By: Michelle Sopa, NTP
This is a question I get a lot, and I have given a lot of thought about my answer, since the response can depend on a lot of factors.
Being a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I have been trained in the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation. The philosophy of their teaching is that we need to be eating a nutrient-dense, whole food diet, with a focus on preparing food through traditional methods. I will probably need to write a separate article on traditional food preparation methods. So for the sake of brevity, this article will focus on any potential gaps in eating a nutrient-dense diet.
I think it’s safe to say that in our world today disease state is very common. We all know someone with a health condition; diabetes, autoimmune conditions, hypertension, cholesterol issues, heart conditions, endocrine dysfunction, digestive impairment, cancer, etc. Frequently, long-term nutrient deficiencies, among other things, allow a degenerative state to progress in a person’s body causing these conditions to manifest.
Why We Need Supplements: The Importance of Nutrients
Problems with Highly Processed Foods
The prevalence of highly processed foods in people’s diets today sets them up for health failure. This is due to the long list of unhealthy, sometimes unnatural ingredients that are devoid of nutrients. And when you don’t get enough nutrients from your food, the body cannot perform all the intricate processes that regulate your health. As a result, over a period of time, disease state will set in. And when you are sick or have lost your optimum health, you then actually need additional nutrients to be able to heal properly. In addition to making dietary corrections, supplements can help fill the gap and restore insufficient levels of nutrients.
Decreased Levels of Nutrients in Soil
Another reason that people may need supplementation is due to the decreased levels of nutrients in the soils our food is grown in. A lot of factors affect soil health such as over-farming, pesticides, and other chemicals. These all minimize what elements our food is able to uptake and what we then ingest.
Gut Health Issues
Yet another factor that impacts most people, whether you have an active disease state or not, is gut health. If your digestion system is not performing optimally, you will not be able to break down and assimilate all the nutrients that are in your food. It doesn’t matter how good your diet is!
Conditions that affect digestive power are things like dyspepsia (indigestion), hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid), pancreatic dysfunction, gallbladder imbalance, SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth), etc. Again, it is best to correct and improve your digestive function. But to ensure you are getting enough nutrients during healing and beyond supplements can be a great addition.
How to Properly Use Supplements
The goal is not to use supplements as a cure-all for a poor diet. You can never out-supplement a good, nutrient-dense diet! However, given the challenges we face with intaking and assimilating enough key nutrients from our food, I encourage supplementing where it makes sense for each person’s unique biochemistry. Most of us are not getting anywhere near the level of nutrients our ancestors got. Nor are we getting what we need to achieve vibrant health.
But at the same time, you want to be sure that you are taking what your body actually needs, and in the right amounts. It does your health no good to buy a supplement that you don’t take or that your body doesn’t actually need.
Just remember, the bulk of our nutrition should always come from whole, minimally processed foods. But we also recognize that the right supplement at the right time can help you on your path to regaining vibrant health.
How We Can Help!
Here at Total Health, we can help you assess your health, detect underlying imbalances or deficiencies (that may not be showing up on your lab results). We can then make dietary corrections, and determine supplements to support your body to heal.
If you have any questions for me or are interested in coming to our clinic for testing, please give the clinic a call at 262-251-2929 for a complimentary, 15-minute phone call with myself or one of the other practitioners.