A lot of people ask me about supplementation. Here are the most common questions:
Do supplements really do anything? Are they necessary?
You may have heard me say, "Not all supplements all are created equal." I would agree that many of the supplements out there are not helping because they are poor quality. For that reason we only use professional grade supplements with our clients.
Can't I get what I need from food?
Of course I am a strong believer in striving for a nutrient dense diet, and Supplements are just that, supplements to a healthy diet. What I have found in my practice is that most people can definitely use the support of supplementation. When I do dietary analysis, it is rare to find someone getting 100% of all the recommended daily amounts of their nutrients and blood testing often reveals nutritional deficiencies or borderline levels in my clients.
Why are people’s diets nutrient depleted?
After all, we are living in one of the wealthiest nations on the planet.
There are 2 main reasons why today’s diets are depleted of essential nutrients:
Our busy lifestyles.
Modern lifestyles involve juggling work, family and other activities and don’t leave much time for quality food choices and meals. Additionally, nutrition is not a priority for most people. A survey of 2,000 adults showed that people rank convenience and taste as the most important factors in choosing their lunch followed by cost and then, last of all, health! Wow!
The declining quality of our food supply.
Even for those of us that try really hard to be healthy, it is still difficult to get what we need because food quality has declined. A comparison study looked at the changes in nutrient content of 43 fruits and vegetables between 1950 and 1999 and found, for example, a 38% decrease in riboflavin (vitamin B2) content, a 20% decrease in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content etc..
What is causing the declining quality of our food supply?
Multiple factors are likely to be responsible:
Storage time for food: Nutrients are harmed during storage and transportation. For this reason, buying local is a great option.
Harvesting before maturity: This diminishes nutrient content potential.
Farming practices: Factory farmed animals produce meat and dairy that is less nutrient rich. I recommend buying 100% grass-fed animal products for this reason.
Plants grown over and over again on the same land, have robbed our ground of nutrients. They are depleted faster than replenished, and the gap continues to widen. While soil does get nutrients from fertilizer, typically it does not include a comprehensive profile of nutrients.
What else causes nutrient depletion?
Another reason why we are depleted of nutrients is the balance in the nutrients we need vs. the nutrients we consume. This can happen because of several issues:
Pharmaceuticals
Americans are, overall, participating in pharmaceutical drug use more and more. Did you know that pharmaceutical drugs deplete the body of nutrients? Specific drug categories impact specific nutrients. Contact us here, if you’d like help figuring out if your medication could be impacting you.
Mal-absorption of nutrients
Damage to our GI tract due to poor diet and lifestyle choices can impact our ability to absorb nutrients. This often shows up in micronutrient testing and we can help restore the gut to health.
Stress
Stress on the body can mean we are burning through more micronutrients and have a higher than average need which may need compensating.
How can we help?
We are focused this month on helping you with supplementation. We use a variety of methods to determine your needs including our intake form which covers your health history, current symptoms and current supplements, discussion during our sessions, your food journal, micronutrient and other blood testing and dietary analysis.
Do supplements really do anything? Are they necessary?
You may have heard me say, "Not all supplements all are created equal." I would agree that many of the supplements out there are not helping because they are poor quality. For that reason we only use professional grade supplements with our clients.
Can't I get what I need from food?
Of course I am a strong believer in striving for a nutrient dense diet, and Supplements are just that, supplements to a healthy diet. What I have found in my practice is that most people can definitely use the support of supplementation. When I do dietary analysis, it is rare to find someone getting 100% of all the recommended daily amounts of their nutrients and blood testing often reveals nutritional deficiencies or borderline levels in my clients.
Why are people’s diets nutrient depleted?
After all, we are living in one of the wealthiest nations on the planet.
There are 2 main reasons why today’s diets are depleted of essential nutrients:
Our busy lifestyles.
Modern lifestyles involve juggling work, family and other activities and don’t leave much time for quality food choices and meals. Additionally, nutrition is not a priority for most people. A survey of 2,000 adults showed that people rank convenience and taste as the most important factors in choosing their lunch followed by cost and then, last of all, health! Wow!
The declining quality of our food supply.
Even for those of us that try really hard to be healthy, it is still difficult to get what we need because food quality has declined. A comparison study looked at the changes in nutrient content of 43 fruits and vegetables between 1950 and 1999 and found, for example, a 38% decrease in riboflavin (vitamin B2) content, a 20% decrease in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content etc..
What is causing the declining quality of our food supply?
Multiple factors are likely to be responsible:
Storage time for food: Nutrients are harmed during storage and transportation. For this reason, buying local is a great option.
Harvesting before maturity: This diminishes nutrient content potential.
Farming practices: Factory farmed animals produce meat and dairy that is less nutrient rich. I recommend buying 100% grass-fed animal products for this reason.
Plants grown over and over again on the same land, have robbed our ground of nutrients. They are depleted faster than replenished, and the gap continues to widen. While soil does get nutrients from fertilizer, typically it does not include a comprehensive profile of nutrients.
What else causes nutrient depletion?
Another reason why we are depleted of nutrients is the balance in the nutrients we need vs. the nutrients we consume. This can happen because of several issues:
Pharmaceuticals
Americans are, overall, participating in pharmaceutical drug use more and more. Did you know that pharmaceutical drugs deplete the body of nutrients? Specific drug categories impact specific nutrients. Contact us here, if you’d like help figuring out if your medication could be impacting you.
Mal-absorption of nutrients
Damage to our GI tract due to poor diet and lifestyle choices can impact our ability to absorb nutrients. This often shows up in micronutrient testing and we can help restore the gut to health.
Stress
Stress on the body can mean we are burning through more micronutrients and have a higher than average need which may need compensating.
How can we help?
We are focused this month on helping you with supplementation. We use a variety of methods to determine your needs including our intake form which covers your health history, current symptoms and current supplements, discussion during our sessions, your food journal, micronutrient and other blood testing and dietary analysis.
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