Posted by bluedog on December 2, 2002, at 0:28:02
In reply to Re: Supplement Plan; Larry---Comments? , posted by McPac on December 1, 2002, at 22:49:57
> I found this on another board:
>
> "My feelings are, unless you KNOW what you need, you should stick MOSTLY to whole food supplements. Whole food supplements are basically foods that have been concentrated into powder which can be mixed with water. This means that the nutrients in the supplement will be more than you could get from food, thus solving that problem.
>I am taking my supplement plan in the context of a healthy diet. I try to eat as much organically grown, natural unprocessed food as possible. Lots of fruit and vegetables, free range chicken, free range eggs, avoiding foods with added flavours, colours and preservatives (including the supplements I take), drinking lots of filtered water and so on. However I take my supplement plan as "insurance" (I know this is the biggest sales pitch of the supplement manufacturers but despite my natural cynicism I actually do believe there is a grain of truth to this "hype").
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>The body picks and chooses what nutrients it needs because the nutrients have all of their natural co-factors. The body is designed to recognize these co-factors which makes it easier for the body to handle them.
>Do you think that the food I eat in my healthy (as possible - I have some weaknesses)diet will provide the necessary Co-factors for all my supplements to be properly synthesised and metabolised in my system?
==================================================================================================>When the body is handed a synthetic vitamin with no co-factors, it is treated like a drug in the body and has profound effects on every function of your body. So, in a sense, taking isolated nutrients is like taking drugs.
>Do you think my supplement plan is producing a drug like effect in my body rather than a "natural" balancing effect? Again I am very keen to get your opinions on this question. The reason I take such an extensive supplement plan is that I am trying to avoid the isolated supplement syndrome and the problems this can create. I have tried to make my entire supplement plan as "Synergistic" and balanced as possible based on my research and my own (rather limited) knowledge that I personally have gained to date. Do you think that my supplement plan is unbalanced? Can you see any improvements I could make? I am extremely open to any suggestions!!
==================================================================================================>Now, of course, most isolated supplements will not cause the kind of damage that drugs will cause but they can upset your body chemistry if you take the wrong amounts and in the wrong combinations for your particular body.
>Again do you think my particular plan has any "glaring" imbalances that could upset my body chemistry? I don't want to find out 6-12 months down the track that I have created a whole new set of problems that I didn't anticipate?
==================================================================================================> Isolated supplements - vitamin c, folic acid, amino acids,...these supplements definitely have a place in our lives. However, these should be used on a short-term basis for the following reasons:
> 1. To fix a deficiency or excess of a particular nutrient
> 2. To affect a particular biochemical pathway in the body that can have profound effects on many bodily functions
> 3. To counteract the effects of stress, catching the flu or getting a cold, or in alleviatin specific symptoms while the cause is being dealt with.
>Do you think some people need to take supplements for life or on a "long term" basis to correct deficiencies in nutrients and bio-chemical pathways with a genetic origin? In other words stopping the supplements will always cause a relapse in the symptoms you tried overcome?
==================================================================================================> Biochemical individuality and can be tested through a process called Metabolic Typing.
>
Can you let me know a little more about this process? I'm very interested!!!!
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>I hope that clears things up"
>Yes!!!. Thankyou that has cleared some things up for me but has also "picqued" my interest and created a whole new set of questions. I hope my question are not imposing on you too much.
regards
bluedog
poster:bluedog
thread:129993
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021127/msgs/130186.html