We see the advertisements on TV all the time, "Feeling tired? Stressed?" followed by a supplement to make it all go away. The trouble with this approach is are you really fixing the problem? or just band aiding the symptoms? Sadly we all want quick fixes, its human nature, but that doesn't mean we can't change. The problem with supplements is just that, they are a supplement. For example; you have low iron stores, possibly due to over working your body. You take an iron supplement to try and replenish those stores, yet you keep over working your body. Are you truly fixing the problem? No, you are merely fuelling what the Chinese call "Deficient Fire", mostly commonly referred to as "running on empty". What is happening is the root of the problem is still going on and doing damage, you haven't corrected the mechanism that initially caused the iron deficiency, you've just replaced your body absorbing iron naturally with an artificial form of the mineral. Many people largely use vitamins and mineral almost like stimulants, to help them work harder, longer, to give them extra energy. You aren't actually boosting your body, you are pushing it beyond its limits, and sooner or later the body will crash. I see this in clinic a lot, people do not appreciate how much punishment the body can take, but when it reaches breaking point, it can be very hard to come back from. The other matter is of course the strain on your Liver and Kidneys which have to work harder to break down and excrete the drugs your taking. This also long term is not ideal. There are obviously people out there who have problems absorbing certain vitamins/minerals, and those are the people who need to take supplements. Everyone else though, should seek about correcting lifestyle issues, getting all the vitamins and minerals they need from a good balanced diet, combined with proper rest and regularly exercise.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Vitamins and Supplements, running on empty
We see the advertisements on TV all the time, "Feeling tired? Stressed?" followed by a supplement to make it all go away. The trouble with this approach is are you really fixing the problem? or just band aiding the symptoms? Sadly we all want quick fixes, its human nature, but that doesn't mean we can't change. The problem with supplements is just that, they are a supplement. For example; you have low iron stores, possibly due to over working your body. You take an iron supplement to try and replenish those stores, yet you keep over working your body. Are you truly fixing the problem? No, you are merely fuelling what the Chinese call "Deficient Fire", mostly commonly referred to as "running on empty". What is happening is the root of the problem is still going on and doing damage, you haven't corrected the mechanism that initially caused the iron deficiency, you've just replaced your body absorbing iron naturally with an artificial form of the mineral. Many people largely use vitamins and mineral almost like stimulants, to help them work harder, longer, to give them extra energy. You aren't actually boosting your body, you are pushing it beyond its limits, and sooner or later the body will crash. I see this in clinic a lot, people do not appreciate how much punishment the body can take, but when it reaches breaking point, it can be very hard to come back from. The other matter is of course the strain on your Liver and Kidneys which have to work harder to break down and excrete the drugs your taking. This also long term is not ideal. There are obviously people out there who have problems absorbing certain vitamins/minerals, and those are the people who need to take supplements. Everyone else though, should seek about correcting lifestyle issues, getting all the vitamins and minerals they need from a good balanced diet, combined with proper rest and regularly exercise.
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I would agree that many people use supplements as quick fixes when they should be eating better. The problem with eating a good balanced diet is finding food that gives you a well balanced diet. Eating a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables would seem to be the way to go. The problem with that is the nutritional value of our fruits and vegetables today. According to a study by Donald Davis, biochemist at University of Texas at Austin, there are 13 major nutrients found in fruit and vegetables, of which 6 have declined substantially. Davis claims the average vegetable found in today's supermarket is anywhere from 5-40% lower in minerals than those harvested just 50 years ago. From his research he has found that recently grown crops show decreases of up to 38% in protein, magnesium, calcium, vitamin C, phosphorus, iron, zinc and riboflavin when compared with produce from past decades. The negative trend can be attributed to both an erosion of soil nutrition from years of chemical farming, replacing only NPK and some trace elements necessary for crop growth and farmers' attempts to be more profitable using techniques to increase production. Davis says the faster grown fruits don't have as much time to develop the nutrients. I would add that the nutrients would have to be there in the first place. Part of absorption by the plant is key microbes in the soil which work with the roots to affect uptake of the plants nutrition. Since many of these microbes are killed off with chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides there is much less natural absorption of the elements the plant needs.
ReplyDeleteAdding to these factors is the "genetic dilution effect" where selective breeding to increase crop yield has led to declines in protein, minerals, and amino acids. 90% of dry matter is carbohydrate in plants so when breeders select for high yield they are mostly getting carbohydrate with little consideration of the nutritional factors.
Although this information is discouraging I still believe that eating fruits and vegetables is worthwhile. I try to eat plants at their freshest and grow my own vegetable garden as well. With all of that said I use supplements and have seen benefit from using them. The world we live in is a different place than what is was. The toxins and radiation around now well surpass what our forefathers had to deal with.
I didn't mean to write so much. I feel like there is so much information and misinformation out there and wanted to add my 2 cents.
I agree entirely with you, and that is something I plan to discuss later on, is the declining nutrients in our food. Which I believe is leading to so many problems in younger generations, as I notice that constitutionally we aren't as strong as the previous generation, and I see so many teenagers with issues that shouldn't be happening at such an early age. Sadly its the price we pay for convenience...
ReplyDeleteGreat post! While I find nutritional supplements invaluable in particular circumstances, so many of my patients take well over 10 different vitamins, minerals and other OTC pills a day, and assume they just "pee them out." It is so hard to convince them that not only are these supplements not doing them any good, they're adding to the original problem. It's also interesting to note that today's generation of teenagers grew up entirely on fortified cereals etc. So if they do appear to be nutritionally bereft, I would argue that artificial supplementation is backfiring.
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