Folks are always asking me about supplements. What should they be taking in the way of vitamins, supplements and the like? What supplements are worth the money? Do they know what they are actually getting for their supplement dollar? Can they take “this” supplement to remedy “that” problem?
All are legitimate questions, but it is difficult to answer them because there are so many claims about so many different things that is is almost impossible to keep up with every single one. If I had 10 bucks for every person that brought me a page torn out of some magazine advertising some new supplement guaranteeing miracle results, I’d be retired.
Let me break it down another way. Nutrition is a lot like building a large boat or ship out of wood and nails. Your food is the wood, and the nails are supplements. The quality of the wood is everything when it comes to building a ship, and likewise the quality of the food you eat is everything when it comes to nutrition. By high quality, I mean the most nutritious, most natural, least processed, least contaminated and adulterated food as possible. Whole foods, as close to their natural state as possible contain the most nutrition. The less pesticides, herbicides, hormones, steroids, antibiotics, additives, stabilizers, preservatives and the like, the better the food.
Yes, I am aware that the highest quality food is more expensive, but I also know that when people sit down and actually calculate how much they spend on empty foods in addition to the quality food the do buy, they won’t a actually spend that much more on buying the good stuff. And, when you consider most people pay more attention the the quality of gas they use in their car, there is a LOT of room in the budget to give the ONLY body they will ever have the best fuel possible and give the ump-teenth car they have had regular gas.
With that in mind, supplements are like nails. Using a “golden” nail with weak, splintered and crumbling wood will not make a bit of difference in the quality of the ship. There are some experts who will tell you that you should get all of your nutrition from the food you eat and supplements aren’t necessary. I’d really like it to be that way, but the reality is even the most committed person has difficulty getting all the nutrition they need from just food. Why is that? Stay tuned for “Supplemental Income Part 2” or visit www.curtchacon.com.
