Supplements for Health - Why take supplements and which ones should I take?
Jen Van Horn, DT, MS HS
Supplements for Health
Why take supplements and which ones should I take?
Good nutrition is no longer available in our commonly eaten foods unless it is 100% organic or home-grown. This deficit in America creates often-severe health problems. We need whole-food nutritional supplements and high antioxidant foods to make up for nutritional deficiency of foods.
Antioxidants are free radical scavengers that neutralize free radicals' efforts to destroy cells in the body. This is why antioxidant foods are so vital for you. Fundamentally, free radicals are very unstable yet highly reactive chemical substances that seek to capture needed electrons to gain stability. They roam throughout the body causing damage to your cells. When an attacked molecule loses its electron, it becomes a free radical, starting a chain reaction. Once the process is started, it cascades culminating in the disruption of healthy cells. This inevitably leads to the slow, almost imperceptible process known as disease. I believe free radicals also contribute to many avoidable diseases, so this must lead us to the beautiful high-antioxidant foods and the non-synthetic antioxidants supplements.
To do this, however, you need to constantly replenish your body's supply of antioxidant foods by eating antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables, and this is where most of us fall short. That is why we need supplemental help.
My Top Winners
(Purchased from the Heritage Health Food Store)
- Food-Based Multivitamin (My favorite is Nature's Plus or New Chapter)
- Vitamin D (1,000 units a day)
- Calcium (600 mg twice a day) with Magnesium (200 mg twice a day)
- DHA Omega-3 (600 mg a day) and Omega 3 fatty acids in ground flax seeds and walnuts
- Vitamin C (up to 1,000mg a day)
These 12 popular fresh fruits and vegetables are consistently the most contaminated with pesticides--buy these organic. Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Cherries, Grapes (imported) Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Potatoes, Red Raspberries, Spinach and Strawberries. Please contact me with any questions or concerns about supplements.
Eat well and remember, you are what you eat!
Jennifer Van Horn DT, MS HS
Advanced Nutrition Concepts
Contact: jvanhorn.anc@cox.net
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