Posted by McPac on December 1, 2002, at 22:49:57
In reply to Re: Supplement Plan » Larry Hoover, posted by bluedog on December 1, 2002, at 22:14:01
I found this on another board:
"My feelings are, unless you KNOW what you need, you should stick MOSTLY to whole food supplements. Whole food supplements are basically foods that have been concentrated into powder which can be mixed with water. For example, it could take up to 30 pounds of vegetables to produce one bottle of a food supplement. This means that the nutrients in the supplement will be more than you could get from food, thus solving that problem. The body picks and chooses what nutrients it needs because the nutrients have all of their natural co-factors. The body is designed to recognize these co-factors which makes it easier for the body to handle them. When the body is handed a synthetic vitamin with no co-factors, it is treated like a drug in the body and has profound effects on every function of your body. So, in a sense, taking isolated nutrients is like taking drugs. Now, of course, most isolated supplements will not cause the kind of damage that drugs will cause but they can upset your body chemistry if you take the wrong amounts and in the wrong combinations for your particular body.
Isolated supplements - vitamin c, folic acid, amino acids,...these supplements definitely have a place in our lives. However, these should be used on a short-term basis for the following reasons:
1. To fix a deficiency or excess of a particular nutrient
2. To affect a particular biochemical pathway in the body that can have profound effects on many bodily functions
3. To counteract the effects of stress, catching the flu or getting a cold, or in alleviatin specific symptoms while the cause is being dealt with.For example, if you have trouble sleeping or suffer from osteoporosis, you would want to take extra calcium/magnesium but the balance, the form, and timing would depend on your body chemistry and how you metabolize nutrients. This is called Biochemical individuality and can be tested through a process called Metabolic Typing.
So, feel free to take your isolated nutrients but remember, do you really know how much your body needs or what form to take? If you are going to work with a nutritionist or nutritionally-oriented physician, he/she can test you in order to discover what isolated nutrients would be helpful for your particular situation. I hope that clears things up"
poster:McPac
thread:129993
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021127/msgs/130179.html