Most people, I think, could benefit from adding supplements to their diet. Proponents of supplementation will tell you a lot of the problem with our food supply is that it’s being grown in soil depleted of minerals. Personally I don’t know that for sure, having never seen the research. What I do know is how much difference supplements have made in my life. If I forget my vitamins one day, I’m dragging by nightfall. And if it happens two days running, by the afternoon I have a serious case of brain fog and a nagging ache behind my eyes. Not pretty. If I’m taking my supplements, on the other hand, I generally have enough energy to run (not walk) up my stairs and to keep up with the grandkids.
It took me a while to find the right combination of supplements. There are basically four types: vitamins, minerals, herbs, and nutritional. Each has its benefits, and sometimes precautions. Let’s look briefly at each one.
There are 13 vitamins, denoted by letters of the alphabet. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble. The 8 B vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble. Vitamins are necessary for the body to function properly, yet it can only produce two of these vitamins, D and K, for itself, and then only under certain conditions. So the only place for us to get the vitamins we need is to ingest them, either in our food or in the form of supplements. The water soluble vitamins in particular are “washed” out of the body more quickly than the fat-soluble ones, and need to be ingested more often.
Minerals are exactly what they sound like. They are inorganic substances found in the earth and in our food. Minerals in small amounts are needed by our bodies to form bones, control nervous system function, support digestion, and balance fluids, among other things. There are 22 minerals that have been identified as “essential” minerals. Seven of the 22 (calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulfur) are called macrominerals. The other 15 are considered trace minerals. Beyond these, there are more than 38 other minerals found in body that haven’t (yet) made the ranks of essential.
Herbs are botanicals, meaning that they are derived from various parts of plants. They can come in the form of extracts, capsules, tablets, roots, leaves, powders, berries, or teas. Herbs have been used to support health since the earliest days of man. The majority of the world’s population still uses herbal remedies today. Herbs are used for a wide range of conditions. In general, they support the body and its systems to improve health. Because this is such a vast subject, we’ll look at botanicals in more depth in other articles.
Finally, there are nutritional supplements. This is a bit of a catch-all category that includes some food substances, such as fish oil, some phytochemicals, such as flavonoids, some synthesized body chemicals, such as melatonin and amino acids, and some bacterium, such as acidophilus. Research is just beginning to show how wonderfully beneficial some of these supplements can be. We’ll be looking more in depth at many of these substances in future posts as well.
Just a word of caution before we go. There is no one combination of supplements that will suit everyone’s needs. Different people in different situations will benefit from different things. You absolutely must be armed with good information about supplements before you start adding them to your diet. Some of the supplements, particularly herbs and nutritional supplements, can have powerful effects. Pregnant and nursing women, and those already taking prescription medications should be especially cautious about beginning a supplementation regimen. Talk to your health care provider about adding supplements if you have any doubts at all. Many physicians these days understand that there is great benefit to natural supplementation, and they can help you avoid problems and drug interactions.
