Foods First… Before Supplementation

Written by Connie Rogers a Certified Integrative Holistic Health Coach.

It has been said that the epidemic of supplementation means people aren’t necessarily making time to consume nutritious foods that provide the body necessary vitamins and minerals.

In my search for the truth, I found vitamins can help, but they can also harm. This is because I see so many of my clients take handfuls of supplements, and proceed to eat their favorite fast-foods, in hopes of covering all bases. Kind of contradictory, right?

So how did we get this far from health?

In the late 1930’s, farmers were convinced by sales reps, that all of the nutritional top soil had blown off during the dust bowl, and that they had a solution with the development of new chemical fertilizers that provided the the important nutrients plants needed. This began the slow destruction of thousands of years of growing without chemicals. They didn’t address why or how the dust bowl happened. How the buffalo decreased and industrial farming increased.

Once the story about how nutrients just blew away was spread across the air-waves, the next step was:  Ah…  but we have a solution.  Everything you need to be strong and healthy are in this little pill.  All you need to do, is just take:  One-A-Day!

Other food production companies jumped on the band wagon such as the bread industry with their new “enriched” white flour. Wonder Bread® began adding vitamins and minerals in the 1940’s following a government sponsored program to enrich white bread. By 1950 their slogan was, Builds Bodies 8 ways, because that was the number of so-called nutrients added. By 1960 their slogan was, Builds Strong Bodies 12 ways. For the record, bleached white bread has never been an ingredient for strong athletic bodies.

We have seen our world become increasingly toxic in the last sixty years, and these can deplete necessary vitamins the body so desperately needs. From GMO sugars, corn, tomatoes, oranges and wheat to hormone laden meats, rBGH dairy, farmed fish, synthetic vitamin waters, fake foods, to glyphosate designed with inflammatory substances that harm brain and gut functions. GMO bacteria and fungi are used in the production of enzymes, vitamins, (1) food additives, flavorings and processing agents in thousands of foods on the grocery shelves as well as health supplements.

Vitamins in Question

1- The Adrenal glands negatively react from taking an abundance of omega 6 vitamins from GMO corn products and toxic vegetable oils. Omega 6 vitamins can lead us to increased inflammation. This in turn can depress our immune system.

Procter & Gamble® created a product called Olean™ as a substitute for cooking oil. Olean robs the body from absorbing vitamins. Jason Calton Rich food poor food.(2)

2- Ascorbic acid may be a synthetic form of vitamin C, or made from genetically modified corn. Your vitamin bottle may not use the word ‘synthetic’ on the label, even if it is. Synthetic vitamins do not act like whole foods when entering the body. A whole food vitamin C is made from organic fruits and veggies such as lemons, berries, spinach, camu camu, pears and more.

3- Big Boxed Stores are not the place to purchase your vitamins.

 Quote from Dr. Timothy O’Shea, author of Conventional Medicine Vs. Holistic, A World of Difference. “The ascorbic acid you buy at the grocery store every few weeks, thinking you are buying vitamin C, is just a chemical copy of naturally occurring ascorbic acid, which itself is still only a fraction of the actual vitamin C. Real vitamin C is part of something living, and as such, can impart life. Your synthetic, fractionated chemical ascorbic acid never grew in the ground, never saw the light of day, never was alive or part of anything alive. It’s a chemical, a cornstarch derivative, a sulfuric acid by-product. In your body it’s just another drug. Synthetic vitamins have toxic effects from mega-doses and actually can increase white blood cell count.”  

4- Have you seen the headlines? Women who take calcium supplements for bone health may have an increased risk of heart attack! Most people believed calcium supplements were relatively safe. We now know that high dosages of calcium supplements may adversely influence vascular health in both men and women.(3)

Inflammation along with an overabundance of stress can lead to excessive uptake of calcium by our cells, and is known to contribute to obesity, depression, aging skin and degenerative diseases.(4)

5-“In 1989 thirty-seven people had died, and 1500 had become crippled taking L-tryptophan manufactured with genetically engineered bacteria by a well-known company. The evidence was destroyed.”(5)                         

L-tryptophan was pulled from health food store shelves.

6- There are companies that advertise how we need more Glutathione in order to be healthy. However, Glutathione, in pill form, is not easily absorbed at the cellular level. “Glutathione is a very simple molecule that is produced naturally all the time in our body. The best glutathione comes from foods.”(6) What depletes our glutathione levels is what’s significant. These include stress, inflammation, pesticides, sugar, chlorine, heavy metals, fluoride, tobacco, caffeine, MSG and Aspartame just to name a few. Genetically Modified soy also disrupts our glutathione levels.(7) When we boost our vitamin C levels from organic food sources, we boost Glutathione levels as well. Glutathione may help in the prevention of cancer, premature aging and heart disorders. Some foods rich in Glutathione are cabbage, kale, asparagus and watercress.

