Supplementing, Part 1.

In honor of my Clinical Nutrition midterm exam today, let's chat about supplements!  Part 1 of 3. 

First of all, have you heard of Biochemical Individuality before? Everyone is different; we all have different genetic backgrounds, metabolisms, and biochemistries, thus we all have different, yet specific nutritional, needs for our own optimal well-being. The theory of biochemical individuality is that even though there are recommended dosages to follow when supplementing, these doses can vary from individual to individual.

So, why supplement at all? 

Problem 1 Food Quality: Why can't I get all I need from whole foods? Unfortunately, our food today is not what it used to be. Even whole foods purchased from the store that appear nutritious can be deficient in nutrients due to poor soil quality, genetic modification, pre-mature/un-ripe harvesting, and continent to continent transportation, to name a few. The vitamin and mineral content in the foods we eat today are not as high as they were fifty years ago.

Problem 2 Absorption Issues: We don't absorb food as well as we used to. Why all the absorption issues? Because we eat too much sugar, throwing off our whole digestion and metabolism; because we eat on the run, we don't "rest and digest", not giving our body the time and atmosphere in order to fully digestion; we eat the wrong foods, confusing and degrading our bodies; we at the wrong times and even when our body doesn't even want food (i.e. boredom hunger).

Much more to come, stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3!