Keep Taking Your Vitamins - You Can't Live Without Them!

Most of us, including the health care professionals who advise us, believe food is the best source of nutrients, but the truth is that none of us eat an optimal diet all the time. Worse yet, our soils have become so depleted that plants cannot extract all the vital minerals as they once did. Numerous studies prove that diet alone cannot give you the blood levels of many essential nutrients you need to prevent disease, much less to cure it.

Consumers often want instant benefits when taking multivitamin They want more energy, vigor, faster thinking, better memory recall, increased immunity and protection from disease. Often multivitamins, particularly well-designed brands, deliver on the promises. We age slowly. The progression of aging and age-related disease is synonymous. Studies now reveal, for the first time, long-term vitamin users experience health benefits over those who o occasionally take supplements. For example, since cataracts usually progress slowly, diminishing the transparency of the human eye by a 1 percent per year, the anti-cataract properties of vitamin supplements only become apparent among long-term users of vitamin supplement. Long-term vitamin C users has 70-80 percent reduced risk for cataracts. Regular vitamin E supplement use, for 10 years or more associated with reduced risk of bladder cancer mortality. Regular use for shorter periods of time does not reduce risk.

Coenzyme Q1O (CoQ1O) is a great example of this nutritional shortfall. The average American’s diet provides only about 1 milli­gram (mg) of CoQ1O a day, yet to effectively slow Parkinson’s disease, you must consume 400-1,200 mg-400 to 1,200 times the amount you’re getting in food! That means that even if you are eating the freshest, best, organically grown produce, you’re still not getting all the nutrients at optimal levels you need.

No, this doesn't mean you need to take handful after handful of supplements several times a day. Really, you need a top-quality multi-vitamin/mineral/ antioxidant and if you have a specific health concern or disease, you may need a few other supplements. Some top-quality multis may even contain almost everything but not the cheap drugstore multi-vitamins, so you’ll need to spend some time checking labels so you don’t duplicate. We recommend capsules whenever possible for quicker and better absorption, plus they are easier to swallow. A few nutrients, such as SAMe and NADH, need to be in tablet form because of stability issues. If you have a specific disease condition, like heart disease or diabetes, you’ll need to consume more supplements compared to someone who is healthy. This list is basic for folks who are generally healthy and want to remain that way.