The supplement industry tells us that if we want to be healthy, we should take their vitamin, use their product. Many people buy that. Bodybuilders take supplements to bulk up and lean out. Middle-aged people take them to eliminate joint pain or increase energy. Depressed people take them to try to lift their mood.
But supplements aren’t anywhere near as good as the real deal: vitamins from natural sources in the foods you eat. The minute vitamins are processed into a form that can sit on shelf for six months or more, they are not natural no matter what the label says.
It is important to keep in mind that the term supplement means in addition to, not as a substitute for. Supplements will not take the place of a well-balanced diet consisting primarily of unprocessed foods.
To understand how effective—or ineffective—supplements are, you first need to understand how they work. Supplements are delivered to the body either as a pill you swallow, as a sublingual pill placed under the tongue, or as an injection. Each method has flaws and side effects. With swallowed pills, which are the most common, only three percent of the nutrients you ingest actually get into your blood stream. Once the pill is broken down by the digestive system and filtered by the liver, most of the minerals and nutrients are gone before they can do you any good. If you load up on vitamins and minerals, it is possible to consume toxic amounts, especially if you are carrying a lot of fat.
The perfect delivery system is food. Vitamins, minerals and nutrients need other substances, or co-factors, to enable them to be used by your body’s chemistry. Natural foods contain those compliments. Non-processed food sources allow the body to efficiently absorb the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that naturally occur in foods.
For example, B vitamins are contained in unprocessed foods such as whole grains, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, beans, potatoes, some meats and fish. These foods also contain many of the necessary co-factors to process the vitamins. So if you are eating properly, you won’t need supplements.
Of course, there are situations when supplements are necessary: if you have had gastric bypass, if you have a food sensitivity or allergies, if you are on a vegan or vegetarian diet, if you are pregnant, or ill. If your doctor tests for nutrients and finds you deficient while you are eating a healthy diet, supplements may be required. But supplements should always be the last thing you try, not the first. And you should never expect them to take the place of the real thing.
So before you spend $69.99 on a bottle of something that claims it will build muscle or make joint pain go away, take a look at what’s on your plate. A few changes at the dinner table may be all you need.
Originally published in Grosse Pointe Today.