January 28th, 2010
Did you ever read something that made your blood boil? I mean made you so mad that you started talking *to* the publication you were reading?
“That’s nonsense!”
“How do these clowns get away with printing garbage like this?”
“Nice conclusion, buddy, too bad it lacked facts.”
What’s wrong with me, for Heaven’s sake? When did I become this fanatic about nutrition and training? Well since you asked, I’d say about 12 years ago. Regardless, nothing gets me more heated than the topic I am going to cover today: supplementation.
If you asked me 5 years ago how I felt about supplementation I would have most likely told you that ‘Americans have the most expensive urine than any other country.’ I would have gone on and on about how we do not need to supplement with vitamins and minerals if we just ate a balanced, nutritious diet. I might have even told you the top ten foods you can put in your diet to hit every nutrient need that your body has. I would run circles around you with stats and facts, pros and cons, websites, books, resources of all kinds and just plain exhausted you to the point of your surrender. Now, I just stand in line at my local Vitamin Shoppe with my frequent customer point’s card enjoying my savings. Boy has times changed.
So why the change of heart?
Top 3 Reasons to Add Supplements to Your Diet
1. Top Soil Erosion
Sometimes I wish I didn’t read as much as I do. I am at an astronomical rate at this point in my career. I am banging through about 3 books/week right now with no end in sight. For educational purposes this is fabulous. Who wouldn’t want to read that much? For sanity purposes this is insane. I am surprised I eat food any more with all that I know. If you want to sleep at night, avoid books like Skinny Bitch, Omnivores Dilemma, Eating Animals, Food Inc. and etc. Lock yourself in your room, hide under your bed and pray that no one hands you the crib notes either. This type of reading material makes Paranormal Activity look like a good skit for Nickelodeon. I personally am going to try and get therapy as soon as my new insurance kicks in. But while I’m waiting for it to kick in, let’s talk about something that occasionally is brought up but some do-gooder reporter but then promptly ignored by the loving-to-be-ignorant mainstream media: top soil erosion.
Yes, eat your fruits and vegetables to maintain a healthy diet. Add lots of color to your plate so you may eat a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. But what happens when the soil you’re growing your veggies in has less minerals than a Snicker’s bar? Now what?
Top soil is being stripped of its nutrients 10 times faster than it can regenerate. The earth is currently losing top soil at a rate of 1%/year. Farmers are being forced to toggle between fields at a much faster rate than say 10 years ago when they could let a field “rest” between plantings. We are growing dead food and it scares the hair off of my head. You can eat all the vegetables and fruit that you can fit on one plate and ‘look’ as if you are getting a good amount of vitamins, but if what you are eating is already devoid of any nutritional value then it doesn’t much matter now does it?
2. Can Only Eat But So Much
You are most likely not a full time athlete. Very few people have the luxury of being able to make a living off of the sport that they love. So normally they must work a 40 to 50 hour work week, come home and take care of their family obligations and somewhere in there get their training in. Not everyone is making 8 hours of sleep per day, environmental toxins and everyday stress is causing free radical damage and your food is already failing you before you start. There is no way you could physically eat all of the food that you need to eat to get in all of the vitamins and minerals you need to be effective in your week. It’s not going to happen unless you take up eating as your new sport.
3. You’re picky
Admit it. You are a picky eater. You seek help with your diet all the time as if it is the structure of your diet that is the problem. It isn’t the structure. It’s you. You “don’t like”, you “won’t eat”, you “don’t have enough time to cook”. Most foods that you avoid you can make up for in other foods without having to supplement (if #1 didn’t exist) but you cannot make up for Omega 3’s if you do not eat fish or flax. Are you a fish eater? Do you like flax oil? If you do not like either, you are missing out on the best nutrient for your body. Fat’s where it’s at and you need to hop on it asap. You need a serving of good fat every day *on top of* your capsule supplementation. One does not replace the other.
As I am reading the article about general nutrition that I was screaming at, the author finishes by saying that you do not need to supplement your diet with anything, that mother nature got it right and if you just… Best line of the article and it bears repeating, “if you just…” We do not “just”. I wish we did, but we don’t. And since we do not, learn how to add supplements to your diet responsibly. Do not just take anything that the latest advertisement totes as fabulous for face value. Stick to the basics. A good multivitamin along with a few other key suppies will do the trick for you.
