Let me give you a quick advice. If the doctor prescribes them, you should. But, if you want to have them because so and so is taking them, I will tell you to think or consult before you decide to pop them in your mouth. You should consider certain factors: Age, condition (mental or physical illness, pregnancy, breastfeeding, surgery), environment, pollution, circumstances (nursing or mourning a loved one), lifestyle (overwork, mental and emotional stress, athletic or sportive tendencies), obesity, deficiency, under-nourishment, underweight, etc... The circumstances one lives in or the lifestyle one leads are influential factors on health, swaying it either way.

The state of your physical, mental, or emotional health depends on your circumstances and environment. Regardless of age and status, they impact your overall condition and health balance without your awareness. Either your health prospers or gets depleted. It is definitively influenced by external and internal factors. Most of the time, you have no control over them. Let us see when and why we need or do not need supplements.

The human body is made of bones, flesh, cells, blood, organs and others. All body parts are made of cells and tissue, which depend on different nutrients like vitamins, mineral, amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, enzymes, electrolytes, hormones, neurotransmitters, phytochemicals and more to keep them optimally operational or to regulate the different body systems. When a nutrient deficiency surfaces the balance begins to slightly tip even if it goes unnoticed at first. But when many deficiencies occur simultaneously, health falls apart rapidly, because most nutrients do not just have one function but multiple functions. Nutrients rely on each other to build the body and maintain health equilibrium. Similar to constructing a house, each building unit is supported by another. The steel structure is the skeleton; the building blocks are the proteins, or amino acids; the other building materials are other nutrients, which support organs and systems.

Nutrients in our systems are required to be in perfect balance in order for our bodies and brains to operate efficiently. When the functions are in perfect shape the individual emanates with vitality, enthusiasm and wellness. Health equilibrium is only achieved through having the required amount of fuel, which happens to be our nutrients, to maintain a solid functional system. Any internal discrepancy will reflect on our health, energy and wellness sooner or later.

To say that our bodies do not need supplements may be correct if we are sure that we receive all the nutrients we require from the food we consume. But, if our bodies are not getting what they need, the demand for supplements becomes essential. Let us start with why our bodies call for supplementary nutrients in our modern life of physical, mental, emotional pressures, pollution and nutrient-depleted foods.

Vitamins (A, Bs, C, E, K) and minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, zinc, manganese, iron, selenium, chromium, sodium, fluoride, iodine, copper) are absolute necessities to the human body. During the Paleolithic Age, around the Stone Age, flora bloomed and propagated naturally without man’s interference. Plants and vegetation were fresh, lush and very much alive with rich organic nutrients. Unlike modern nutrient-depleted soils, the organic soil then was naturally rich and bountiful. Animals feeding on organic vegetation thrived well, giving man nutritious meat with the right balance of essential fatty acids. Man consuming such plants and animals prospered and emanated with health and energy. With such a diet, I would definitely advocate against supplement intake, because scientific researchers showed that organic food is 25 percent more nutritious than non-organic products.

However with the last century’s industrial and agricultural revolutions, soils have become over-farmed and depleted of organic nutrients. Consequently, chemicals and non-organic fertilizers are added to depleted soils and crops are continuously sprayed with chemical pesticides and herbicides. Plants are not of the same nature as they used to be; they also undergo genetic engineering. Moreover, our food is either processed or refined; it is also subjected to chemicals additives (coloring, flavor, taste), which make it “harmful” to health. The food we consume does not nourish our bodies the way it should, because it is void of nutrients.

Considering all the interventions by humans, plants, grass, vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes have lost most of their goodness. Refining grains strips them of their nutrients of natural vitamin Bs and E and minerals like calcium and magnesium in order to produce “attractive” nutritionally-empty white flour.

Millenniums ago, man ate wild fruits and raw greens fresh from trees and plants, which are full of freshness and abundant in nutrients; whereas nowadays, produce is cut unripe and refrigerated for months before it reaches the consumer, losing freshness and important nutrients like vitamins C in particular. Refrigeration saps a lot of the goodness. Overcooking, processing and frying destroy whatever is left of nutrients in vegetables and meat, turning them into empty calories and sometimes harmful.

Another factor to consider is age. Seniors and people on medication (proton-inhibitors) lack the appropriate stomach acid to help the absorption of nutrients. Certain medical conditions (leaky gut, diarrhea) also prevent the uptake of certain nutrients from food. Insufficient chewing results in undigested and unassimilated food. Unless you are a smart eater who eats fresh, whole, organic, unrefined, unprocessed, un-tampered-with foods, the above facts explain well why we need to take supplements.

I explained above some of the reasons why our foods lose their nutritious value, making us nutrient-deficient. Such a condition can lead to insufficiencies, deficiencies, drug-resistance, disorders, disease, disabilities, early aging and premature death. In the articles of the coming two weeks, I shall discuss when to take supplements and when not to and why you should give your body rest from supplements once in a while.