To Supplement or Not to Supplement that is the question?

“Why do I need to take supplements”, I’m often asked? Supplements as in minerals and vitamins are very important at certain times. Our immune system is our defence force and protects us against illness and harmful infections. Our immune system may become impaired due to stress; especially long term stress, infections, vaccinations, poor diet, poor sleep, poor absorption, surgery and so on.

“I eat healthy, so I shouldn’t need supplements!”…yes that can be true, however what may appear to be a healthy diet may in fact be an unbalanced diet. The wider the variety of foods you eat the greater the range of nutrients you get into your body, for example if you only eat meat and vegetables but no fruit you are missing out on vital nutrients such as antioxidants, phytonutrients, Vitamin C, and many more.

If you are consuming a healthy well balanced diet and still feel you are not in optimum health you may be suffering from mal-absorption. This can be caused by an underlying toxin in your system like parasites, virus, fungus, nasty bacteria which result in irritating the digestive system causing inflammation. This can result in the following symptoms, abdominal cramps, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome like symptoms (constipation/diarrhoea, bloating, wind, discomfort) excess mucus production, sinus problems, skin conditions and much more. When your system is in a state of distress from any of the above it cannot function well as the walls of the digestive tract become damaged, leaky and need repairing. This means you cannot fully absorb the nutrition from the food you eat, no matter how healthy the food you consume.

Food these days is highly processed, even fruit and vegetables, they can be sprayed with chemicals, irradiated, genetically modified, all in an effort to give them a long shelf life…resulting in poor nutritional value. Poor cooking methods, overcooking, excess water, reheating foods in microwaves all reduce nutritional content of foods too. Always buy fresh fruit and vegetables, organic where possible. Support local growers and farmers by attending food markets/local butchers, shops, health food shops etc. The closer the food source in relation to where you live the fresher and richer in nutrients it will be.

Certain supplements especially the cheaper ones are filled with additives of non- nutritional value like colourings, flavourings, processing aids, bulking agents so the quantity of nutrient in the capsule can actually be very little. Therefore you are not getting the full value of the supplement. Natural nutrient rich supplements are best and recommended when necessary to give you the boost to repair, restore and replenish your body back to its natural optimum health state. Always check the listing of ingredients on the supplement. Ensure they are free from sweeteners; many cheaper supplements contain sweeteners which congest the liver and block proper functioning of the body. Also many people I treat have intolerance to sweeteners and many other processing aids too. So, check out what you are putting in, do you need it, does it agree with you or are you just making expensive urine. When I test my clients they only get supplements when they are needed, if they don’t need them, they don’t get them. Take care of yourself, your mind and your body.

Recipes for Life…the best recipe for a happy healthy life is everything in moderation, check out my recipes for life online programme to help you achieve that balance.