Healthy for Life NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM The Health benefits of Nutritional Supplements
The final aspect of a healthy lifestyle is nutritional supplements. For years I told my patients they could get everything they need from their diet. However, after researching the medical literature for the past seven years on this subject, I am convinced that every man, woman, and child needs to be taking nutritional supplements in order to better protect their health. Our bodies are created with a complicated and sophisticated antioxidant defense systems to protect ourselves from the devastating damage of oxidative stress. Because this generation is under greater attack from the toxins in our environment, our stressful lifestyles, and poor eating habits than any other previous generation, we need to optimize these defense systems. Eating a healthy diet is a good a start. However, there is no way we can obtain the optimal levels of the nutrients our bodies need from our diet alone. We must supplement our diet to best protect our health. Physicians are usually negative about their patients taking any kind of supplements. However, once you understand that oxidative stress is the root cause of almost all of our major chronic degenerative diseases, you will agree that supplementing your healthy diet with high-quality supplements is essential and worth fighting for. I encourage my patients to take an antioxidant tablet and a mineral tablet that contains a wide variety of antioxidants at optimal levels. These nutrients work synergistically together to create what I call "cellular nutrition". I encourage you to read my book, What Doctors Don’t Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You, to fully understand these concepts of supplementation. However, the discussion below, will give you a basic guideline of what I would consider the optimal levels and variety needed in your supplement. Antioxidant Tablet The more antioxidants this tablet contains and the more varied the antioxidants the better. Vitamin A I discourage the use of straight vitamin A because of its potential toxicity. Instead I recommend a mixture of carotenoids. Carotenoids become vitamin A in the body as the body needs and they have no toxicity. Carotenoids It is important to have a mixture of carotenoids. Beta-carotene should not be taken alone. As you learn about the power of synergy, you will realize the importance of mixing several different carotenoids as well as several different antioxidants.
Vitamin C A mixture of vitamin C is necessary, especially the calcium, potassium, zinc, and magnesium ascorbates, which are more potent in handling oxidative stress.
Vitamin E A mixture of vitamin E is important (just like the carotenoids), in order to create synergy. This should include d-alpha tocopherol, d-gamma tocopherol, and mixed tocotrienol.
Bioflavanoid Complex of Antioxidants—bioflavanoids offer you a variety of potent antioxidants. Having a variety of bioflavanoids is a great asset to your supplements. The amounts may vary but should include the majority of the following:
Alpha-lipoic acid
CoQ10
Glutathione
B Vitamins (Cofactors) Folic Acid 800 mcg to 1000 mcg Vitamin B 1 (Thiamin) 20 to 30 mg Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) 25 to 50 mg Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 30 to 75 mg Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) 80 to 200 mg Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) 25 to 50 mg Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) 100mcg to 250mcg Biotin 300mcg to 1000mcg
Other Important Vitamins
Additional Essential Nutrients needed to improve homocysteine levels and brain function:
Mineral Tablet Minerals are a critical aspect of a complete and balanced nutritional supplement program. I recommend chelated minerals. This means that the mineral is attached to an amino acid for better absorption—minerals are noted to be very difficult to absorb. It is especially important that your mineral tablet be complete and balanced because these minerals compete with one another in the absorption process. I will often recommend additional antioxidants in many of my clinical recommendations; however, I do not increase the level of minerals above the following recommendations because of their potential toxicity. You must be very careful when considering the combination several different supplements to achieve these levels because you will most likely get too much of certain minerals. It is better to try to find a mineral tablet that comes close to these recommendations. You will usually need to add an additional calcium/magnesium tablet to accomplish these goals.
Additional Nutrients for Bone Health
Essentials Fats and Fiber Supplementation Supplementing your diet with essential fats and fiber is usually critical. 80% of the people in the U. S. and Canada are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. Most people are also significantly deficient in fiber in their diet. Even though the average American only consumes approximately 8 to 10 grams of fiber per day it is strongly advised that you eat a minimum 35 to 50 grams of fiber each day. (See discussion of fiber and essential fats under healthy diet) Good Sources of Essential Fats:
Recommended Fiber Supplement Blend of soluble and insoluble fiber-----10 to 30 grams depending on your dietary consumption of fiber (ideal is 35 to 50 grams of total fiber daily) |
