by Dr. Ed Chicoine
I have been a health care practitioner for 31 years and people often often ask for my opinion about whether or not it is beneficial to take nutritional supplements.
When this topic is debated or discussed, a wide range of viewpoints emerge, including some of the following comments that I have heard personally from my clients:
- You should be able to get all your vitamins and minerals from the food you eat.
- If I eat well why should I require vitamins and minerals in supplemental form?
- If you take nutritional supplements you will have very expensive urine.
- It’s very expensive to take nutritional supplements on a regular basis and only rich people can afford it.
- My grandfather/grandmother lived well into his/her nineties and never took a nutritional supplement.
- There are so many products out there, what are you supposed to take?
- There are so many research reports on a large number of supplements, sometimes conflicting, and you are left confused and frustrated. Who do you believe?
- It is very difficult to be consistent and disciplined with taking any kind of nutritional supplement.
These are all relevant questions and comments and I agree that it definitely leads to confusion, especially with all the information that is now available on the Internet.
The following is my impression on this subject and a glimpse of what I do personally when it comes to taking supplements. Many years ago I set a goal for myself, my family and my clients to keep abreast of the latest scientific information pertaining to living a long and healthy life, where your health span equals your life span. In other words, to live as long as possible, while feeling as young as possible.
Of course I do my best to eat well and exercise regularly as this is essential to good health, but beyond that it can get a bit confusing.
Agriculture has become an industry where sales and profits, not necessarily healthy nourishment, are the main priorities. Processed foods have become staples for many people in North America and around the world. The overuse of herbicides and pesticides that is characteristic of mass agricultural practices have depleted soils of their minerals and nutrients. When we consume genetically modified foods we may be ingesting modified organisms that are foreign and potentially detrimental to our body.
It seems to me that you cannot be guaranteed that you are getting good quality food anymore like you were able to many years ago.
I purchase life insurance so that my family will be well looked after in the event that I die; I always thought they should call it death insurance. For me real life insurance is investing in my health now while I am still alive and well. What does that mean specifically?
Let’s look at some basic body functions. The body needs energy to stay alive and it is constantly working to maintain some kind of balance or equilibrium to ensure the best function possible. This is called homeostasis. It’s very important to realize here that your body can only work with what you give it and it has to adapt to the stresses you impose upon it.
One definition of ageing that I like is that it is the gradual decline in the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis or to adapt to the stresses imposed upon it. The following are some of the normal physiological changes that occur as we get older, whether we like it or not:
- peak hormonal performance is at age 25 and declines thereafter
- muscle mass declines a certain percentage every decade
- nitric oxide levels decline after we reach forty, greatly compromising our cardiovascular function
- hydrochloric acid production in our stomach declines after age forty, compromising our ability to digest food properly
- blood vessels lose their elasticity
- sexual function declines
And the list goes on. I think you get the picture. For those of us in our sixth decade of life it has become abundantly clear that our physiology, as well as our requirements, are changing.
Personally, I choose to use certain supplements in response to these changes. In my next blog, I’ll explain what I use and why.
The Healthy Mechanic 