Nutritional Supplementation
Depending on your health needs, Anne may recommend a course of supplements to accompany your nutritional programme. The reasons for her recommendations will be explained fully to you during your consultation.
Before saying anything else about nutritional supplementation, it's important to be clear that supplements are just that, supplemental to a good diet. They should never replace a nutritious diet, laden with health-giving nutrients.
Many people ask why they should take supplements when all of the nutrients essential for health can be found in foods. They have a fair point! All things being equal, we shouldn't have to supplement our diet, but, all things are not equal when it comes to ensuring good nutrition. Here are just some of the reasons why supplementation is necessary at times.
Stress
One of the hallmarks of our modern society is the number of people who are affected by prolonged stress. When stressed, our bodies use large amounts of B vitamins due to increased metabolism in all the cells of the body. Our adrenal glands, which produces the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, may need supported by good intakes of pantothenic acid, vitamin C and zinc during stressful times as they are having to work extra hard to do their job properly.
Digestive problems
We can eat lots of good food, but if our digestive tract isn't working as well as it might, we won't absorb our food well. Poor absorption of food may be caused by something as simple as not chewing food enough or it could be because we don't have enough stomach acid to break down proteins.
Until the digestion is up and running again, supplementation is the best way to ensure a good supply of health-giving nutrients.
Highly processed diets
Western diets are characterised by highly refined foods such as refined sugars, highly processed oils, white flours and polished white rice.
These refined foods have, by and large, been stripped of their precious minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals, and on top of this, they also eat up nutrients in the body as they need these to be metabolised.
Pregnancy
To nourish the growing baby, the need for some vitamins and minerals is increased during pregnancy.
For example, a supplement containing 400mcg of folic acid is recommended for about twelve weeks before conception to reduce the risk of neural tube defects.
Age-related disorders
There's lots of evidence now to demonstrate that anti-oxidant supplements reduce the risk of developing age related disorder such as cataracts and macular degeneration. Selenium, carotenoids, flavonoids, some amino acids and co-enzyme Q10 are all examples of anti-oxidants.
Poor agricultural soil
Because of over-farming agricultural land, many soils have become deficient in trace elements. If the nutrients are not in the soil in which the plants grow, they are not in the plants that we eat. There is evidence that many of our fruits & vegetables are lower in vital nutrients than they were a few decades ago.
Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol is known to affect the absorption of nutrients
from the small intestine and it damages the liver and pancreas which are
vital to digestion and metabolism. Heavy alcohol use increases the body's
need for the B-group vitamins, especially thiamine, nicotinic acid, pyridoxine,
folic acid and vitamins B12, A and C as well as the minerals zinc, magnesium
and calcium. Alcohol affects availability, absorption and metabolism of
nutrients.
Winter Sun
Our bodies make Vitamin D when sunlight hits our skin, and now there is evidence that people in the northern hemisphere suffer from Vitamin D deficiencies in winter, when the sun is low in the sky. Crucially, there are higher levels of breast and bowel cancer where people are exposed to the least amount of light. It's difficult to get adequate amounts of vitamin D by eating alone, therefore, Anne recommends taking a vitamin supplement throughout the year to keep levels topped up.
Antibiotics and bowel flora
There is no doubt that antibiotics can be life-saving but there is increasing
awareness that, as well as knocking out the pathogenic (harmful) bacteria
in the body, antibiotics severely damage or destroy good bacteria in the
gut. As the bacteria in the gut are central to good health, after a course
of antibiotics, Anne always recommends taking a good quality probiotic supplement,
to build up the good bacteria again and return the gut to optimal functioning.