Foods vs. Supplements

Two reasons why I prefer nutrient-rich foods to supplement pills... and your body does, too.

I've been challenged by a reader who observed that between my recent Sugars series and the piece praising lemons, I'm veering a little too much into Nutrition while ignoring other aspects of Natural Medicine - supplements, homeopathy, treatment therapies, and other approaches.

Wow! In the interest of variety, the next few upcoming articles are going to take Natural Medicine in a whole new direction. In the meantime, though, I want to explain why a focus on diet and nutrition is such a key element to health.

To begin with, the human body can absorb only a fraction of the contents of most supplements. This is due partly to the density and concentration of whatever is being dumped into your stomach in pill form at one time, and in part thanks to the amount of processing that takes place before the herbs, isolated vitamins, and other ingredients get to you.

When I compare this option with foods like celery (potassium), lemons (minerals, vitamin C), and wolfberries (vitamins A, C, B, minerals, flavonoid antioxidants, and more), the choice practically makes itself. Whole foods contain vitamins and minerals suspended in water, with a balance of fiber, essential fats, and other nutrients. Consuming whole foods makes our bodies able to absorb and metabolize the nutrients that we need much more easily, and in larger percentages even from smaller quantities of vitamins. Whole foods (provided you're choosing the right ones) are better supplements than most supplements are, because your body can actually make use of what they provide.

There's another reason I focus on food as a major part of healing. But first, I've got a question for you. What do you do every day? If you're like the rest of us, there are a few things. You get out of bed in the morning, and sleep at night (or vice versa). You use the toilet. You breathe, you drink water. You eat. See where I'm going with this?

When you're busy, it's easy to forget to take your supplements, put off exercise until tomorrow, or cancel an appointment with your chiropractor until next week. Food is something we put into our bodies whether we're busy or not; in fact, most people tend to eat more when they're stressed. If you're doing it every day, it makes sense to get it right, by choosing foods that will nourish us and support health and balance, instead of junk food that clogs our bodies and minds.