If it were not for the depletion of nutrients from our soils, the evolution of genetically-modified foods and the introduction of chemical toxins in foods which rob the body of its nutrients, your body would be able to attain the vital nutrients it needs for survival from foods alone. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case in the 21st Century. Therefore, a vital component of establishing health in your life is proper supplementation.
However, it’s not as simple as asking the clerk at the grocery store, or purchasing the latest recommended supplement or vitamin you read about in a magazine article. You need the right nutrients, in the right portions and from the right sources. These vitamins, minerals and herbs can boost immunity, give you the nutrients necessary for repair and recovery, and be of great assistance, particularly in the case of toxicity, weakness, damage, or breakdown from unknown, long-term nutritional deficiencies and/or poor bodily function.
The Do’s and Don’ts for Vitamins and Supplements
Do take vitamins and supplements to provide the nutrition that is no longer present in our food.
We’d love to get all of our nutrition from foods, but that simply isn’t possible in today’s world because:
- The nutrients in foods are declining. The evidence is everywhere that there are dramatic declines in the nutritional content of our fruits and vegetables. Fewer nutrients in our fruits and vegetables mean we have to eat more and more of them to derive the same benefit. This is a worldwide phenomenon.
- The toxins in some of today’s foods are increasing. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are absolutely essential for overall health. But the pollution of lakes, rivers and oceans means that it’s actually dangerous to consume the amount of fish necessary to get the fish oil we require. This reality leads us to fish oil capsules derived from cold-water fish that have been filtered for purity. It’s simply the only safe way.
- The foods most easily available to us are designed to do one thing – sell. It’s not exactly a news flash to observe that the Standard North American Diet is more designed to optimize corporate profit margins and market share for food producers than to provide healthy, nutritious food.
- Organic food is better — but isn’t always accessible and it’s always more expensive. You absolutely should try to eat organic as much as possible, starting at the top of the food chain as laid out in the Maximized Living Core Nutrition Plans. However, in today’s world of fast-food eating and tight budgets, there is also no doubt that you’re still going to need vitamins and supplements to close the nutritional gap
Don’t Take Vitamins and Supplements to Treat Diseases
As North Americans, we are raised from the earliest age to be pill poppers. So naturally we assume that if we want to be healthier, we need to swallow something. But we’re in an era where popular opinion is turning strongly towards a natural approach. Thankfully, it seems that the world is beginning to realize that taking prescription medication for our ills and health problems is not only minimally effective, but is also poisoning our bodies. Since the new craze began many people have turned to nutrition and supplements as a better choice rather than drugs. Unfortunately what they don’t realize is they are still using nutrition as medicine, that is, to cure a symptom.
Many lead the same lifestyle, do not change their fundamental approach on how they are dealing with their health, and when they get a headache they’ll pop a vitamin B-12 tablet instead of an aspirin, thinking that they’re doing their body a favor. Or they say they do not want to take medication for their indigestion but will take herbs instead. The truth is whether you are taking medication or a supplement to treat a symptom you are still creating the same result: symptom treatment.
And just because you can buy a supplement without a prescription at the grocery store doesn’t mean that it’s safe for you. For instance, we’ve all heard of beta-carotene. It’s an antioxidant that is good for fighting cancer. But it turns out that if you put beta-carotene in most pill forms, it’s actually toxic and causes cancer
Chasing health “nutrient by nutrient” or “symptom by symptom” is confusing, contradictory, even dangerous and will most likely get you nowhere. If you want a more effective way of utilizing the natural approach, do not take a nutritional supplement for the purpose of treating a symptom and/or condition. The most effective way of avoiding aches, pains, sickness and disease is to follow the Maximized Living lifestyle of providing the nutrition the body needs through real foods, vitamins and supplements.
Don’t Take Vitamins and Supplements in Place of Food
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have noted that “a vitamin supplement cannot begin to compensate for the massive risks associated with smoking, obesity or inactivity” (Willett and Stampfer 2002). Supplements should be just that: supplements to the foods you eat each day — not a replacement for them.
Vitamins, Supplements and Your Body — What Has to Happen
- We have to ingest them. As long as they’re in a bottle, they’re not helping anyone!
- We have to absorb them. Just because there is the same amount of a vitamin in a cheap multivitamin as in a premium, pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin doesn’t necessarily mean they are absorbed by the body equally as well.
- We have to utilize them. One of the most important things to understand is that by following the 5 Essentials of Maximized Living you will actually empower your body’s own ability to remove anything that creates interference in your body’s inborn healing system. While the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans focus on the nutritional elements of Maximized Living, be sure to consult with your Maximized Living doctor to ensure that your systems of nerve supply, oxygen, lean muscle mass, detoxification and peace of mind are in harmony, enabling your body to utilize nutrients in order to function at a peak level. You can also seek assistance from your Maximized Living doctor in choosing the right supplements for you.
Keys to Safe and Effective Use of Vitamins and Supplements
Don’t skimp on vitamins and supplements, they are not created equal. Using discount and drugstore supplements is like swallowing stones, and they are going to come out looking almost exactly the same way they looked on the way in – and for good reason. In order for the discount store to meet their profit margin, the wholesale price of these vitamins and supplements has to be very low — and you definitely get what you pay for.
