Supplements--Who Needs 'Em?!
Thomas Edison said, "Let foods be your medicine and medicine be
your food." He knew what many have since forgotten--that foods
were created to benefit us in more ways than just pleasurable
eating and taste sensations. They were also fashioned to give us
sound health. How many of you really do know that fact deep down
but have ignored it and chosen the nutritionally deficient foods
and junk foods? I know that I have many times. Those of us
stay-at-home moms and dads find ourselves going for the
mid-morning snack which is usually just carbohydrate loaded.
There then are the ones of us staying up late nightly and
finding it difficult to pass the hours away in front of a
television or other hobby without having that bag of chips or
cookies handy! We are probably all guilty of these choices. And
it's not only the snacks, it's also the rest of our diets that
are filled with too much fat, sugar, and carbohydrates and are
lacking fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and protein, all in a
proper balance.
Purchasing good food for your family can be difficult because
the price of the junk food or boxed food is always a better deal
than that fruit and other nutritional foods, especially
organically grown ones. So poor choices are made here as well,
even though they seem economically justified.
Looking back to my childhood, there seemed to be a better eating
trend. Mom always made sure there was a "green" or "yellow"
vegetable at supper, a daily balanced meal. Snacks, other than
fruit or crackers, were kept to a minimum, and there was no soda
pop in the house other than "Dad's," which we kids were not
allowed to have! He made popcorn for us once in a while or a
Chef Boyardee pizza, which we loved. Hi-C or Kool-Aid were
available sometimes, but mostly juice, milk or water were
allowed. How many kids and adults today have two or more cans of
soda daily?
I resolved to eliminate sugar from my children's diet when they
were little. I had a battle on my hands because of what is so
readily available to them. Go to a friends house, candy there;
go the doctor's office, suckers there; go to kids' club, cookies
and Kool-Aid there. There were a lot of polite no thank-you's.
But there was success as I stuck to my guns about it, and
allowed treats on occasion. We found a co-op in which we could
buy real licorice and delicious cookies made from rice syrup.
Carob chips replaced chocolate chips. Honey replaced sugar in
baking. Many different ways to make it work as the finances
allowed and as I was consistent.
They are teenagers now and have sugar more included in their
diet, but the principles of what they did when they were younger
have stuck with them, and they back off the sugar on their own
with no prompting from me. They have a sense that they feel
"yucky" if they've eaten poorly that day and resolve to eat
better the next.
When I began looking into eating better, I read the book Foods
that Heal by Maureen Salaman. Cases and studies about how
specific illnesses and diseases are improved by the nutrients in
various foods. Much great information is in her book. Still, you
find that by the time we cook the foods, we've depleted so many
of the vitamins and nutrients from them. Eating raw foods is
surely the only way to have every nutrient available to you. But
don't forget the fact that the minerals in the earth are so
depleted from over worked soil that, therefore, grown foods are
lacking in their nutritional value.
So I ask again, "Supplements--Who Needs 'Em?" I'd say every
single one of us! No matter if you even eat the perfectly
balanced diet, you can't be receiving the full benefit unless
you've organically grown these foods yourself, letting the soil
rest in proper time! That's why so many of us take that
multi-vitamin and other additional vitamins and supplements.
That's why the health and nutrition industry is a 70 billion
dollar industry today. We are looking to put in our bodies the
nutrients that we never gained from the way we grew or cooked
our foods.
But let's remember that the word supplement means "something
added." It doesn't mean that it "replaces." We don't take
vitamins and supplements in place of eating the best we can. We
take that quality supplement to add to and make up for the
deficiencies in our diet.
Excellent nutritional supplements will round out your diet and
make it more balanced. But as sound choices need to be made in
our foods, so also do good choices of supplements need to be
made. Investigate the one you are thinking of taking. A superior
supplement has the values of what your foods are missing. See
what it will add to your health. See if the cost is worth what
it claims and ultimately what it will do for you. And will it do
more for you than maybe any other choice will?
Many supplements will eliminate your need for prescription
drugs. And the added benefit is that they won't have the side
effects that drugs do. Again, investigate and look at the
scientific research that's available on it. Look at all the
other findings on it. Look at people's testimonies. I'm sure you
will be amazed as you begin to find what supplements have done
and continue to do for people. And probably at the risk of
sounding like something you've heard many times before, be sure
to drink plenty of good water! You just can't drink anything
else that will replenish your body and help to flush toxins like
the first-ever drink available will.
Consistency. That's what you want in your diet and supplements.
Be consistent in eating well and taking your supplements and you
can enjoy those other taste sensations we enjoy.
Moderation. That's also what you want as far as eating the other
foods, a.k.a. "junk foods." We want to enjoy them, and let's do
it, but not to the excess, but with self-control. I made the
mistake of thinking that since I was taking an excellent
supplement, I could eat without restraint around the holidays.
And I did. I ate cookies for breakfast, more for lunch and some
other goodies thrown in throughout the day. I got the flu a few
days after Christmas and then a cold and cough, all of which I
am not prone to get. As a matter of fact, I rarely do get sick!
What a shock to me, but it was my own fault since I neglected to
care about what I ate for weeks. After all, I was taking an
excellent supplement! I will say, though, that each illness was
shortened in duration and strength. But moderation, folks. We
don't want to put ourselves at risk of all the different viruses
out there looking to prey on us.
May we remember that it is the foods that are our medicine. Only
now we are using a form of them that wasn't available to people
in Edison's time. We have the benefit of supplements. So make
wise choices in both your foods and your supplements! You will
find better health, prevention, and a way to age more gracefully
as you eat well and take quality nutritional supplements.