Who Needs Vitamin Supplements?

IMG_0929.JPGIt has been proven time and time again that the typical American diet does not give us all the vitamins and miners we need. So eating raw foods like salads (not drowned in dressing) regularly is not enough.

To determine if you need supplements requires more than a single trip to the vitamin aisle or a quick internet search.  This link on Dr. Andrew Weil’s website is a simple one page synopsis about “Why Supplements Are Needed?

https://www.weilvitaminadvisor.com/why_take_supplements

This Consumer Reports link give you several articles:

https://www.consumerreports.org/vitamins-supplements/vitamins-and-supplements-natural-health/

Also know that most of us know we are deficient in several nutritional areas.  We may even know what we need, calcium, CoQ10, multivitamins, etc.  However, it may be a good idea to be sure about the dosage you need.  Case in point, I knew I needed CoQ10 to help build my immune system.  I started taking 60mg daily.  However, after a thorough medical evaluation, it was determined that I needed 200 mg daily. So if you need supplements, see your doctor or health care provider to determine what you need, how much you need, and whether it may interfere with anything you are currently taking.

These Mayo Clinic articles will give you more insight on supplements:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/are-dietary-supplements-right-for-you/art-20232605

http://www.mayoclinic.org/nutrition-and-pain/art-20208638?pg=2

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/supplements/art-20044894?pg=2

Remember:

1) If you don’t feel your best, you can’t do your best.  If you are a bread winner or caregiver or both; you could go to an early grave because you are not an Energizer Bunny.  So take care of yourself.

2) Eating the right foods, exercising and taking care of yourself does not mean you will not get sick or develop a chronic illness. What it does is allow you to recover faster.  And yes, I can testify to that as a breast cancer survivor.  Even my doctors could not believe the texture of my skin through numerous rounds of radiation.  They could not believe how good it was compare to their other patients of all demographics.

Yes. Your body is your temple.  Take care of it now.  At the point when you need it most, it will take care of you. And as we continue to have birthdays, we realize the importantance of our “quality of life”. Do you want to be wheel chair bound, sickly, unable to drive and totally dependent on others?  Or, do you want to be healthy enough to be 80 years old and run in the Atlanta Peachtree Road Race, as one my usher board members did earlier this year?

It is your decision. You can decide to work in a preventive  mode as you do with your car maintenance. Or, later you will either say, “I am glad I did.  Or, I wish I would have taken better care of myself”.