all the vitamins and minerals. In
this study, the percentage of Americans were found to be deficient as
follows: 90% in vit. B6, 75% in magnesium, 68% in calcium, 57% in
iron, 50% in vitamin A, 45% in vitamin B1, 41% in vitamin C, 34% in
vitamin B2, 34% in vitamin B12....and the list goes on.
There are literally hundreds of medical studies to suggest it's a
virtual certainty that you and every member of your family are
deficient in one or more essential nutrients.

Reason #2. Soil depletion. Modern mass-production agriculture depletes
nutrients from the soil without replenishing them. The application of
synthetic fertilizers stimulates the growth of beautiful-looking
plants. However, the nutrient content is missing.
So when you bite into that healthy salad or slice of whole-wheat
bread, you're getting less nutrition today than from the identical
foods grown in the same soil fifty years ago.

Reason #3. Commercial food processing. Much of the food you eat is
processed in one way or another. When foods are processed, they are
exposed to heat, light, oxygen, or drastic change in temperature or
humidity. This exposure causes the destruction of vital but fragile
nutrients. Examples of processing include baking, extruding, milling,
grinding, boiling, cooking, recombining, spray-drying, etc.

Reason #4: Food storage and transportation. All foods deteriorate as
they age. This is a problem for the food industry, because many foods
are shipped over great distances. Therefore chemicals are added to
preserve foods and give them a longer "shelf life". Unfortunately, in
spite of chemicals, the nutrient content of foods decline over time,
even though they may look the same.
Even fresh fruits or vegetables may be sprayed, gassed or fumigated in
order to make them look "ripe" and "fresh". So what looks healthy
isn't necessarily as healthy as you may think.

Reason #5: Preparation and cooking of foods. Many people eat out or
bring something home from the market that is already cooked. Even if
you prepare your meals at home, most of your food is probably cooked,
not raw. Here's the problem: the more you cook a food, the less its
nutrient value.
Of course, there are some foods, such as grains and dried legumes that
you have to cook because they're inedible when raw. You're obviously
not going to eat a bowl of raw rice. However, if you overcook rice,
you lose nutrients.

Reason #6: Home storage of food. Have you looked in your refrigerator
lately? How long has that head of lettuce been in there? What about
those leftovers from three days ago? Refrigeration does slow down the
deterioration of food, but it certainly does not stop it. As every day
goes by, whatever is in your refrigerator is losing its nutritional
value.
Some people will eat something out of the refrigerator that is three
weeks old, or something from the pantry that is a year old. By this
time, some vital nutrients have been completely lost.

Reason #7. Food irradiation. Exposing foods to gamma rays, x-rays or
other radiation extends their shelf life by destruction of
microorganisms, inhibition of sprouting, and delay of ripening. Some
meats, chicken, and vegetables are irradiated. Foods served in
restaurants or schools may be irradiated. The problem with irradiation
is that vital nutrients, especially antioxidants and fat-soluble
vitamins, are destroyed. There's no label to tell you if a food has
been irradiated.

Reason #8. Pesticides in foods. A pesticide is a poison. A little bit
of pesticide will kill a bug. A lot of pesticide will kill you. Most
foods contain pesticides. Even organic produce contains pesticides,
although a lot less than regular produce. Pesticides may be applied to
the soil, to the growing plant, or to the food while in storage or
shipment.
Keep in mind that you can't see, smell or taste these pesticides. So
you have no way of knowing if what you're eating contains pest
poisons. But your body knows. Some pesticides can accumulate in the
body and cause problems. Your body has to deal with the problem by
expending valuable vitamins and minerals to detoxify and try to
eliminate these poisons.

Reason #9. Genetically modified foods. Millions of acres of
genetically modified corn, cotton and potatoes have been planted in
the U.S. (Cotton is mentioned here because cottonseed oil is found in
many processed foods, and cottonseed meal is fed to cattle.) These
foods, which are now in our food supply, have been engineered to
produce a naturally occurring pesticide that is supposedly toxic only
to insects. There are no long-term human studies to indicate that
genetically modified foods are safe. However, rats fed genetically
modified potatoes had increased intestinal infections, reduced
immunity, and reduced weight of intestine, pancreas, kidneys, liver,
lungs and brain. Since you may be unknowingly consuming genetically
modified or irradiated foods, you would need dietary supplementation
to offset the invisible but potentially negative effects of such
foods.

Reason #10. Environmental pollution. We dump nearly six billion pounds
of chemicals into our environment every year. While some of it ends up
in our food, much of it is in our air and water. If you breathe air
and drink water, you are ingesting chemical pollution. Medical
research has clearly established that environmental chemicals
contribute to degenerative diseases.
You have no choice but to eat food, drink water, and breathe air.
Therefore, you will need dietary supplements to help you process and
detoxify the pollution entering your body every day.

