Do you need supplements?

Let’s face it life is stressfully busy these days which means sleep is to a minimum and eating the right amounts of fresh, nutritious food each day just feels nearly impossible.  Your work load makes you lucky to stop for lunch.  You have children that demand your attention when work ends which means dinner is an after-thought.  And what about that multivitamin?  Have you been told that they are a waste because your body does not absorb them?

So now you don’t sleep or eat enough.  When you do eat it it’s for convenience and quick energy not nutritional value and you do not take vitamins.

Perhaps on top of all of this you are an avid exerciser.  If so, you might be in need of supplementation even more than you thought. 

Nowadays it is not enough to have a healthy diet and exercise regularly to fight disease and sickness.  The food we eat is exposed to harmful chemicals, the air we breathe is polluted and the electronic world we live in constantly stresses and breaks down our immune system.  It is a constant battle to keep your body working properly never mind fight off the ever growing list of disease and cancer.

Here is a great quote from Dr. Mark Hyman, who practices treating causes of sickness through a wellness approach rather than treating symptoms.  He practices Functional Medicine in Lenox, Ma and is an accomplished physician who has testified before the White House for reform. 

“ I agree that you do not need to take a multivitamin, ONLY if you eat wild, fresh, whole, organic, local, non-genetically modified food grown in virgin mineral and nutrient soils, and not transported across vast distances and stored for months before eaten…work and live outside, breathe only fresh unpolluted air, drink only pure, clean water, sleep nine hours a night, move your body every day, and are free from chronic stressors and exposures to environmental toxins.”

So it is time to realize that what we eat and do just does not provide an appropriate amount of nutrients and minerals needed to give ourselves a fighting chance in this life of chemical damage.  For example the food we eat does not provide enough Omega 3 and Vitamin D.  A good multivitamin can provide the appropriate absorption and some vitamins such as Vitamin K, are actually better absorbed through tablets than food.  (www.womentowomen.com/healthynutrition/omega3benefits.aspx).

What we do physically is yet another reason to be sure we are refueling our bodies properly.  Our workouts are intended to strengthen our bodies but without proper pre and post workout nutrition we could actually be hurting ourselves.  As we sweat we lose electrolytes which help keep our Ph balanced, and our systems operating properly.  In short (to a very long description), we must replace the electrolytes we lose while sweating.  Without doing so we will hinder our athletic performance and cause serious illness.  Post workout is just as important.  For many reasons protein is a vital fuel we must feed our body: body-fat loss, avoid catabolism (the breakdown of muscle) and to sustain appropriate energy levels.  The fastest way to boost your system before and after a workout is in liquid form as the body will simply process these nutrients faster. 

So tomorrow start your day with a protein shake and a well manufactured multivitamin then make a plan to hit 100% of the nutrition guidelines listed above.

For more information regarding proper vitamins and minerals- Isotonix, go to www.nutrametrix.com/cpte