A Supplement a Day Keeps The Doctor Away: The Science of Why We Need to Supplement Our Diet

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WHY WE NEED TO SUPPLEMENTIn the beginning there were healthy, whole foods and healthy lifestyles; people took responsibility fortheir own health. Now most of the world is dying from food-related illness. Half the world is dyingfrom not enough food and the other half from too much nutrient-depleted, calorie-dense food. Timeshave changed and so has the way we need to look at food, nutrition and our health. Chronic illnessessuch as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer are now the biggest killers in developedcountries. The current medical model that focuses on treating, rather than preventing, illness is simplynot working. As individuals we need to take responsibility for improving our health.For years, a so-called debate has raged over the relative importance of dietary supplements as ameans of maintaining good health and safeguarding against disease. The debate has, unfortunately, notrelied on good science but rather has been fuelled by a very small number of quasi-scientific studiesthat have been fraught with controversy. Even the “unbiased” research findings have often beenmisrepresented by the medical industry and by popular media in attempts to create the nextcontroversy. Such an excess of misinformation has led to a strongly divided public and professionalopinion on the place of supplements in our diet.Most people should be taking supplements because eating a balanced diet all of the time andabsorbing the required nutrients all of the time are almost impossible for people throughout the world.The argument for supplementation is easily summed up into several main areas, which I cover indepth throughout this book. The first is that it is no longer possible to get all the nutrients that shouldbe in our food. Through modern cropping, growing and harvesting techniques, transport, storage andmarketing, not to mention processing and cooking, it is possible to lose 100% of the nutrient value ofthe food and, in its place, add toxins. This means that if it is not in the food we eat, we have to get itfrom supplementation. The modern day processed “white foods” such as sugar, bread, white rice andprocessed breakfast foods are full of empty calories and, often, extra sugar and are low in nutritionalvalue. Unfortunately these foods now make up a large portion of many people’s food intake.Meanwhile, most people rarely consume their full share of fruit, vegetables, nuts and beans and othernutritious foods—or when they do consume vegetables it is usually in the form of over-processedpotatoes without the nutrient-dense peel.