Reason #11. Bioaccumulation of pollution in animal foods. There are
certain "persistent" pollutants that tend to accumulate in any living
thing, whether animal or plant. The higher up the food chain, the
greater the accumulation. Take swordfish for example. Swordfish is
known to have high levels of mercury, a toxic metal.
The problem starts when small bait fish eat organic material that
contains mercury. They metabolize the organic material but retain the
mercury. Small predatory fish then eat the bait fish, thus inheriting
their accumulated mercury. The more bait fish they eat, the more
mercury they accumulate. Finally a swordfish comes along and eats a
bunch of small predatory fish, and picks up a load of mercury. So a
big swordfish can gather a lot of mercury over time. But the swordfish
is not the end of the chain. You are! You eat the swordfish, and now
all that accumulated mercury is stored in "your" body.
Swordfish is only one example out of hundreds. Here's the point.
You're at the top of the entire food chain on earth. Therefore, you
unknowingly accumulate heavy metals and chemical pollutants, which are
proven to be detrimental to your health. If you consume animal foods,
you need dietary supplements to help you handle the pollutants they
contain.

Reason #12. "Energy" pollution. Energy pollution invisibly burdens
your body. The form of energy pollution you're familiar with is
radioactive fallout, like that from nuclear testing in Nevada which
caused an increase in cancers downwind from the test site. Another,
less well known form of energy pollution is altered magnetic fields
from electrical motors and circuits, and all kinds of energy
transmissions (microwave, radar, cell phone, etc.). Not only can
energy pollution destroy or damage cells directly, but it causes a
stress reaction in the body which leads to hormonal imbalances. For
example, energy pollution reduces your levels of melatonin, an
essential hormone. Once again, dietary supplements are a method to
assist your body to compensate for another type of pollution from
which there is no escape.

Reason #13: Genetic weaknesses. Each of us is genetically and
biochemically unique. But none of us is perfect. We all have some kind
of genetic weakness. For example, you might have a genetic abnormality
in methionine metabolism called homocystinuria (methionine is an amino
acid required to make your body function). In this case, taking large
doses of vitamin B6 is a way to com
pensate for this weakness. There are hundreds if not thousands of
possible genetic abnormalities. Many of them can be minimized with
dietary supplementation.

Reason #14. Chronic Stress. "Stress" occurs when your body has a
"fight or flight" response to any situation. Most of the time, you're
not aware of it. Stress can come from anywhere at any time. It could
be a barking dog, a disagreeable boss, a car that needs repair, an
unpaid bill, a relationship that isn't working, or living alone.
Anything at all. You become so accustomed to stress that you
consciously tune it out – but your body doesn't.
When stress is repeated over and over, it is called chronic stress,
which seriously depletes your body of energy and vital reserves.
Chronic stress produces hormones that have a long-term weakening
effect on your body which accelerates the aging process and leads to
chronic degenerative disease. Supplements reduce the detrimental
effects of chronic stress.

Reason #15. Your lifestyle. How you behave may increase your need for
supplementation. For example, smoking or drinking alcohol to excess
dramatically saps your reserves of vital nutrients. In both cases,
dietary supplementation is not an option - it's a requirement.
On the other hand, if you're an avid mountain climber or
high-performance athlete, you use up nutrients faster than the average
person. The same is true if you work in a physically demanding
occupation. Your performance will be improved with dietary
supplementation.
Reason #16: GI problems. Any kind of digestive or gastrointestinal
problem will diminish your absorption of vitamins, minerals, protein,
essential fats, and plant substances required to maintain a healthy
body. Irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, Crohn's disease, or chronic
diarrhea hurt your ability to absorb nutrients. Ditto for bacterial,
viral, yeast or parasitic infections. Food allergies are notorious for
causing GI problems. In short, any inflammation in your GI tract means
trouble. Therefore, you will need supplements to help you deal with
the inflammation, as well as to increase the amount of essential
nutrients you are consuming and absorbing.

Reason #17: Weak digestion. Heartburn, bloat after eating, burping, or
gas may suggest you have an impaired ability to digest your food. If
you can't digest your food, it can't be absorbed into your body.
Supplementary digestive aids may be indicated.

Reason #18: Getting older. Medical studies have proven that you lose
your digestive power as you get older. By the time you're "elderly",
you have a serious problem that can only be corrected by
supplementation.
In addition, studies have shown that many elderly people eat less well
than they did in earlier years. In this case, dietary supplements can
augment an otherwise inadequate diet.

Reason #19: Teenager. It's no secret that adolescents eat and drink
things that are very unhealthy, i.e., "junk food". This is no way to
nourish a maturing body. Most teenagers need dietary supplementation.

Reason #20. Chronic disease or disorder. It doesn't matter what the
disorder is. It could be arthritis, macular degeneration, cancer,
diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, eczema, PMS or anything else.
Specific dietary supplements can help almost any disorder.

Reason #21. Medications. Americans consume an astounding quantity of
prescription and over-the-counter medications. However, nothing in
your body operates in isolated compartments - everything interacts
with everything else in some way. Many drugs interact with
supplements, or cause an increased need for them. For example, women
on birth control pills may have an increased need for vitamin B6.
People on Glucophage need more calcium, B12 and folic acid. The list
is endless. So if you're on medication, consult with one of our
physicians to determine the specific supplements you need.

Reason #22. Pregnancy. Your requirement for nutrients undergoes a big
shift when you become pregnant. It's to your and your baby's benefit
to take supplementation to reduce your risk of a miscarriage or
pregnancy complications, and to have a healthier baby.

BOTTOM LINE: Because of worldwide pollution and degradation in the
quality of our food supply, it's hard to imagine anyone who will not
need nutritional supplements for the rest of his or her life. In
addition, many people have health problems, a lifestyle, or special
situations where supplements are advisable.