Why do I even need to supplement?

What Are Supplements?

Supplements are not a replacement for food, they are there to enhance an already healthy diet and help correct nutritional deficiencies and imbalances. There are normally 5 main groups; vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, and oils.

But I eat all the time! How can I be

deficient in anything?

To answer that, we have to look at what we are eating.

What is Chemical Farming Doing to Our Food?

Each year the United States Department of Agriculture tests for nutrient levels in different fruits and vegetables. They have been making this information harder and harder to get a hold of in the past few years. However, many papers and studies were done between the 1950s and 1990s determining how nutrient levels were changing. Below shows some of the data.

USDA nutrient data from 1975 to 1997 

§Average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables  declined 27%

§Iron levels have dropped 37%

§Vitamin A levels, 21%

§Vitamin C levels, 30%

In that 22 year time span, there was an average decrease in nutrient levels of 28.2% in all 12 vegetables. 

Why?

First of all, we are over-farming our soil. Not only do we have to grow food for ourselves, but now we also need to grow food for all of the animals we eat. Today, we grow more food in America for the purpose of feeding animals than we do for us. This over-farming is causing a huge nutrient depletion in the soil.

Secondly, the chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers that we’re adding on top of that are only decreasing nutrition levels more. In order to grow healthy vegetables and fruit, they need to be planted in a healthy ecosystem. By constantly spraying the plants with chemicals and pesticides, not only are we killing off the bugs we don’t want eating the plants, but we are killing off all other insects, plant life, and bacteria in the area. All that is left is barren soil where nothing nutritious can grow. 

It has now been another 18 years since that data was taken. We have  even more animals and people to feed, have used more chemicals, and have used more pesticides. It is now safe to assume that we need to eat 30-50% more than we did 100-200 years ago to get the same nutrition. 

AND THIS IS IF YOU’RE EVEN EATING VEGETABLES!

In the standard American Diet, people are not consuming the 6-8 servings of vegetables a day that they should be. What are we eating instead?

Bad Carbs

Sugar-filled drinks

Boxed dinners

Processed Foods

Supplementation is important because most of the food we eat has little nutrition in it, and even the good food that we're eating has less nutrition that it used to. It is now almost impossible to get all of the nutrition you need through food! Please consult with your nutritionist or functional medicine practitioner on what supplements are right for you in order for you to feel at your best!