Many people who are not educated in nutritional science will tell you that they eat balanced meals and don’t need supplements. That may have been a possibility one hundred or so years ago, but sadly, cannot be true today.
In this blog article, we’ll address the sad facts about what has happened to our food, water, air and lifestyles and how the quality of these affects our health.
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENT FOOD
Since the body can only obtain nutritional support from what we eat, we will briefly discuss the lack of nutrients in our diets. One hundred years ago, there was a much smaller population that there is today. Because of smaller populations and less sophisticated transportation systems, food was obtained from local farms and dairies. Since food was available close to home, it was fresher and richer in nutrients. As our country grew in size, large companies began to produce foods on commercial farms, food that was once locally grown. Now foods are preserved for shipping, storage, and longer shelf lives. In the quest for convenience, the natural form of food has been altered, resulting in food that has been robbed of nutrients. In addition, refining, canning, freezing and certain cooking methods contribute to the destruction of the vitamins, minerals and vital enzymes that nature intended for our consumption.
Let’s use bread as an example. Bread is often called the staff of life, is a major part of the American diet. More often than not, the miller begins with inorganically grown wheat. In processing, the whole wheat flour undergoes damaging chemical bleaching, and the nutrient-rich germ and bran of the wheat are removed. The flour is blended with white sugar, chemical salt and preservatives to be delivered to us on the grocery store shelves. Manufacturers give the consumer what they believe to be a more “appealing” product with an extended shelf life.
Another example is what is done to sugar cane to produce refined white sugar. Refined sugar is one of the most detrimental substances that we consume in amazing quantities, approximately fifty-nine kilograms per person, per year! Refined sugar is a nutritionally devoid food that hundreds of millions of people ingest daily. Twenty percent of our caloric needs are supplied by sugar devoid of micronutrients.
MODERN FARMING METHODS
Whether a grain, vegetable or fruit, all our foods originate from the earth’s soil. Even when you eat meat, the animal that you are consuming ate grains and vegetables and was probably given antibiotics and hormones. The condition of our soil today is exceedingly deficient in vitamins and minerals. Chemical fertilization of the soil kills nature’s soil protectors such as earthworms, causing the nutrient loss in the soil through erosion. Minerals which are necessary for the growth of plants, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, are synthetically added back to the soil, resulting in large, colourful fruit and vegetables, but the flavour and vital nutrients are severely lacking. To summarise our farming dilemma, grains, vegetables, and fruits are only as nutritious as the soil in which they are grown. Magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, chromium, and selenium are deficient in today’s agricultural soils. With the sad nutritionless condition of soil throughout the world, the food this depleted soil is producing is not giving us all the vitamins, minerals an enzymes our bodies so desperately need.
OUR POLLUTED, STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENT
In addition to the lack of nutrition from processed foods and depleted soil, nutrient levels in our bodies are adversely affected by the air we breathe, the water we drink, as well as the high pressure and stress of modern living.
It is well-known that the pollution levels in the air we breathe are very high, especially in the metropolitan areas. Heavy metal toxins such as lead, mercury, and cadmium from auto exhaust, industrial waste etc cause negative oxidation in our bodies. This dangerous form of oxidation, known as free radicals, contributes substantially to premature aging and degenerative diseases such as cancer, hardening of the arteries (heart attack and stroke), arthritis, emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver, high blood pressure, cataracts, ulcers and toxemia of pregnancy.
Because the toxic waste that is emitted from the many industrial centres throughout the world is poured into our lakes, rivers, streams, and reservoirs, our drinking water has to be chlorinated in order to be “safe” for human consumption. Although better than drinking untreated toxic water, chlorinated water has been proven to contribute to the free radical load, and destroy many vitamins, minerals, and enzymes necessary for our health.
Besides the leeching of nutrients from our bodies by chlorine, copper pipes used in modern plumbing systems cause the depletion of zinc, a vital mineral involved in many body functions.
The major antioxidants, Vitamins A, E, C, beta-carotene, and selenium are used by the body to neutralize the free radical load from pollutants. With increased pollution, increased intake of these essential antioxidants is necessary. Many nutritional experts have discovered that the stress of modern living such as freeway driving, work, monetary pressures, noise pollution etc use up valuable nutrients in our bodies, especially Vitamins A, B, and C) and leave us tired and drained physically, emotionally and mentally.
One hundred and twenty years ago, our great-grandparents ate two to three times as many calories as we do. They were able to burn all the calories with the tremendous physical exertion required by both the small farmer and his wife. As our sedentary lifestyles have shrunk our caloric intake we can need and can manage, the content of vitamins and minerals consumed has shrunk as well.
IN SUMMARY
To sum up, nutritionless foods, the toxic environment, and stresses of daily living all cause severe vitamins and mineral deficiencies in our bodies. If one consumes commercial foods, alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and/or drugs, nutrient loss is even more dramatic. Eventually, without proper nutrients, the body’s systems break down and degenerative diseases take hold. Since many of the disease and health problems caused by the nutrient robbers described above take years to show outward signs, many modern allopatric doctors don’t believe that inadequate nutrition is the cause. This is very unfortunate since millions of people are suffering from dietary related diseases. The doctors’ drug and surgery can do little to save their nutritionally unaware victims. The evidence is clear: We desperately need nutritional supplements to provide the health energy our modern lifestyles do not provide.
At Tempus Dynamics, we provide whole food supplements that synergistically combine vital nutrients needed for optimal health. Discover our Xcell Food Science supplement range here.
The information in this article should not be misconstrued as therapeutic recommendations for any disease or symptom. It is not intended to provide medical advice, which should be provided by the licensed medical physician. The intent of this article is to inform and to educate our readers.