Did you know…?

*3 out of every 4 Americans will get heart disease—2 out of every 4 will die from it.

*According to the American Diabetes Association, the number of diabetics has increased from 6 to 16 million in the last 15 years, and another 21 million have “impaired glucose tolerance.”

*Some form of depression, anxiety, or fatigue affects over 50% of the population.

*200,000 Americans die yearly from high blood pressure and stroke.

*Roughly 25% of all adult Americans are “significantly overweight.” 

What’s really crazy about this is that as a society we really don’t take notice of this unless we’re directly affected by it but if we equated it into jumbo jet crashes, I think we would.  That would be 10 jumbo jets a day, packed with 300 passengers, falling out of the sky 365 days a year.  Can you imagine?

Although there does seem to be a trend of people trying to eat right and taking vitamins and supplements, but still we are getting sicker and sicker.  $9 billion a year or more is spent on over-the-counter vitamins.  So why we are still fat, fatigued, depressed, sick, and spending more time in the doctor’s office and/or hospitals?

Here’s my take on it:  

1-90% of the food in the grocery store is filled with chemicals and preservatives.  If you’ve read any of my previous posts on food labeling you know that our foods are pumped with chemical additives, preservatives, and artificial colors that our bodies don’t know how to process.  For example, our bread is stripped of 17 vital nutrients during processing and 2 artificial nutrients are put back in along with other harmful things.  The same is true for our milk.

2-Our fruits and veggies are devoid of vital nutrients.  Here are just a couple examples of how our fruits and veggies are falling short:  In order to get the iron that was available in one cup of spinach in 1945, you would have to consume 65 cups today.  An orange that contained 50mg of natural vitamin C complex in 1950 now contains 5 mg.

 3-Synthetic vitamins do more harm than good.  I have seen the argument many times on synthetic versus whole food vitamins that there is not much of a difference, but your body definitely knows the difference. “Vitamins are ‘groups of chemically related compounds.’  There is a part that is identified as the organic nutrient of the vitamin, i.e., ascorbic acid as Vitamin C.  But then there are enzymes, coenzymes, antioxidants, trace elements, activators, and other unknown factors that enable the vitamin to go into biochemical operation.” (Going Back to the Basics of Human Health, by Mary Frost)  Our bodies were made to eat whole foods, plants, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and meats…not chemicals.  One more thing, these synthetic vitamins are made with petroleum distillates, so it’s like you’re putting coal tar in your body.  Umm, Umm good right?!

So, what’s the answer?  Eating as well as you can, avoiding processed foods and taking whole food supplements.  We must supplement in order to get the nutrients our bodies need to stay well and feel great.  If you need help knowing what supplements are right for you, connect with me and I can help.  Or you can check out my link on supplements that are actually good for you.