Supplements

The world is awash with supplements for this and that. It can be a very confusing picture. Having had experience of the world of supplements personally in my own training as well as advising clients and professional athletes my personal position of the subject is as follows:

My Position

Evidence based research tells us that our bodies require minute amounts of substances that we call vitamins and minerals to function properly and maintain health. This is a fact that is not really in doubt.

Diet

The vast majority of these substances can be derived from eating what we know as a healthy balanced diet. This will include protein, fat and carbohydrate in the form of fish or meat, staples such as bread, rice or pasta together with a supply of fresh fruit and vegetable matter.

The majority of methods of today's mass food production do appear to result in food products containing lesser amounts of these vital substances.

My stand point is that if you eat a healthy balanced diet and pay particular attention to obtaining fresh and naturally produced food you are very likely getting near to the recommended amounts of these vital substances.

Why we may need more.

However there are points I wish to make here. Bearing in mind that theses substances are relatively inexpensive together with the notion that the consequences of not having them in sufficient amounts (ranging from just feeling under par, to the development in long term shortages of certain serious disease processes according to some sources) makes it quite compelling to actually consider taking them.

In addition it is widely believed that exercise, exertion, any illness and smoking and alcohol actually increase the need for ingestion of greater amounts.

Which Ones?

So back to the original challenge. Having established the fact that it is probably a wise investment to make, which ones should you purchase? Well, you certainly have a wide choice. Very simply I believe that you generally get what you pay for. You have to believe what it says on the packet unless you are going to have each and every tablet analysed for its constituents.

Therefore buy a good brand of a multi vitamin and mineral supplement to go with, not as a replacement for a healthy diet. If you want to know whether I practice what I preach, yes I do. I spend a dollar a day on a multi vitamin and mineral supplement made by Usana. They are not the cheapest, in fact they are more expensive than most. I do, however, believe they are amongst the very best and I consider it a good investment.

There you go then with my take on the world of supplementation. I hope it enlightens a llittle. Good luck and here's to your health.