The other day, I mentioned in passing to my friend, that I had forgotten to take my vitamin supplements. She was horrified. ‘You take vitamin supplements?’
‘You don’t need to, you can get all the nutrition you need from your diet’
My friend’s response was not that unusual. I found that many people I spoke to all seemed to be ignorant of the benefits of vitamin supplements. It is not their
fault. There is much misinformation regarding vitamins and diet.
If only people knew the true quality of the fruit, vegetables and foods they eat they would not hesitate to take these supplements.
Health experts advise us to eat 5 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. The National Cancer Institution has a programme to encourage us all to eat our 5 to 9 portions to maintain optimum health. Google fruit and vegetables and you’ll get 15,300,000 hits! It’s a hot topic.
So it’s a given, fruit and veg is important. However, shocking new research has exposed an alarming problem. Most of the fruits and vegetables people eat have been altered. They have been contaminated with harmful pesticides and toxins.
This is because much of the farming is done by huge conglomerates that often put profits before quality and safety.
They are using radiation, genetically modified seeds, pesticides and other unnatural processes to grow food faster and larger. This is not as nature intended.
Jeffrey Smith, author of ‘Seeds of Deception:Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating’.. Reveals that between 1994 and 2001, when genetically modified foods flooded the market, food related illnesses DOUBLED!
Take apples, for example, they are treated with radioactive gamma rays so that they appear fresher. This process is called ‘irradiation’, and it allows the apples to be transported long distance. This means the fruit loses its nutrients because of the extended times between picking and consumption.
Tomatoes that are home-grown, taste so much better than the variety bought in stores. Why? Because, the longer a tomato stays on the vine, the higher its sugar and nutritional level and taste. Many farmers in Florida, California and Mexico pick tomatoes when they are green and artificially ripen them with ethylene. This is a hormone derived from petroleum and natural gas! So these tomatoes’ nutrition level is minimal.
Nutritionist Alex Jack, found even more shocking evidence when he compared USDA food tables from 1963 to those of 2000. He found
50 percent less calcium in broccoli and carrots
88 percent less iron in watercress
45.09 percent less vitamin C in spinach
66 percent less iron in apples, oranges and apricots
So the fruit and vegetables we eat today are not the same quality as those eaten by our grandparents.
The soil is stripped of nutrients, minerals and living organisms, thanks to modern agriculture methods.
For all of these reasons, the benefits of vitamin supplements are evident. Because, even if you do eat 5 to 9 portions a day of fruit and vegetables, (and most people don’t do this consistently), chances are that you are still not accessing the nutritional demands of your body.
Vitamin supplements can provide your body with its nutritional needs.The benefits of vitamin supplements are now being researched daily. It is not an understatement to say that vitamin supplements can improve the quality of your life, your health and even your life.
However it is important to make sure to buy quality products that give good results and not the cheaper variety in our stores.
