Health Column: Dr. Flood, Healing With Nutrition
[Written by Dr. Amani Flood, N.D.]
Imagine sitting down to dinner before a plate filled with capsules and tablets of various sizes, shapes and colours. What if this meal, served with a tall glass of water, was your dinner!
Well, things have not gotten that bad yet, but the popularity of nutritional supplements, fueled by our quest for optimal health and eternal youth, has grown steadily over the past several decades and now it tops $32-billion in sales in the U.S. in 2012.
The value of nutrition is well understood and there are a number of named diseases caused by “avitaminosis,” the medical term for lack of an essential vitamin in the diet. Scurvy is a disease caused by Vitamin C deficiency and is easily cured by using citrus fruits in the diet.
Rickets is caused by deficient Vitamin D. Other avitaminosis caused diseases include Pernicious anemia, deficient B12, birth defects, deficient B9 [folate], night blindness, low Vitamin A, bleeding, vitamin K, Beriberi, vitamin B1 – and this is just a short list!
So we see that nutrition in the diet serves three purposes: 1] avoidance of disease, 2] maintenance of good health and 3] as an aid in the recovery from illness. What can you do to boost your nutrient profile and enjoy these benefits? Well, you can eat an extremely nutrient dense diet and/or you can use nutritional supplements.
Here are 5 dietary supplements that I use every day that I believe no one should be without if they want to enjoy optimal health.
- 1. Multivitamins. Everyone can benefit from a daily vitamin specific to their age and gender that contains all of the essential nutrients in therapeutic doses. Be careful of products like Centrum, One-A-Day, and drug store brand varieties. These contain harmful fillers, artificial colors, flavours and preservatives as well as low doses that may be too miniscule to matter.
- 2. Vitamin D. Recent testing suggests that up to 99% of the population in America is deficient in this vital nutrient which was recently reclassified as both a vitamin and a hormone. Deficiency of vitamin D leads to wide variety of diseases including depression, immune deficiency, bone loss and cancer.
- 3. Probiotics. Although not technically a vitamin, this nutrient is important enough to be included in this must have list. Probiotics aid in digestion, elimination and gut health leading to vitamin production and improved absorption.
- 4. Omega-3 fatty acids. Fish oil or its derivatives of EPA and DHA is critical to good health and should be used daily. It has a positive effect on almost every bodily system by improving immune function, improving heart health, lowering inflammation and consequently improving pain, improving cholesterol and much, much more.
- 5. Vitamin C. The value of this important nutrient cannot be overstated and since most multivitamins contain only a trace amount, it’s necessary to use an individual supplement.
Specific nutrients are therapeutic for specific diseases such as CoQ10 for heart health, Acetyl Cysteine for lung health, B-vitamins for neuropathies, curcumin for inflammation, and a number of supplements are specific for cancer care.
This article is written for informational purposes only by Certified Medical Professionals at the Northshore Medical and Aesthetics Center [NMAC]. It is not for use to diagnose or treat any condition that you may have. Always consult with you doctor.
Read More About
Category: All
