Supplements

Some large, unfounded rumors circulating about nutritional supplements. And they are in circulation under the cover of science and experience. But instead of helping you make better choices for your health, they do the opposite. They make it more difficult. Because these false stories ignore the search volumes and thousands of years of human healing practices using food, herbs and minerals. What sophistry that I speak? A December 2013 editorial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, titled "Enough Is Enough: Stop wasting money on vitamins and mineral supplements," concluded: "We think the case is closed supplement the diet of well-fed adults (mostly) mineral or vitamin supplements is no clear benefit and could even be harmful. These vitamins are not to be used for disease prevention chronic. That's enough. "[1] Now here's the thing ... I agree that we must pay attention to the results of the study authors called when they came to this conclusion. This editorial refers to several recent studies. Each study highlights some important reasons why nutritional supplements do not work in specific situations. But other than that, they are dead wrong. Because if anything these studies highlight the mistakes that people and doctors make when it comes to using supplements. In other words, when people choose poor quality supplements and using the wrong supplement for the wrong reasons, supplements do not do much good. However, as hundreds of people who looked at me as a doctor discovered when you choose the right high quality supplement for the health problem right, you will see the benefits. The key is to make informed choices. One article is too limited to cover 40 years and more knowledge I draw from recommending supplements to my patients. But I can offer some basic guidelines that will help you make better choices when using supplements. Here's what you should look out for in order to ensure the nutritional supplements you use the work. Get The Right Dose Of Nutrition Three studies the editorial team used to make their case showed multivitamins have done little to change the risk of brain problems, cardiovascular problems after a heart attack or all of the health risks to the elderly. I was not surprised by this. Trying to cover the whole spectrum of nutrition without exaggerating in any field, multivitamins usually offer only a small percentage of the nutrients you need to take care of a specific health problem. And quite often, they understand the nutrients you do not even need based on how you eat. For example, most multivitamins contain 400 IU or less of vitamin D. Although it is official recommended daily allowance for vitamin D, the most holistic doctors would consider this a drop in the bucket when it comes to increasing your rate blood vitamin D. I have my patients get blood tests to assess levels of vitamin D supplements and recommend accordingly. Quite often, I recommend at least 1,000 IU - sometimes up to 5000 IU - to get them to healthy levels of vitamin D in the blood. Multivitamins provide a basis for nutrition. No strategic intervention that can really make a difference. And this brings me to the next question ... Choosing the best nutritional supplements for your specific needs Just because the vitamin A supplementation worked for your neighbor, does not mean it will work for you. Maybe you eat a lot of winter squash and chlorella are rich in this vitamin. You do not need a supplement. Not everyone needs the same amount of supplementation. Supplementation works best when it is tailored to your individual health issues, eating habits, lifestyle, and genetic makeup. When adding supplements to your diet, start with you - with what you're struggling with and you know your weaknesses are. That is why studies involving people without nutritional deficiencies to assess the effectiveness of supplements may have had less significant results. It is also why multivitamins have limited effectiveness. The higher quality ones can give you a good nutritional foundation. But they do little to offer strategic nutrition that thousands of studies have shown can make a difference with specific health problems. But it does not matter what the dose of supplement you choose, if you do not pay attention to this next issue, you will not get what you need ... Choose Natural Supplements Synthetic versions of vitamins can not only be less effective, they may be dangerous. As the Annals of Internal Medicine editorial team correctly pointed out, some research has shown that vitamin A supplementation can actually increase the risk of lung cancer. However, if you get the precursor of vitamin A that is found in chlorella and other whole foods - beta carotene - you need not worry. Unlike vitamin A, your body only converts beta carotene it needs and discards the rest. Natural substances are difficult to imitate in a chemical laboratory. We can do a very good job, but several different vitamins studies have shown that synthetic forms of vitamins - like those used in many studies of vitamin A and E - can disrupt the way your body uses nutrition. But even if you go natural, you still need to pay keen attention to the following criteria ... Make quality a priority Listen, do you think of wilted spinach that has been sitting in the refrigerator for 2 weeks will give you the same food as spinach picked from your garden minutes ago? Of course not! So why would you assume all the ingredients of the supplement are of the same quality? Of course, they can be natural ingredients. But natural does not necessarily mean quality. Many manufacturers scoot through your body ingredients can not use - or be low in concentration of the active compounds reviews. Multivitamins are particularly notorious in this area. If you choose one at random from the local pharmacy, I can almost guarantee that most of the nutrients in the multivitamin you selected will be difficult for your body to use and offer limited benefits. For example, calcium carbonate - found in many multivitamins and calcium supplements - is much more difficult for your body to breakdown and absorb that calcium citrate. [2] Regarding botanical supplements, their quality depends greatly on how they were acquired and processed. For example, if Eleuthero root is harvested in the winter months, when much of the energy of the plant is stored in its roots, you will get a much higher concentration of active ingredients, eleutherosides. However, each producer eleuthero cares for harvest at this time, leading to a range of power when it comes to Eleuthero supplements on the market. However, as well as an extract of isolated high quality or ingredient is rarely can they compete with the best form of supplementation. The best nutritional supplements are made with Whole Foods While we found some applications for isolated vitamins and plant compounds ... and while I sometimes suggest my patients use some extracts or isolated vitamins ... when it comes down to it, nothing beats the food complex chemistry to give your body the best nutrition. The nutrients found in the work of food to feed all of you incredibly complex way. It is like a symphony with hundreds of players. And often, when we try to isolate the nutrients missed on the powerful health benefits. For example, regarding the supplement, Eleutherococcus, scientists have found that certain compounds isolated, eleutherosides appear to improve immune health. But they also found that no isolated eleutherosides worked just as well to strengthen your immune health by taking eleuthero together. [3] 3 tips for finding nutritional supplements that work As a physician who has attended hundreds of people recovering excellent health through the use of nutritional supplements, I know this editorial widely publicized of the Annals of Internal Medicine has the potential to cause considerable damage. Referring to a few unrepresentative and poorly designed studies to condemn nutritional supplements as a whole, the authors robbed people of healthy options that can make all the difference. But I also understand the need, highlighted by the studies mentioned in the editorial, for a better understanding of how to choose and more efficient use of supplements. Here are some suggestions: Do your research. Go beyond the headlines and ask questions. Obtain information that answers all the questions I have raised in this post. Learn more about the health problem you have, the nutrient you plan to use and the company that produces supplements that provide this nutrition. If in doubt, consult a professional as a holistic doctor. As part of our professional work, we continue with the search. In addition, we have our years of practice to draw on to see how supplements work case by case. A holistic doctor can help you determine the quality of a supplement. And they can help you decide if it is right for your needs. Consider using supplements that have already gone through rigorous evaluations of quality. For example, supplements distribution companies like Emerson Ecologics set high standards for the supplements they carry to help practitioners like me make good choices more easily. While you will need a recommendation from official doctor to buy them, you will know that the supplements they carry are duly verified. Become the expert: Know the best supplements for you The most important thing you can do to use supplements actually know you. Know your body and notice how supplements work for you. And keep this in mind: the studies are important. But they also have only a snapshot of reality. Your unique biochemistry, can not get into that. Because of this, you can know better than any doctor or researcher this supplement works for you. When it comes down to it, nobody else can do as good a job as you to make the final decision about who the best nutritional supplements for you.