Global Courant
It is often said that food is the best source of nutrients, and rightly so. The nutrients in food are generally more bioavailable than those in nutritional supplements. Undoubtedly, food also contains micronutrients that scientists have not yet determined to be critical to good health.
That said, I believe nutritional supplements are valuable as an insurance policy to ensure you get enough vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and trace minerals through your diet.
This can be important for maintaining a healthy weight. If a person is not getting the right nutrients, the body will compensate by making you want to overeat to replenish the missing nutrients.
But the question arises, if you eat a balanced diet, why not get enough nutrients? There are a number of reasons. Let’s start with the most obvious.
THE MODERN DIET
The modern diet consists largely of grains, beans and carrots. Compared to plants that grow above the ground, fruits, nuts and lean sources of protein, these food sources are low in vitamins and minerals.
To make matters worse, over the last fifty years more and more of our food has become more and more processed, eliminating what little nutritional value the food might have had. McDonald’s burger, anyone?
LIFESTYLE ISSUES
When you smoke, you consume vitamins and minerals that have been cannibalized by the chemical processes inherent in smoking. The reason this happens is that smoking generates large amounts of oxygen free radicals. Nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin C are used by the body to neutralize these free radicals and thus become depleted.
An animal study published by The American Society for Nutritional Sciences showed that smoking caused a depletion of vitamin A, leading to emphysema.
Also, in a study conducted at Columbia University, New York, smokers and non-smokers were given vitamin C and vitamin E supplements and their plasma levels were monitored for 6 days. The scientists concluded that smoking depletes vitamin C and vitamin E.
Recreational drugs such as marijuana, speed, crack, heroin and alcohol can also have analogous effects in terms of vitamin deficiency.
FOOD RADIATION
Nowadays, food products are often irradiated to improve their shelf life. According to a report by a Joint FAP/IAEA/WHO Study Group, this leads to a loss of nutrients, especially vitamin B1, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin B2 and vitamin B12. Moreover, this effect is further enhanced by the longer storage time of these foods.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Industrial pollution causes the formation of free radicals, which can lead to cellular damage, one of the leading causes of premature aging. While there’s not much you can do about pollution, taking antioxidant supplements can help fight free radicals. For example, a review of randomized controlled trials published in Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, the journal of the College of Optometrists, found that taking antioxidant supplements reduced the incidence and/or severity of macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in people older than 4 years. 50 years in the developed world. This is not surprising, given that oxidation is recognized as being at least partially responsible for many degenerative eye conditions.
PESTICIDES
The pesticides commonly used in agriculture to control pests reduce the nutritional value of the crops. A review of 41 published studies conducted by nutritionist Virginia Worthington found that organic crops (which do not use pesticides) contain 27% more vitamin C, 29.3% more magnesium, 13.6% more phosphorus and 21.1% more iron than their conventionally grown counterparts.
EXTENSION OF THE BOTTOM
According to a study by David Thomas, soil mineral content in United States farms dropped significantly between 1940 and 1991, with vegetables harvested in 1991 containing 76% less copper, 46% less calcium, 27% less iron, and 24% less showed. magnesium than their 1940 counterparts (Nutrition and Health 2003; 17:85-115).
Why did this happen? According to dr. William A. Albrecht, chair of the Department of Soil at the University of Missouri, “NPK formulas, as legislated and enforced by the Departments of Agriculture, mean malnutrition, insect, bacterial and fungal infestation, weed takeover, dry loss weather and general loss of mental acuity in the population, leading to degenerative metabolic diseases and early death.”
With NPK formulas, Dr. Albrecht to the general use of inorganic fertilizers, which has existed since the 1920s and consists mainly of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sometimes with the addition of calcium and iron. Essential trace elements, which would be replaced with organic fertilizer, never end up in the soil again.
CONCLUSION
As you can see, there are many reasons why simply eating a balanced diet is not enough to provide a person with adequate nutrition. The quality of food is not the same as it was 50 years ago, and modern environmental and lifestyle factors can also deplete the nutrients in our bodies.
Therefore, taking nutritional supplements for adequate nutrition is a good idea.
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