7- Vitamin B 12 can be depleted by consuming sodas, diet sodas, and other poor dietary habits. Vitamin B 12 deficiency is prevalent among patients with diabetes,(8) and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress leads to inflammatory diseases. When we take an active step to put an end to obesity and poor eating habits our body can heal and thrive.

8- Depletion of vitamin D began after synthetic, petroleum-based sunscreens became popular. Unfortunately, sunscreens have been noted to increase risk for sun damage and skin cancers. (9) The year was on or about 1950.

Today, doctors may unknowingly recommend a vitamin D in it’s synthetic form. Synthetic vitamins can play a causative role in obesity.(13)

Obesity can block vitamin D levels along with chronic exposures to computer screen light, addictions to caffeine, sodas, sugar, and medications such as statins.

9- A CDC report from July 2005 found that the bodies of Americans of all ages contain an average of one hundred and forty eight synthetic chemicals. “Synthetic chemicals are not recognized by the body as food.” (10) Thus, they are a danger to our internal environment.

To make matters worse, most grocery stores carry a variety of juices made with synthetic vitamins, processed foods and fluoride water, sucking us into believing we are taking a step towards health. (12) For decades we have been exposed to the toxic effects of synthetics in our foods and vitamins. For instance: a fortified or enriched food is when a product is stripped of its nutrients, and synthetic vitamins are put back in. (11) You can find these in processed cereals, breads, milk, orange juice, bottled drinks, yogurts, granola bars and more.

Some Helpful Tips

• If you’re vitamin D levels are low, loading up up on a cereal containing synthetic vitamin D, sugar, wheat and corn may not be the answer. Look at what can be depleting your vitamin D levels in the first place. A synthetic may throw off cholesterol levels. I find the best source of vitamin D is sunlight. Food sources include Shiitake Mushrooms and Organic Alfalfa.

• “By eliminating inflammatory foods, and inflammatory synthetic vitamins and adding in essential nutrients from fresh, unprocessed, whole foods, we can reverse years of damage in the arteries and throughout the body.”(14)
• Feeding the body superfoods in turn feeds our blood and circulatory system. Superfoods include Kale, Seaweed, Maca, Kelp, Broccoli, Green Algae, Hemp Seeds, Blueberries, Alfalfa, Wheatgrass and more. (All Organic of course!) Wheat grass is loaded with protein, magnesium and enzymes.

• Avoid boxed and bottled orange juice companies that advertise their juice as fresh-squeezed and/or not from concentrate. These claims are far from the truth. When a corporation puts enough advertising behind a product campaign, anyone can convince the masses to believe a new version of almost anything. The best example of fresh-squeezed is to make your own. Invest in a juicer. Fresh homemade juices contain more vitamins, nutrients and enzymes than store bought.
• When purchasing  vitamins, pay attention to the other ingredients listed on vitamin labels such as: sodium benzoate, aspartic acid, fructose, isolates, natural flavors, casein, soy, rice fillers, sucrose, corn, gluten and dairy. These ingredients are questionable and may increase risk for illnesses.
• What about protein powders? There may be an abundance of sodium added to protein shake powders and body-builder protein powders. Isolated proteins such as soy, can go through a chemical acid wash which can mean the protein has been stripped of nutrients. 100% hydrolyzed protein in reality means only a few percent. Protein bars usually overstate the amount of protein on the label. In my opinion, the best protein for smoothies is Raw Organic Hemp Seed Protein. It seems they haven’t altered this protein yet!

• Probiotics are recommended for ultimate gut health. Leaky Gut syndrome and digestive disorders play a causative role in most preventable diseases. In my own life, I have suffered from ulcerative colitis and leaky gut syndrome. I take probiotics daily to boost good gut bacteria growth. Probiotics are now suggested for children with colic, autism, tantrums, digestive disorders and c-section deliveries. A healthy digestive system along with a healthy liver function is the key for healthy levels of vitamins in the body including the most sought after vitamin, B 12.

Disclaimer: There are times the body needs supplements. However, this information provided is a path to discover organic foods as a first choice, without synthetics, dyes, pesticides, and toxic fillers listed on the label as other ingredients.

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