Why Do Some Supplements Work While Others Don’t? by Jerry Brainum 3/24

 

 

If you were to ask most doctors about food supplements, they would suggest avoiding them. Instead, they say you should only obtain all essential nutrients from food sources. And the best way to do that is by consuming what's known as a "balanced diet." The major principle of the balanced diet is to ensure a daily intake of various foods from different food groups, such as dairy foods, meat and protein foods, and fruits, grains, and vegetables. The thought is that by consuming foods from all of these groups, the intake of essential nutrients, including essential fats and protein, will be assured. And there is much truth to this notion. However, the problem is that most people may think they're eating a balanced diet but are not. For example, many people avoid dairy foods such as milk because of the notion that milk is fattening. But milk and cheese are the most reliable natural sources of the essential mineral calcium. While calcium does exist in other foods, such as vegetables, the vegetables also contain elements collectively known as "anti-nutrients" that lock on to the ingested calcium and hasten their exit from the body.

The same pertains to all other nutrients obtained from a balanced diet. Getting those nutrients also mandates consuming only unprocessed foods. Much of the food available today is overly processed, resulting in a loss of essential nutrients. In most cases, the missing nutrients are replaced by a small number of synthetic nutrients, but they never compare to the original natural forms of the nutrients because of accessory nutrients that may not be deemed essential but are nonetheless synergistic with the essential nutrients. Bioflavonoids usually co-exist with vitamin C in natural C-rich foods, such as fruits. Bioflavonoids are not considered essential, yet they still impart many health benefits beyond Vitamin C alone. But when vitamin C is added to processed foods, bioflavonoids are not.

Many vegan advocates suggest that a plant-based diet is the healthiest way to eat. And there is some credence to this notion. Eating styles that emphasize plant foods, such as the Mediterranean, have been shown in numerous studies to be the best way to eat for enhanced health and longevity. This type of eating includes other foods besides plant foods, and because of the more extensive variety of foods it emphasizes, it more closely resembles a balanced diet way of eating.  It is also devoid of processed foods and contains more natural essential nutrients. But even a diet style as good as the Mediterranean way of eating isn't perfect. The foods contained in the diet are only as good as the soil they are grown in. Studies suggest that the soil from which many natural foods emanate is not as rich in nutrients as in the past. Why this is so is complicated, but it has to do with farming practices, increased use of . . .