After you read this, take a look at what you consume and determine if you feel you get enough vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat. Could your health & wellness be improved if you consumed or supplemented more?
Source: The Health Awareness Foundation
Where do vitamins/minerals come from?
VITAMINS are natural substances found in living things such as plants. Vitamins must be obtained in the body from foods or supplements, as the body cannot usually produce them
MINERALS are found in plants. Plants get their minerals from the soil – soil gets their minerals from water washing over rocks. For vitamins to do their job, they require minerals. Minerals must also be obtained from food or supplements.
ANTIOXIDANTS are specific vitamins or minerals that protect body cells from the damaging effects of Free Radicals. Free radicals come from or are caused by smoking, sunlight, stress, exercise, etc., and are one of the primary causes of premature aging, sickness and disease.
How do vitamins/minerals get in the body?
Vitamins and minerals get into your body when you eat plants such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and spices or when you take a vitamin/mineral supplement. You can also get some vitamins and minerals into your body by eating meat as most animals eat plant food.
SUPPLEMENTS are vitamins and minerals that have been extracted from a plant or created in a laboratory and put into a form that can be ingested and used by the body.
There are effective supplements, ineffective supplements and hazardous supplements.
Uneducated consumers are at risk from two sides:
- Consumer knows they should supplement but doesn’t know how to select an effective supplement, therefore wastes their money, time and health.
- Consumer is uninformed (or given bad advice) on the need to supplement and sacrifices their health.
Where do vitamins/minerals go in the body?
Vitamins and minerals go from your stomach to your intestines. They then go through a very complex allocation system whereby the body distributes certain vitamins and minerals to parts of your body based on its own priority system.
If a nutrient is needed in a certain organ that it (the body) deems more important, it will take the nutrient from a less important organ, and allocate it to a more important organ. Sort of a “rob Peter to pay Paul” action. That’s why it is critical to maintain proper vitamin & mineral levels.
Vitamins and minerals in your body should not be viewed as independent substances, but rather as a cooperative network of nutrients working together. If one nutrient is missing, it throws the entire network of nutrients out of balance.
“A deficiency of a vitamin or mineral WILL cause a body part to malfunction and eventually break down – and, like dominos, other body parts will follow.” James F. Balch, M.D. Prescription of Nutritional Healing.
How do vitamins/minerals leave the body?
Vitamins and minerals are “used” by the body. As they perform their function, they often use themselves up in the process, which is the case with most of the critical disease fighting antioxidants.
Even thinking uses vitamins and minerals. Exercise and stress use a lot of vitamins and minerals; the use of diuretics (substances that increase the discharge of urine) such as drugs, alcohol, coffee, tea and sodas – washes vitamins and minerals out of the body creating deficiencies – this can create a major health problem!
Tobacco and alcohol can also inhibit the absorption of vitamins and minerals, or accelerate the loss of them.
YOUR HEALTH, YOUR INTELLIGENCE, YOUR ENERGY AND YOUR APPERANCE ARE DEPENDENT ON YOU REPLENISHING YOUR VITAMINS AND MINERALS SEVERAL TIMES PER DAY.
What do Vitamins and Minerals do for you?
Build Up Your Immune System
Illness and disease are not “caught.” One doesn’t catch cancer, heart disease or a cold. You create these ailments with deficiencies based on what you eat or don’t eat.
Increase Your Energy Level
Vitamins & minerals are involved in the release of energy from digested foods. Strong, lasting energy levels are good indicators of a healthy vitamin and mineral intake.
Enhance Your Appearance
Skin clearness, tone, and elasticity; hair strength, thickness and color; fingernail strength, color and texture all depend on vitamins and minerals. Some people look 50 years old at 30. Some look 30 at 50.
Everyone will die, but how you look and feel for the last 20-50 years depends on your lifestyle and vitamin & mineral intake throughout your entire life.
For more information on how to properly supplement your body in obtaining an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals, contact me at 614.477.1794 or visit www.aalthoff.isagenix.com
