Health supplements, what are health supplements...
Health supplements, also known as dietary supplements, food supplements or nutritional supplements, are preparations intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fibre, fatty acids, or amino acids, which may be missing, or present in insufficient quantities in a person's diet. These health supplements are ingested daily to –
- boost overall health and energy;
- to provide immune system support and reduce the risks of illness and age-related conditions;
- to improve performance in athletic and mental activities;
- And to support the healing process during illness and disease.
However, most of these products are treated as food and not regulated as drugs are.
Why do we need health supplements...
A healthy diet and exercise is not all that is needed to keep the body in optimum performance. As we grow older (which we all will eventually) the body finds it harder and harder to digest, assimilate and get the same amount of nutrients from the food you eat. At this point, we would need certain vitamins and minerals to supplement these bodily functions.
But I eat healthily, I don’t need supplements...
There is, however, a limitation to this mentality. Eating healthily is only one side to the equation. The other side is the source of these ‘healthy’ foods. Typically, all fruit and food is gotten from farms where they are grown year on year. The soil the food is grown in is not infinitely renewable and hence, even with year on year crop rotation, the soil these foods are grown in shall, eventually lose their nutrients. What this means is that these food might not have adequate amounts of the nutrients your body might need from them. So, you are eating healthily but your body is not getting its desired quota of the nutrients it needs.
Other factors such as delivery times from the farms to your local grocery store, over cooking the food you eat and not eating regular meals can and will affect the nutrients you get from meals.
What’s the solution then...
Health supplements obviously. Health supplements can help to restore the body to a place of balance. Vitamins and minerals will give your body the needed nourishment it needs daily, fish oil is rich in omega fatty acids and plays a key role in range of vital body processes, from regulation blood pressure and blood clotting to boosting immunity.
Cultivating a supplement-rich lifestyle does not necessarily mean you will have to take a large number of pills daily. Most of these pills are often combined in easy to take sizes.
If you do not currently take supplements, it is our advice that you take some, help your body out and give it a fighting chance.
Like the ancient Latin proverb goes 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes' which is translated to mean 'who will guard the guards'. Health supplements are the added advantage you need to build your body's defences and literally, 'guard the guards'.