Supplements and The Nutrition Pyramid
The key to effective supplementation is in understanding
how the body works and what supplements are most
effective for you. The best way to understand
proper supplement to use is to conceive of a nutrition
pyramid. If we were to have such a pyramid, it
would explain why some supplements seem to work
for some people while they do not work for others.At
the base of the food supplement pyramid, we have
multi-vitamins, multi-minerals, and essential
fatty acids. Any person who takes a supplement
without first ensuring that their diet is full
of these essentials will receive little benefit
from their nutrition plan.
These are the absolute building blocks of your
body. You have minimal sources of these three
groups in your diet and they are absolutely essential
to an energetic, healthy lifestyle.VitaminsVitamins
are essential to every biochemical reaction in
your body. They are the building blocks of your
skin, bone, and cartilage.MineralsMinerals are
the matrix that make your skeletal system strong.
They are also the key ingredients in many vascular
components, and are essential to proper metabolic
function.Essential Fatty AcidsEssential fatty
acids are the key source of many basic, metabolic
processes.
They are also widely known to reduce inflammation,
or, rather, their absence is known to be a source
of inflammation and pain in joints.Without these
essentials, it is impossible to heal a disease
with more specific supplementation because it
is impossible to heal a disease when the underlying
functions behind human life are not properly supported.Next
up on the nutrition pyramid we have supplements
for the aged and supplements for energy and stress.Anti-AgingSupplements
for the aged are any supplement that would be
considered to counter the effects of aging, or,
more appropriately, allow the body to age properly.
Ginseng, gingko-biloba, tribulis terresetris,
DHEA, and many other herbs and supplements fit
easily into this category.
These supplements are generally appropriate after
the age of thirty-five, and are well worth the
investment if you understand what the effects
of each of these might be. Research information
about these anti-aging supplements, and their
known effects.Energy and StressSupplements for
energy and stress can be appropriate at any age,
It is well known that the body consumes higher
levels of the B vitamins, of calcium, magnesium
and iron, and of vitamin C when it is under duress.
These vitamins and mineral should be taken in
higher levels when you are under more stress.
They will counteract the immediate symptoms of
stress, such as burn out, fatigue and irritability.
They will also counteract the long term effects
of stress. The long term effects of stress include
chronic muscular cramping and aches, adrenal gland
burn-out, other hormonal and glandular imbalances,
hair loss, skin conditions, crohns, blood pressure,
heart problems, and the list goes on. Many supplement
manufacturers will offer a stress formula that
contains exactly these vitamins and minerals,
Others will provide the magnesium and calcium
in a separate package. Either way, these are excellent
supplements to have around the house to help you
deal with your stress and increase your energy.Next
on the nutrition pyramid, symptom specific supplements
are a very tricky field to discuss. Often, these
supplements will help some users and not others.
Often, they will help for a while and become ineffective.
The trick to these supplements is to follow the
rules of the pyramid. You must first ensure that
you have had at least a month of excellent multi-vitamin
and mineral supplementation. You must also ensure
that you first rule out and stress, or age combating
supplements as being a superior supplementation
process to the 'symptom-specific' supplement.
Finally, you must rule out any physical source
to your pain. It is helpful to take glucosamine
or chondroitin sulphate, for example, for knee
pain or arthritis. But if the musculature surrounding
the knee is stiff and tight, unbeknownst to you,
this is likely the cause of the degeneration of
cartilage in your joints.
|
