How many times have you heard someone say, “My husband won’t take his pills,” or, “I just don’t see the point of taking supplements”? If you or a loved one feels this way, you’re not alone. There is a popular notion of self-sufficiency (or, maybe, machismo) which occasionally makes even those who are most open to holistic health options throw up their hands and say, “I don’t use drugs, so why should I take these? Isn’t my body good enough to manage on its own?” In principle, the goal of any holistic treatment approach is to support and strengthen your body so that it can manage on its own. In practice, however, there are several reasons why many people can benefit from a good quality natural supplement - for short or long term use.
The primary reason that I often suggest supplements is because sometimes, you can’t get everything from your food. This is not only a criticism of the overly processed, hormone-pumped, artificial colour and flavour enhanced, high sugar, low fiber Western diet: our lack of proper nutrition, in most cases, stem also from a depletion of agricultural soil.
As crops are grown again and again on the same farm land, minerals that the plants need are leached from the soil. This depletion can be counteracted by rotating crops (since different plants will draw on different minerals) and by resting a plot of land every few years, but even these measures only slow soil depletion. Many commercial fertilizers include trace minerals, but most focus on phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium - the bare minimum that plants need to grow.
Studies have shown that mineral depletion affects the nutrients in the food grown on such land - causing as much as a 75% drop in trace minerals. Even turning compost and manure (“organic fertilizers”) into the land does not guarantee soil balance.
Organic fruits and veggies, in general, contain a higher nutrient content than those “conventionally grown” with pesticides and inorganic fertilizer.
So although we have statistics on the mineral and vitamin content of most vegetables and fruits, there is no way of knowing offhand whether the apple in your local supermarket contains the nutrition you’ve been led to believe it “should.”
Most of us suffer from mineral or vitamin deficiencies of one sort or another - partly due to the demands of a growing global population on food supply - and this is the primary reason that it can be helpful to use supplements once in a while. You may not guess how much impact a trace mineral deficiency can have until you’ve started a supplement regimen and find that you have more energy and awareness, and fewer aches and pains.
Another reason that many people benefit from supplements has to do with stress. At the speed our lives move today, stress is a major factor in illness and fatigue, as well as contributing to coffee, sugar and cigarette addiction. We live our lives at a pace that no human civilization has, and the demands on our bodies are severe. When you are stressed, emotionally or physically, your body will use vitamins (particularly vitamins B and C) and other micronutrients at an increased rate. A supplement may also be useful to help balance hormones like HGH and cortisol, which are easily destabilized by stress and lack of sleep.
Supplements may also be helpful in specific cases. Vegetarians may need to supplement B vitamins and amino acids, and pregnant women may do well on supplements. Children’s “growing pains” usually end when they start taking a calcium supplement to support the growth of their bones. People attempting a holistic approach to get over a serious illness, such as healing a thyroid imbalance without synthroid or other drugs, almost always need natural supplements to help their body return to full health.
Supplements should not be seen as a solution you’ll need to lean on forever: unlike pharmaceutical drugs, the best supplements are designed to “supplement” a need and teach your body to support itself. Good supplements will not build dependency, but will allow you to grow into a place of better health where you don’t need to use them any more.
A final note:
There are thousands of supplements available, and not all of them are natural, of good quality, and easily absorbed by the human body. Some of the synthesized vitamins pass right through you with no benefit; others can even be toxic (even the “natural” ones: natural does not always mean “safe”). Please consult a health care professional before beginning a supplement regimen if you’re not sure of the source.
In many cases, raw supplements such as juices are the best option. Please see Foods vs. Supplements for details.
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
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