First of all let’s look at what ‘enough’ is. Everyone has heard
of the Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA. You find these listed
as percent RDA on the back of all foods that you buy. What does
that mean? The RDA was developed in the 1920’s as a minimum
requirement to avoid malnutrition. It was later improved in the
1950’s to include the amounts of vitamins and minerals needed for
‘normal growth’. Today’s scientific studies show that this is very
different than the amounts that are probably needed to reduce the
risk of chronic illnesses. The amounts of many vitamins (not all)
that are needed for most people to stay healthy in their adult years
are likely to be much higher than the RDA. The fact is, we don’t
really know what the exact optimal amounts of nutrients are and
they certainly vary for different people. But the bottom line is
that the vast majority of us don’t get enough from our food. Studies
have shown that most people who think they are eating a healthy diet
are not even meeting the RDA levels for all nutrients and most people
are deficient in at least one if not several key vitamins.
So what does that mean? Think about it like driving down the
freeway with no seatbelts, no airbags, and old tires that could
blow at any time. You might be fine. But if a tire blows and you
get in a wreck what are your chances of coming out of it unscathed
with no safety equipment. Proper nutrition works the same way in
the body. It allows us to function optimally to fight off infections
and common colds and to deal with the common physical and mental
stressors that we face all the time. A minor deficiency in a key
vitamin, mineral or other micronutrient shows up in the short term
as lethargy, impatience and general fatigue and in the long term
can increase your risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes,
depression and a large number of other chronic illnesses.
Where can you get good advice? How about your physician, are they
qualified to give you advise on optimal health and nutrition? Well,
maybe. Ask your doctor if they have had any formal training in
nutrition. It may surprise you to know that less that 10% of
medical doctors get any formal training in nutrition in medical
school. A doctor’s profession is really to help people that are
sick get better. Doctors are trained to diagnose and treat, and
after medical school a large part of their training comes from
pharmaceutical representatives that visit their office. They are
not usually trained to give advice on optimal healthy living. Most
doctors are very reputable practitioners and adhere to high
standards of patient care – but their customers are sick people
be trying to recover, not people trying to achieve optimal health.
So what should you do? Your homework! Would you go and buy a car
or a house without doing some homework first? Would you trust all
of your money to a financial advisor without checking them out
first? So why would you treat an investment into your health any
differently? The fact is that the nutrition industry is regulated
by the FDA as a food and to the same standards as frozen pizza.
Many of the products on the market use cheap ingredients in
sub-optimal amounts and in forms that are not easily utilized by
the body. It is outside the scope of this article to give a
detailed account of all of the products available but one source
is a book called “The Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements”
by Lyle McWilliam. This provides a background into how nutritionals
work in your body and also a detailed ranking of many of the
products on the market. You can find it at amazon or many other
bookselling websites.
In summary, nutrition is key for life-long health and disease
prevention. Do some homework and find high quality nutrition
products that meet your needs. |
