6 Reasons Why You Should Take Supplements

Many people think that if you eat all your fruit and vegetables, you are getting all the nutrition your body needs. If you eat a healthy, balanced diet, the conventional wisdom says, you don’t need to take supplements. This is a logical assumption because that is the way it’s supposed to be. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Unfortunately, this is no longer true. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is notoriously lacking in nutrients. Even those who strive to eat healthfully may find they are not getting all the nutrients they need from their food.

6 Reasons To Take Supplements

1. Soil Depletion

Back in the “good ole days,” farmers rotated their crops. Crop rotation is a strategy that goes back thousands of years. In fact, in the Biblical book of Leviticus, chapter 19, God instructs the children of Israel to rotate their crops.

Because land was so abundant early in American history, most American farmers got away from rotating their crops. They could simply move on when the soil became depleted. Now, however, there is no more land, the soil cannot rest and the minerals in the soil become depleted. If the minerals are not in the soil, they cannot get into the food grown in that soil.

In fact, in 1936 (1936!!), the US Senate was presented with the results of a scientific study it had commissioned on the mineral content of our food. The results demonstrated that many human ills could be attributed to the fact that American soil no longer provided the plants with the mineral elements which are so essential to human nourishment and nutritional health.

There are 90 Nutrients identified as ESSENTIAL to proper health which our bodies cannot manufacture by themselves. We must consume them. Because of the state of our soil, many of these nutrients are not found in our food in sufficient quantity and quality. Thus, the need for supplementation.

2. Fad Diets

The low-calorie diet. The low-carb diet. The low-fat diet. The vegetarian or vegan diet. The crash diet. The detox diet. The paleo diet. I could go on, but you get the point. What do all these diets have in common? They limit (or exclude) one or more food groups.

It stands to reason that if you are not consuming a food group, you are not getting the nutrients inherent in that food group. If you are not getting all the nutrients you need, you need to supplement.

3. The Standard American Diet

Obesity and diabetes rates are higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world. The S.A.D. diet is mostly to blame. It is high in low-nutrient foods and low in high-nutrient foods. These charts will enlighten and sadden you.

4. Toxin Exposure

Everyday exposure to toxins can weaken our immune systems, leaving us off balance and sick. Homeostasis is the tendency of a system to maintain internal stability. Without this stability, our bodies cannot heal themselves as quickly as they should.

[tweetthis]Supplements that bring our bodies into homeostasis are critical for our well-being.[/tweetthis]

5. Nutrient Absorption Declines With Age

Several studies have shown that kids need more nutrients to support growth, and older people need more nutrients due to malabsorption.  As people age, they often begin taking medications which can interfere with nutrient absorption.

This means you need to take more nutrients in the most absorbable form possible. Piperine is the alkaloid responsible for the pungency, the heat found in Long Peppers (Piper longum), as well as black pepper. Many supplements are adding Piperine to increase absorbability.

6. Exercise Increases Nutrient Needs

Many athletes believe that exercise replaces the need for supplementation. However, the opposite is true. The more you exercise, the more calories you expend and the more energy you deplete. As a result, athletes are at an even higher risk of nutrient deficiencies.  Since many athletes eat a low nutrient, high toxin diet – this is a serious concern.

Believing that you can get all the necessary nutrients from food is a great theory, but impossible in practice. Soil depletion, pesticides, exposure to toxins, poor diet, even age, can cause nutritional deficiencies.

At 3Jn2 Wellness, our primary goal is to help people regain homeostasis and then maintain optimal health through dietary supplementation. We are not proposing that you stop eating healthfully, rather, we encourage it. We just know that it isn’t enough.

Learn more in my new book, Be in Health: Bible-Based Health Restoration: Living in Harmony with God’s Ways Regarding Health. Available now.