I also detect from the article that he may also be referring to meal replacement shakes and bars. Now this I agree with completely. Whenever you have the chance, focus on getting real food into your body and do not rely on powders and bars to be your meals. Supplementation in this article refers to vitamins and minerals only, not MRP’s, pp’s, bars, ergogenic aids and etc. I want to make sure you do not misread what I am saying.
At this point I am sure you want to know what vitamins we do recommend and how do you know you are getting enough. Well, we have a free report coming your way based on the most important supplements you need to be taking right now, daily. If you are currently signed up on the blog, it is coming to you via email. If you are not, it will be part of the bonus for signing up. As a subscriber you will receive the download before it becomes available to the public so keep your eyes peeled for that. This means that I am not going to mention here what they are because I detail them fully in the report and I want you to be able to check it out in its entirety.
Instead, work on adding as much C.O.L.O.R. to your diet as you can. As of this moment, that is the best thing that you can do to bolster the nutrient value of your current diet. If this is not an easy task for you, we have a menu planning product coming your way that takes all of the thought out of your week of planning and just gives you a full week of balanced, nutritious eats at your fingertips. It does not get any easier than that. Woop woop!
Tags: eating for per4mance, Health, supplementation, supplements, variety
Excellent article Jodi, as usual!! I was reading your feelings and totally agree, as I have felt the exact same way after reading those books as well as others. And how true it is that people just don’t want to hear it. I can’t wait for the supp article!!! Thank you !!!!
Hi Lynn!!
YAY! You came to visit! Great to see you here! I wouldn’t say that people don’t want to hear it as much as them feeling helpless about it. Most folk are working hard right now just to get by, the last thing they want to think about is how much their food *isn’t* doing for them. You and I talk about this all the time, it’s tough out there. The report will be here sooner than you know it. Make sure you are signed up!:o)
Ok you had to discuss top soil erosion???? That was one I was not aware of….you better be ready for the tail spin you just put me in.
But in all seriousness, it is amazing how the veggies that come from my father’s garden are so very different from anything I find in a grocery store. If I could move up there and live off of his garden, I would. But I don’t think I would survive all the way up there. lol.
Great article, although now I am going to go have another panic this week between top soil erosion and the dairy I put in my coffee…..
No panic! If Heather is around I hope she can give the resource that allows you to get food from your local farmer. In all seriousness, though, this is real life and you cannot avoid it. What you do is just be smart about it and arm yourself with knowledge and common sense (and some good suppies) and you’ll be good to go.:o)
Ah, Kas is on to our evil master plan, Jodi. Mwahahahahahahaha…! Well, you know where I am on all of this, so no real comment to make per se other than “Preach the word, sister!”. Time for me to wolf down some omega-3’s, cal-mag, and Vit D with my organic spinach salad while I review my 10 year plan to segue onto a ranch of organically grown crop-rotated vegs and grassfed pasture-raised animals. Hey, I worked on a horse farm and listened intently to Omnivore’s Dilemma. It can happen, um-hmm, yes it can!
LOL!!
But what is that link to the place that you can get your veggies brought to you from a farm.:o)
Hi Jodi! I love, love the website! This article is so interesting because I never thought about the soil that the veggies are grown in. When I go and visit my family in the country the tomatoes taste so sweet and I’ve always wondered why!
Thanks for the insight…
I agree Jodi that the not wanting to hear it isn’t because we don’t care but because of the feeling of helplessness it generates, and so we turn away from what we know in our bones to be true. The implications to our children and theirs are chilling to say nothing of the feelings of being utterly powerless to change it.
Hi Tracy! thank you! When you go visit your family in the country, you need to think of others and ship them a few items…hint, hint. ;o)
I hear you, Seanna… That’s why supplementing is so important. Too much to think about…:o)
Mannny many comments, made into bullet format for your reading pleasure:
-Are you one of the people who can read at the gym? If you can.. it’s fantastic. And a great way to stretch your workout an extra 15 minutes!
-I used to want to major in environmental studies/sciences, and realized the biggest issues I was passionate about were all those related to FOOD! I wouldn’t trade Kinesiology for anything, but Nutrition + Environmental Studies would have been an awesome double major!
-You’re right – as great as it would be “if we just” got 100% of everything we needed solely through the foods we ate, that’d be awesome. But there’s no way.
-Looking forward to the “report” coming! I already do take certain vitamins and supplements, but I’m interested to see how that compares with what goes up!
Thanks for another great post Jodi!
-Erika
Jodi,
I love it!!! U’re the best ever Mama!!!
Muah
Sabine