Supplements

I am an advocate for getting your daily nutrition through whole foods rather than through supplements. There are a number of reasons for this.

Tthe body is complicated, and we do not even know a complete list of essential nutrients. We are constantly finding new essential micronutrients, anti-oxidants, anti-carcinogens, etc that we were previously unaware of. For example, Vitamin B was once thought to be a single vitamin, but now we believe it to be 8 water-soluble vitamins that affect cell health. Whole foods contain these nutrients already.

Micronutients are complicated. You may (for example) take a Vitamin B12 supplement, but you would be getting cyanocobalamin, which does not occur naturally. The body can convert it to methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, leaving behind cyanide. But, it is almost impossible to know whether the body treats cyanocobalamin exactly the same way that it treats naturally occurring forms of Vitamin B12.

Furthermore, foods are complicated. Oranges, for example are high in Vitamin C. So is taking water fortified with Vitamin C equivalent? A study shows that while the Vitamin C absorbed into the blood plasma was the same for both juice and Vitamin C water was the same, the benefits associated with the vitamin only shows up in the plasma of the juice-drinkers. Furthermore, it should be noted here that drinking juice causes glycemic spikes that is in turn mitigated by dietary fiber, which is abundant in the rest of the fruit.

I do not have confidence that we currently have the knowledge to understand the subtle and complex interaction between the body and micronutrients to rely on supplements. I know that some people feel that because we do know SOME things we ought to do them. For example that we need Vitamin E, and if one is not getting enough Vitamin E, then one ought to take supplements of that vitamin. However, I think that it is better to look at the known vitamins as indicators. If you know you are not getting enough Vitamin E, then you may not be getting enough of some other not-yet-known nutrients. Find a variety of foods that contain Vitamin E and add them to your diet. I think that you are likely to be better off in the long run.

January 1st menu

Calories: 1180

Vitamins: 100%

Minerals: 100%

Breakfast:

Coffee w/ half and half

Braised mushrooms and peppers Omelette

Snack:

Clementines

Dinner:

Finnan Haddie Chowder

Spinach Salad w/ Avocado

Quick tomato sauce over spaghetti sauce

Desert:

Full cream Yogurt w/ Blueberries