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Do we get enough nutrients
from our diets?
by Simon
Evans
Copyright 2006 Genesan3
First of all lets look at what enough is. Everyone has
heard of the Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA. You find these listed as
percent RDA on the back of all foods that you buy. What does that mean? The RDA
was developed in the 1920s as a minimum requirement to avoid malnutrition. It
was later improved in the 1950s to include the amounts of vitamins and minerals
needed for normal growth. Todays scientific studies show that this is very
different than the amounts that are probably needed to reduce the risk of
chronic illnesses. The amounts of many vitamins (not all) that are needed for
most people to stay healthy in their adult years are likely to be much higher
than the RDA. The fact is, we dont really know what the exact optimal amounts
of nutrients are and they certainly vary for different people. But the bottom
line is that the vast majority of us dont get enough from our food. Studies
have shown that most people who think they are eating a healthy diet are not
even meeting the RDA levels for all nutrients and most people are deficient in
at least one if not several key vitamins.
 So what does that mean?
Think about it like driving down the freeway with no seatbelts, no airbags, and
old tires that could blow at any time. You might be fine. But if a tire blows
and you get in a wreck what are your chances of coming out of it unscathed with
no safety equipment. Proper nutrition works the same way in the body. It allows
us to function optimally to fight off infections and common colds and to deal
with the common physical and mental stressors that we face all the time. A
minor deficiency in a key vitamin, mineral or other micronutrient shows up in
the short term as lethargy, impatience and general fatigue and in the long term
can increase your risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, depression and a
large number of other chronic illnesses.
Where can you get good
advice? How about your physician, are they qualified to give you advise on
optimal health and nutrition? Well, maybe. Ask your doctor if they have had any
formal training in nutrition. It may surprise you to know that less that 10% of
medical doctors get any formal training in nutrition in medical school. A
doctors profession is really to help people that are sick get better. Doctors
are trained to diagnose and treat, and after medical school a large part of
their training comes from pharmaceutical representatives that visit their
office. They are not usually trained to give advice on optimal healthy living.
Most doctors are very reputable practitioners and adhere to high standards of
patient care - but their customers are sick people trying to recover, not
people trying to achieve optimal health.
So what should you do? Your
homework! Would you go and buy a car or a house without doing some homework
first? Would you trust all of your money to a financial advisor without
checking them out first? So why would you treat an investment into your health
any differently? The fact is that the nutrition industry is regulated by the
FDA as a food and to the same standards as frozen pizza. Many of the products
on the market use cheap ingredients in sub-optimal amounts and in forms that
are not easily utilized by the body. It is outside the scope of this article to
give a detailed account of all of the products available but one source is a
book called "The Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements" by Lyle
McWilliam. This provides a background into how nutritionals work in your body
and also a detailed ranking of many of the products on the market. You can find
it at amazon.com or many other bookselling websites.
In summary,
nutrition is key for life-long health and disease prevention. Do some homework
and find high quality nutrition products that meet your needs.
About the Author: Dr. Simon Evans is an academic
research scientist with an interest in helping people improve their physical,
mental and social health. To get FREE information from Dr. Evans health website
and information on quality nutritional products visit:
http://www.genesan3.com
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