New Discoveries.
God created food as the primary means of nourishing and healing the body.
Science continues to discover new elements, compounds, and co-factors that make up the food we eat. Each new discovery provides an opportunity to create a new vitamin or pill to market to the masses.
Undiscovered.
But what of those elements and micronutrients that remain undiscovered?
If we are using food as our primary means for nutrition, we do not have to worry about missing any undiscovered micronutrients — because our bodies are already receiving them. And our bodies have been recognizing these nutrients for about 6000 years.
Missing.
However, if we seek to get our nutrition primarily from supplementation, those micronutrients will be missing and our bodies will suffer. In addition, we will be substituting God’s best plan for healthy living for man’s marketing scheme. It is hard to make hundreds of dollar off tomatoes, onion, garlic, blueberries, and the like.
To make money, one must remove the known beneficial ingredients from the food and package it into a supplement. So pill makers take the vitamins and minerals from plants and other food sources, package it in a pill, and try to make their mint.
Even so-called “natural” supplements are suspect. Read about the “natural” process to make ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in Do You Think Ascorbic Acid is Natural?
It is true that there may be some temporary benefit from using the isolated ingredients called “vitamins.” But what is present is not the only consideration. What about those missing elements that develop symbiotically with the isolated ones? What of the nutrients science has yet to discover?
Dangers.
Dr. Mercola explains the dangers of using isolated supplements, comparing them to the dangers of refined foods: [1]
Just like refined foods, these refined vitamins have been robbed of all of the extra accessory nutrients that they naturally come with as well. In turn, like refined foods, they can create numerous problems and imbalances in your body if taken at high levels for long periods of time.
And he warns that isolated nutrients could have the same devastating effects as prescription medication — even treating them (the isolated nutrients) as foreign invaders in the body.
Taking these isolated nutrients, especially at the ultra-high doses found in formulas today, is more like taking a drug. Studies show the body treats these isolated and synthetic nutrients like xenobiotics (foreign substances).
Not only are isolated nutrients treated like drugs or other chemicals by your body. Like drugs, they can create problems for you too.
While Dr. Mercola does not acknowledge food as a “God given” means for health and wellness, he does recognize that (true) food has a perfect balance of nutrition that the body can absorb and assimilate. He writes:
Nature does not produce any nutrient in an isolated form. The nutrients in foods are blended together in a specific way and work best in that format. For an isolated nutrient to work properly in the body, it needs all the other parts that are naturally present in the food too.
So what happens to the body when this imbalance occurs? The body is forced to steal from other parts of the body in order to create the balance it so desperately needs. Mercola shares:
If the parts are not all there from the start, they are taken from the body’s stored supply. This is why isolated nutrients often work for a little while, then seem to stop working. Once your body’s store of the extra nutrients is used up, the isolated nutrient you’re taking doesn’t work as well anymore. Worse yet, a deficiency in these extra nutrients can be created in your body.
So, according to Dr. Mercola (and others), taking an isolated supplement can actually cause a nutrient deficiency in your body.
But that is not the only problem according to Mercola. The process of isolating the nutrients also introduces harmful, toxic solvents and chemicals. He writes:
And, because most nutrients are isolated from the foods they come in — using a wide array of potentially nasty solvents and other chemicals — taking high amounts of these products can also expose you to these potentially toxic chemicals, if care is not taken to remove them. With the burden we are already facing from the high number of chemicals in our environment, why would anyone want to add more?
Solution.
So what is the solution?
- Concentrate on getting your nutrition from food. This is what God designed — from the beginning.
- Use herbs and essential oils. These are part God’s pharmacy. These are created for our benefit on this earth in which we live. Here is a great, organic, therapeutic grade essential oil starter kit available for under $30 (at time of writing).
- If you need supplements, use organic whole food sources such as Garden of Life or Perfect Supplements. These contain all the natural factors and co-factors necessary for the body to assimilate.
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[1] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/01/19/whole-food-supplements.aspx
Disclaimer:
Reformed Health exists so you can take control of your own health and be all that God has designed you to be. The information shared on Reformed Health is the sole opinion of the author and is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness. None or our claims have been evaluated by the FDA or any other government organization. We are not medical doctors, nor do we have any medical doctors on staff. If you are having a health emergency, please call 911, contact your doctor, or visit a local emergency room. Always consult your doctor before engaging in any new exercise regime.
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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
Copyright:
© 2017 Mischelle Sandowich
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