Why Supplement?
I’d like to think we eat healthy in our home.
We’re not food “purists”, but we do …
• cook from scratch with little processed foods or mixes,
• bake breads using freshly ground “chemical-free” whole grains,
• eat fresh fruit & veggies – organic whenever possible,
• enjoy limited amounts of meat, dairy & eggs – all either organic, free range, without antibiotics and bgh (*bovine growth hormone)
However, my own health issues showed me that even when eating as healthy as I can, there may be certain nutrients that I’m lacking.
I just don’t think we get all the nutrition we need from our diet!
Why? There may be several reasons, such as –
1. Food choices –
In the book, “Prescription for Nutritional Healing”, James F. Balch, M.D. and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C write, “Data compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicate that at least 40 percent of the people in this country routinely consume a diet containing only 60 percent of the RDA of each of ten selected nutrients. This means that close to half of the population (and very likely more) suffer from a deficiency of at least one important nutrient.”
2. Individual needs vary –
In “Prescription for Nutritional Healing”, they also write that vitamin levels can be affected by outside influences. For instance, I’ve read that stress can burn up your reserves of B vitamins. So, things like stress, exercise, restricted diets, illness, medications such as oral contraceptives, surgery recovery, smoking, alcohol consumption – can all affect our nutrient needs.
3. Metabolism limits how much we can consume -
With so many of us doing our work while sitting at the computer, our lifestyle doesn’t involve as much MANUAL labor as previous generations.
I remember my grandmother telling me how “wash day” took up an entire day and was physically exhausting as they heated huge cast iron washtubs over the fires, carrying heavy laundry from wash to rinse tubs.
Today, we’re limited as to how many calories we can take in without risking gaining weight. This limited food intake also limits the amounts of nutrients we can consume.
4. “On the go” lives –
There’s simply NO TIME to grow our own produce, meat, dairy, eggs – therefore we may be getting food that’s not as nutritious, and loaded with unwanted chemicals.
5. Depleted soil -
The “Year of Jubilee” is gone. Could our land be over-worked? If so, can overworking the land lead to a depletion of vitamins and minerals? As I understand it, the only crops planted during the Biblical “Year of Jubilee” were those that would be plowed back into the soil to NOURISH it.
I once read an article that compared the USDA catalog called the "Composition of Foods (Raw, Processed, Prepared) from the 1960’s to the one from the year 2002.
They discovered the nutritional value of foods has dropped significantly. For example, broccoli in 2002 had 50% less calcium and vitamin A than that grown in the 1960’s.
Cauliflower was down 40% in vitamin C, spinach was down 46% in vitamin C, sweet peppers were down 70% in vitamin C and the A in apples was down 58%. (*To see this write-up, go to www.healthy-eating-politics.com/health-supplements.html)
6. Current agricultural methods -
Is produce that’s picked far too early, gassed to a false ripeness, then transported hundreds of miles to market – (sometimes taking 7 days to get into the consumer’s hands) – as nutritious as the tomato you pick off the vine in the back yard at it’s peak ripeness?
In the book, “Can You Trust a Tomato in January”, the author, Vince Staten writes that a tomato in the store was shaken off the vine 7 days earlier by a giant piece of machinery. He explains, “It was still green when it left the vine, a good two weeks ahead of its moment of full ripeness.”
7. Contamination in our foods -
Foods sometimes contain ADDITIVES, such as MSG, sulfites, preservatives, artificial colors & flavors; POLLUTANTS, such as heavy metals, CHEMICALS, such as pesticides, herbicides, fumigants, insecticides, mold inhibitors, antibiotics, steroids & hormones, sedatives, gases, fertilizers, and MICROBES, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or molds that are in the field, the slaughter houses, resulting from improper storage & unclean places of processing.
Is our body able to process the nutrition when it’s so busy handling and processing all these contaminates?
Some of the additives are downright funny.
I once picked up a bag of navel oranges in the store and was shocked to read that they’d been DYED ORANGE!
Concerning additives to “enhance” the appearance of foods, Elson M. Haas, M.D. writes in his book, “The Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide”, “This is a scary one, because the chemicals used to maintain or enhance a product’s color or prevent it from being discolored are often the more potentially toxic substances. Even our “natural” produce, the fruits and vegetables, are exposed to such chemicals. Oranges are often dipped in dyes to enhance their color. Chickens may be treated with yellow dyes to keep their skin looking “healthy”. Sprays are used on produce to prevent insects and microorganisms from moving in or consuming them before they reach the consumer. Bananas are gassed, many other fruits and vegetables are sprayed with fungicides, and breads have added mold inhibitors. Unfortunately, what increases the selling power of many items in the eyes of consumers may not benefit their health.”
But other chemicals used are downright dangerous and deadly. If a chemical is a TOXIN to an insect, or mold – then why wouldn’t most of them be toxic to US? In his book, “The Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide”, Elson M. Haas, M.D. writes, “Research and medical case studies have shown that most pesticides are toxic to the nervous systems of insects and of people.”
Dr. Haas writes that some of the chemicals used have been implicated in diseases as serious as cancer and leukemia! He also points out that legal, “allowable” limits can be compiled using ADULT weight, hence how much more catastrophic would that same level of chemical contamination be to a much tinier person, such as an infant or child?
There is also the possibility that poisons now banned in OUR country may be re-entering on imported foods. Haas writes, “Between 1992 and 1994, U.S. companies exported more than 110,000 tons of pesticides, many of them now illegal in our own country, primarily to developing nations (Audubon, 1/97). This included approximately 600,000 pounds of DDT. The pesticides come back to us in the foods we import – about a fourth of our national food supply; this is termed “the circle of poison”.”
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The Solution?
Supplement with a WHOLE FOOD SUPPLEMENT!
In “The Staying Healthy Shopper’s Guide”, Elson M. Haas, M.D. writes, “The evidence continues to suggest that pesticides, additives, and environmental toxins pose a threat to our health, so for my own family, I buy organically-grown foods and products, filtered water, and nutritional supplements.”
I couldn’t agree more!
He doesn’t elaborate on his favorite supplements so there’s no endorsement from him here, but our family has chosen primarily GNLD products for our personal supplement needs!
Why?
• Outstanding quality,
• Wholesome ingredients that are organic and/or chemical free, and
• RESULTS! We’ve been able to see, feel and measure success with these products and I can’t say that about any other brand!
For more information, contact us!
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