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Many argue that if you consume an optimal diet containing all the essential nutrients, then you shouldn't need to take supplements. But, is the optimal diet really attainable and does anyone succeed at maintaining it?
Since nutrition is directly related to the health of the human body, good nutrition is essential for optimum health. However, in order to achieve that, we require that all the necessary nutrients - including carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals and water - be in adequate balance.
This balance is not always attainable; that's why supplements are often necessary to support the diet in supplying the body with the essential nutrients that it requires for optimum health. The task of 'optimum nutrition' is very difficult to achieve, and many factors in our modern society make this task even more of a challenge.
One of the main factors that contribute to deficiency in various nutrients is today's lifestyle. Time restraints and easy access to ready-made foods both contribute to people eating meals that need less preparation time and contain fewer nutrients.
Modern lifestyles often consist of high intakes of sugar, saturated fats, alcohol, tobacco and drugs (including medications). Smoking, for example, significantly depletes Vitamin C from the body and uses it to combat the damage caused by nicotine and carbon monoxide from cigarettes.
Also, demanding jobs, long working hours and a fast-paced, more competitive life can cause stress, anxiety, irritation, and insomnia - all contributing to more nutrient loss in the body, resulting in various deficiencies.
The over-consumption of refined foods (for example, white rice, white flour products, sweets, chocolates, etc) could also result in decreasing nutrients in the body. These foods are empty calories and are void of any nutrients. Furthermore, they utilise vital nutrients in the body for their own metabolism.
Also, we can never be certain how much nutrients our food contains due to today's genetic modification and other processes that foods are subjected to today. Food refining and other modern food processing techniques can increase a product's shelf life but also introduce chemically altered nutrients that are foreign to the body and reduce the amount of various minerals and vitamins in a food to much less than half.
Cooking methods are another factor in nutrient loss. Certain methods, especially those involving high heat, frying and boiling, may also increase nutrient needs as they either destroy nutrients, create toxins, or leach nutrients out of foods.
It is important to realise that the style of cooking can maximise or diminish the amount of nutrients in food. Cooking food, when at home, should be minimal with plenty of steaming. But, with the abundance of restaurants and the growing popularity of eating out, it is difficult to control and monitor the style of cooking and ingredients.
Also, soil depletion of essential minerals, due to intensive farming, is a worsening situation since the early/mid 1900s. Without sufficient minerals, the effectiveness of vitamins may decrease and as a consequence vitamin requirements may be increased. For example, Selenium plays a big role in cancer prevention, and cancer is often less prevalent in countries where the soil is rich in Selenium.
In addition, premature harvests and long storage of plant crops can result in lower levels of certain nutrients. Fruits and vegetables not locally grown and eaten out of season often contain very little nutrients and have much less benefits than their fresh counterparts. Fruits and vegetables start losing nutrients from the moment they are picked.
Modern rearing techniques of livestock have also changed the ratios of nutrients in meats and poultry, resulting in a several fold increase in saturated fats when compared to their wild counterparts. With that comes a relative decrease in essential fatty acids, amino acids, and possibly several vitamins, all of which have been found to protect against the major killer diseases of industrialised countries.
Unfortunately, the meat we are eating today is not of the same quality as the meat that our grandparents ate 50 or 60 years ago. Cattle are often given antibiotics to prevent infections, and hormones to promote milk production; all these substances indirectly reach us and can have long-term effects if our bodies are not equipped with enough nutrients for the battle.
Pollution in our surrounding environment, and the abundance of toxins and free radicals around us, could also influence the state of our health.
We are more prone to infections and other illnesses, and more in need of the necessary antioxidants for their combat (e.g. vitamins A, C, E and minerals Zinc and selenium). And, although it is possible to eat foods rich in these essential antioxidants, it is difficult to eat the amounts required for optimum health. Furthermore, we now eat food full of man-made chemicals, in the forms of industrial pollutants, pesticides, herbicides, drugs, food additives, preservatives and colourings.
It has been found that an apple is sprayed 75 times before it reaches the consumer!
Last, but not least, in the argument for supplements, it is important to realise that different people need different amounts of nutrients. Some specific groups of people may have increased nutrient requirements such as those in disease states, where the body has increased demands for detoxification, defence and repair work.
Also, high levels of physical activity, such as strenuous exercise, use nutrients in larger amounts for increased energy production, free radical defence, repair and growth.
Furthermore, women in different stages require more nutrients - during puberty, pregnancy or menopause. Other examples include adolescents, the elderly, vegetarians and patients recovering from surgery. For all these special cases that require an abundance of certain nutrients, supplements can help sustain health and replenish what is lost.
As a result of all the above mentioned factors and many others, our modern life today would require a lot more than the promise of an 'ideal' diet.
We all need, in addition to a healthy diet and lifestyle, a set of quality supplements. And, although many people know what they 'should' be doing, it is getting increasingly difficult to stay healthy in a society that is stressful, polluted and 'refined'.
Action Plan
Look for a quality multi-vitamin/mineral and take it daily
Always take your multi-vitamin/mineral with a meal. Supplements should complement a healthy diet, not replace it
Children under 12 should be given a children's multi. Babies can be given vitamin drops
If you are pregnant or could be pregnant, take a pre-natal multi-vitamin, but always consult your doctor prior to doing so
Any other specific supplements (e.g. iron or calcium) should only be taken under supervision.
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