Have you ever wondered why, with more people taking more supplements than ever before in history, so many people are still so sick...and getting sicker? (According to Scientific American, March 2007, US health care costs -- really disease care costs -- are expected to double to FOUR TRILLION dollar$ by 2015.)

I know the value of nutritional supplementation, but when I read the extraordinary claims for some products, it sounds like ONE "miracle" supplement will heal every disease known and unknown. Then the same company introduces another product, making the exact same claims. Well, if the first one did its "job" according to the advertisements, why do I need the second one (and the third, etc.)? The number of different kinds of supplements on the market - and all the ones that are supposed to be 'essential' for your health - is mind-boggling, and would cost you a few thousand dollars a month, if you bought all of them!

Because of lack of knowledge, contradictory research data, and opinions presented as facts, we have a difficult time knowing how to take care of ourselves nutritionally. Otherwise, with millions of people spending billions of dollars on health foods and supplements, most people would be in good health. And most people aren�t!

Supplements Are Not a Substitute for Nutritious Food

Many people mistakenly assume that if they take supplements, they can eat "anything" - so they don�t avoid preserved, processed, genetically modified foods. People who take plenty of supplements frequently eat out or eat a lot of prepared foods. It's estimated that about 50% of our meals are not prepared at home. Most of these meals are "fast foods"...which are not noted for their high nutritional content. Very few people, if any, can thrive on the devitalized, over-processed, chemicalized, sugar and fat laden concoctions that pass for "food" these days -- no matter how many supplements they take.

Are Nutritional Supplements Necessary If You Eat a "Good" Diet?

My first question is "What's a good diet?" My next is "How do you find it?" There is little agreement, even among "experts", as to what a good diet is or if it really exists. I eat organic foods when possible and am careful with my nutrition without being fanatical, but I don"t expect to get all my nutritional needs from food alone. Besides the depletion of nutrients and excess toxins in our food, the increased physical, mental, emotional and environmental stresses of modern life increases our nutritional needs. Read about our food supply in If You Eat Well, Are Supplements Necessary? and you'll agree that in this day and age, a good diet is hard to find!

Given the fact that we have problems with our food supply -- which is why we take supplements in the first place -- why aren't these supplements keeping us healthy? The rest of this article tells you why.

Nutrients Don't Always Reach the Cells of Your Body

In order for nutritional supplements to work, they need to be delivered to your body's cells and the nutrients need to be processed like "food", which means the nutrients should come from food with the fiber and water removed, rather than from a test tube. In my article Is Your Body Getting Cellular Nutrition? I tell you about the importance of "cellular nutrition" -- nutrients reaching the cells of your body. I tell you why "synthetic" nutrients (made in a test tube) and "fractionated" nutrients (containing only part of the nutrient complex) are not the same as nutrients from whole foods. I also explain the importance of a "delivery system" that insures the nutrients reach the cells. If they don't, the nutrients are useless.

Lack of cellular nutrition is a major reason why so many people who take nutritional supplements are not benefiting from them. Following are other reasons.

Some Supplements Contain Ingredients That Could Be Harmful

Because supplement manufacturers know that most nutrients don't reach the cells of the body, they often load their pills with high potency chemical "nutrients", in the hopes that at least some of the nutrients penetrate the cell membrane. Here�s an example: Our bodies need only a few milligrams of each of the B complex vitamins, yet the supplements come in potencies of 50mg, 100mg and higher. The excess becomes waste material. Not only that, these potencies disrupt the natural ratio of B complex vitamins found in food, and that causes other problems.

Excess chemical "nutrients" in fractionated and synthetic supplements, plus fillers and binders in tablets, create toxins from the waste material the body needs to get rid of. Depending on how many toxins are already in a person's body, these supplements can contribute to an unhealthy "overload."

Important Supplements We Are Not Taking

Even if supplements are made from whole foods and have an excellent delivery system, is that enough to reverse the alarming increase in disease and health care (really disease care) costs? Probably not, because most people only take supplements of "well-known" nutrients, such as vitamins A, B, C, E, and minerals like calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, etc. Our hectic, stressful modern life has made other supplements essential in order to maintain health, prevent disease, and heal from illness, injuries and surgery.

Digestive Enzymes: The purpose of digestion is to break food down into the smallest molecules so the nutrients are carried by the blood to the cells that require them. This uses up an enormous amount of our body's energy, especially when digestion is inefficient. Lack of digestive enzymes, which results in poor digestion, is a major reason people are so sick and fatigued.

If the billions of dollars spent on drugs like Alka-Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol, Maalox, Nexium, etc., is any indication, millions of people have digestive problems. (Nexium is the third best-selling drug in the world, with annual sales exceeding $5 billion.) These drugs do not improve digestion. In fact, while they relieve symptoms of gas, stomach distress and heartburn, they interfere with digestion.

What improves digestion are effective digestive enzymes. The way nature originally intended, foods are supposed to "come with" the enzymes needed to digest them, but they don't anymore. Digestive enzymes are so important that I've written an article about them, What You Should Know About Digestive Enzymes.

Antioxidants: While A, C and E are antioxidants, we generally need more than are contained in most vitamin-mineral supplements, especially synthetic ones. This is because we have many more environmental and internal challenges today that produce free radicals, than we had years ago -- including being on a computer for hours on end and constant exposure to toxins. Thus, free radical damage is increasing and extra antioxidant nutrients have become necessary. The MOST important antioxidant is the one your body produces, glutathione -- and you'll read about it below. (Find out more about antioxidants in Inflammation, Free Radical Damage, Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants)

Friendly Flora: Also known as pro-biotics or friendly bacteria, these are the "good" bacteria that live in our intestines and keep the "bad" bacteria that we call "germs" in check. Friendly flora is like a secondary immune system. We need to increase friendly flora with supplements because the "good guys" are destroyed by antibiotics, along with the "bad guys". Even if you don�t use antibiotics, you get them in your food. Friendly flora is also destroyed by sugar, antacids and soda, among other things. Eating yogurt is not enough; the flora is unlikely to be in sufficient numbers or active enough to counteract the destruction and depletion of essential friendly flora in your intestines.

The good news is that you can get all three of these essential supplements in ONE formula, Essentials for Life by Infinity2. This unique natural product also contains an efficient fat and sugar burner/digestive aid, whole food vitamins and chelated minerals -- all in one capsule. Find out how I learned about cellular nutrition and Infinity2 supplements in Is Your Body Getting Cellular Nutrition?

Glutathione raising supplement: Glutathione is made IN your body BY your body and cannot be taken in supplemental form. Rather, you must take a supplement that has the ingredients your body needs to produce glutathione. Glutathione production drops markedly as we age and stress uses up this vital cellular component, so we must raise our levels through supplements. Most products that claim to raise glutathione DON'T work and are a waste of money! The one that is scientifically proven to raise glutathione levels is Immunocal� by Immunotec Research.

To find out why glutathione is essential and learn more about Immunocal�. read the following articles: Is Glutathione/GSH the Nutritional "Miracle Solution" Of The 21st Century?, Glutathione/GSH and "The Reverse Modulation Effect" In Cancer and Inflammation, Free Radicals, Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants.

For answers to questions that arise after reading my nutrition articles, and to order recommended supplements at wholesale prices, Contact me at 203-373-1943 or click here

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