”Optimal nutrition is the Medicine of the Future…You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency”

— Dr Linus Pauling Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Peace

Nutrition is necessary to the human cells to maintain life, using the nutrients supplied to them in the form of food. Human cells, which are the smallest units of life, consist of 60–90% water (H2O), and a significant portion is composed of carbon-containing organic molecules. To sustain life at the cellular level the body needs to convert those foods into usable energy and building blocks necessary for repair and maintenance.

The human body is made up of trillions of cells which are largely composed from elements of earth, particularly oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, and chlorine. Other minerals such as chromium, silicon, boron, and vanadium also play a role in human life.

Many common health problems can be prevented or improved with a healthy diet.

There are six major classes of nutrients classified in two main categories: MACRONUTRIENTS such as Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins and Water, needed in larger amounts, and MICRONUTRIENTS such as minerals and vitamins needed in smaller quantities.

The macronutrients, when converted, provide energy and structural material for the production of proteins, hormones, cell membranes and other necessary building blocks. Some micronutrient vitamins and minerals are recognized as essential nutrients, because the body cannot produce them and therefore should be supplied by your diet or supplements. They act as catalysts that speed up the chemical reaction in the conversion of foods to nutrients and are necessary in the diet for good health.

Other micronutrients include antioxidants and phytochemicals, which act as protection from oxidation and inflammation of some body systems.

Most foods contain a mix of some of the macro and micro nutrients, together with other substances, such as toxins of various sorts. When too many toxins are in the diet, the body uses more micronutrients with antioxidant capacity such as vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, minerals selenium and zinc to detoxify the body and this situation can create an imbalance and micronutrient deficiency in the body.

“Toxic Nation: A Report on Pollution in Canadians” reveals that toxic chemicals that are associated with cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive disorders, and respiratory illnesses are also contaminating organic farms.

Additionally, heavy metals from acidic rains and prematurely picked green produce, which doesn’t have a chance to sun-ripen, but it is artificially ripened with ethylene, create additional nutrient deficiency.

Pesticides and other pollutants use up valuable vitamins and minerals, especially antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E.

Our immune system depends on adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially antioxidants, and when not enough macro nutrients are provided to improve the normal functioning of the body, a disease is generated.

Thus the general public is “terribly deficient” in all kinds of nutrients, and that is why it has become so necessary for people to take supplements.

There is a wealth of new evidence to show that high quality multivitamins, essential fatty acids from fish oil, vitamin D, and other specific nutrients such as broccoli extract and green tea, added to a healthy diet can slow the aging process.

Scientific research illustrates that effective prevention of chronic disease requires levels of some nutrients that far exceed the recommendations contained in the RDA standards. Advanced levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants have demonstrated protective effects against several degenerative disease processes.

Clinical studies have shown that:

♦ Vitamin E (100-800 lU/day) is needed to reduce the risk of heart disease by 33% to 50%

♦ Selenium, at 200pg/day, reduces the incidence of total cancer mortality, including prostate, colon, and lung cancer

♦ Folic Acid administration of 2,000 mcg/day, 25mg/day of vitamin B6 pg/day and 400 mcg per day of vitamin B12 was found to lower plasma homocysteine levels associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular events

♦ Supplementation with high levels of vitamin C, (more than 1000 mg/day) well above the RDI standard of 75-90 mg per day, was shown to reduce the risk of cataracts by 83%

♦ Advanced intakes of calcium and vitamin D have been shown to reduce the risk and slow the progress of osteoporosis.

Can we ingest these vitamins and minerals from food? Or should we take supplements? For more information, click on the links below for more information and training.