If you need to economize, don’t start with supplements — that would be like saving money on your transportation cost by discontinuing regular oil changes. It will save you money in the short run but cost you much, much more in the long run. Similarly, “saving” a few pennies on your vitamins and supplements can ultimately mean spending hundreds of thousands or even millions more as you have to pay the healthcare consequences of sickness and disease. Here’s what you need to look for in a quality supplement:
Is it pharmaceutical grade, or food grade? The best vitamins and supplements are manufactured to exact pharmaceutical-grade standards, thus ensuring highest quality.
Is it organic? Just as you want your food to be organic as much as possible, you should also insist on organically-derived ingredients for your vitamins and supplements.
Is it complete? Does it have the necessary range of nutrients that your body needs?
Is it potent? Does it have the nutrient in the minimum amount or the optimum amount?
Is it bioavailable? Can your body easily absorb and utilize the nutrient?
Is it toxic? Vitamin A, for instance, can be toxic when taken in high doses over a long period of time.
Is it recommended by your Maximized Living doctor? He or she will probably recommend the same vitamins and supplements they themselves are using. They know firsthand that when combined with a comprehensive course of treatment, these vitamins and supplements consistently deliver. Your Maximized Living doctor probably won’t object if you insist on continuing to take your own supplements, but if you don’t achieve the same dramatic results that his or her other patients are receiving, then be open to taking the vitamins and supplements your doctor recommends.
Don’t Take the Minimum Required — Take the Maximum Needed
The “Recommended Daily Intake” (RDI) statistics you find on the label of your supplement aren’t as helpful as they might seem. The very fact that some vitamins have 600% or 3000% of the RDI of a certain nutrient is an acknowledgement that the RDI isn’t enough. There are many reasons for this, but the fact of the matter is that the RDI doesn’t take into account your age, gender, level of stress, health index, toxicity, degree of subluxation and body composition. By consulting with your Maximized Living doctor, you can put together a plan of action that’s right for you.
Where to Start
Just taking an assortment of supplements will rarely ensure you get the ones your body needs. Additionally, it can be very harmful as you might overdo some and underdo others. We advise a basic protocol of supplementation to support the 3 Core Principles of the Maximized Living Nutrition Plans – and to combat the modern challenges of today’s foods.
The problem: Quality protein is hard to come by.
The solution: Organic Grass-Fed Whey Supplement – Protein provides the building blocks for hormones and neurotransmitters. It is essential that you get an optimal amount of clean, lean protein at each meal. Cool-processed, grass-fed whey is a fantastic source of protein. It is very bioavailable, raises the master antioxidant glutathione, and helps to bind and pull heavy metals out of the body. Be careful – hydrolyzed and heat-processed whey proteins, which make up the majority of whey protein supplements on the market, do not contain the same benefits. As their amino acids have been denatured through heat processing, they become virtually useless and potentially harmful in the body.
The problem: Sugar and grains are the world’s most popular carbohydrates. We all need a substantial amount of healthy, low-glycemic carbohydrates in our diets – but they can be sparse.
The solution: Greens Drinks – also available in powder or capsules. Ideally, you need to eat five or more servings of colorful, raw organic vegetables every day. The more the better and these high-quality greens will ensure that you are getting what you need. In the absence of high vegetable intake, quality Greens Drinks can provide a synergistic blend of vegetable nutrients with no allergenic grains.
The problem: Fat is North America’s number one missing ingredient. You need good fats – and lots of them – in the healthy ratios your body uses for function.
The solution: Omega-3 Supplementation. If you’re eating a standard commercial diet that consists of very little grass-fed meat, omega-3 eggs, walnuts, avocado or fish, then you need to supplement the missing omega-3s in your diet. However, beware of two problems associated with omega-3 supplementation: It’s now common to overdo omega-3 supplementation and end up creating the opposite problem, “omega-3 dominance.” The other risk with fish oil supplementation is mercury contamination from toxic waters. Therefore, the best Omega-3 supplements will not only give your body the ideal ratio of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, but will also come from a blend of plant and fish sources, having been molecularly-filtered for optimum purity.
The problem: Additives, preservatives and chemicals are popping up everywhere – even in the healthiest foods.
The solution: Daily detoxification at the cellular level. Beware of fad cleanses which actually rob the body of nutrients and may do more harm than good! Instead, on a daily basis, consume the proper combination of amino acids, essential fats and herbs to promote detoxification at the cellular level and to naturally elevate the body’s own antioxidant and detoxifier, glutathione.
A complete detoxification system will do two things: (1) elevate your body’s level of glutathione to escort toxins out of the cells, and (2) include a secondary component to permanently bind the fat-soluble toxins and remove them from the body, preventing “re-toxification,” which is the most frequent and harmful complication of typical detox products found on the market today.
The problem: The erosion of soils has caused a depletion of nutrients in today’s foods.
The solution: A multivitiamin and/or multimineral supplement. Think of a high-quality, multivitamin/mineral and antioxidant formula as your proactive health insurance.
Get Expert Advice
Your Maximized Living Health Center is the ideal place to find the most updated information from practitioners who are helping hundreds of thousands of patients across North America establish health and experience Maximized Living. Your Maximized Living doctor, along with his or her team, is an invaluable resource. Let them assess your needs and lead you in the right direction. Without proper guidance, supplementation can cause problems and is likely to be a huge waste of your time and money.