The Nation's Health

Health Tips: Why Take Supplemental Vitamins

High fructose corn syrup. Bleached flour. Ingredients that can't be pronounced. Even fresh fruit...freshly picked apples lose vitamins by the hour. By the time fresh fruit gets to the store, sits on a shelf, is purchased, sits in the refrigerator, is cooked, and finally eaten, only a very small fraction of the nutritional value is left to be absorbed. The vital vitamins and minerals in the food supply today have been extremely diminished. Many nutritional experts agree that even if one were to eat 100% raw and organic fruits and vegetables, picked and eaten same-day straight from farmland, decades of farming has left large amounts of contracted land depleted. One would have to consume 8-12 times the amount of produce, in some cases, to absorb what much of the farmland contained decades ago. While 1 out of every 10,000 or so people even pick their own food, the rest of world relies on several-days to several-weeks old, processed, canned, previously cooked, etc. food to remain healthy. Even if one were to ignore literally thousands of reports on how diets today are poor, a third grader is able to make the stark observation that the majority of America and many parts of the world is obese.

Now that it has been clearly established that so many diets today are very nutritionally poor, identifying exactly what is missing and how to replenish just that is needed.

Everybody critically needs vitamins to work, grow, and develop properly, which makes them extremely important on a daily basis. But it doesn't stop there. The human body also requires vitamins to do many things, such as ward off disease, boost immune system response, and even improve overall moods! When the skin gets a cut, the human body needs a good number of vitamins to clot. When one gets sick, the body requires a more than average amount of vitamins to help fight the virus (it is good to note here again that the typical diet does not even provide the average amount of vitamins needed on a daily basis). Some vitamins even help produce energy throughout the body. People still feeling tired regardless of making good efforts to eat all the right things may very well be not consuming the appropriate amount vitamins. When this happens, there is a very high chance the body isn't getting the vitamins needed to convert what is being eaten into energy. Vitamins are even involved in making sure objects are seen in color. Calcium, as so many have thought was an end-all solution to osteoporosis and calcium deficiencies does not work optimally unless sufficient amounts of Vitamin D are provided!

4.9/10 stars (2010-01-07