Why a “Healthy Diet” Just Isn’t Enough…

Despite our best intentions to eat a healthy and well-rounded diet, we still aren’t getting sufficient nutrients from our food alone. That’s because the soil has been severely depleted due to over-farming and pesticides over the past few decades. Even if you are getting the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, the food lacks 20% fewer minerals compared to 80 years ago. In fact, fruits and vegetables today contain 24% fewer magnesium, 46% less calcium, 27% less iron, and a whopping 59% less zinc. Even in the meat and dairy we eat there is 40-60% less iron, and 15% less calcium than years ago. These minerals alone are vital to hormone function, energy production, sleep, blood sugar and metabolism, bone health, and immune function.

Not only is the soil depleted from these vital nutrients but the food is then picked before its peak ripeness and transported miles away and held in a warehouse, eventually a grocery store before it’s eaten. The second that fruit or vegetable is picked the nutrients start to deplete. Buying locally from an organic farmer is your best fight against this, however, even then, our soil is just not as rich as it used to be. That’s why it is imperative to take a good daily multivitamin to fill these deficiencies.

Quality is key when it comes to choosing the right multivitamin. Many supplement manufacturers know the average consumer will look at the price and labeling to guide their purchase. So many times, in order for the manufacturer to compete for shelf space in the store they will skimp on the ingredients in order to stay competitive with the lower prices. In this scenario, you are typically better off buying directly from the manufacturer. Most often times you might spend a little more but you know the ingredients are actually getting absorbed by the body, and you are getting adequate amounts of each nutrient.

When analyzing the quality of your multivitamin, there are a few items you want to look for:

1. Avoid minerals in the form of oxides, sulphates and carbonates. These are difficult to be absorbed by the body. Choose instead in the form of citrates.
2. For vitamin E choose d-alpha-tocopherol, this is a natural form, Dl-alpha-tocopherol is the synthetic form and is not easily absorbed.
3. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is more beneficial for correcting deficiencies compared to D2 (ergocalciferol).
4. Look for folate instead of folic acid since 50% of the population can’t convert folic acid into folate for the body to use.

If you already have a daily multivitamin that you take, make sure the ingredients check out. If you don’t have one you take, you should start. It will help along with a healthy diet to fight against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.