Many claim that supplements are a waste of time, or as more than one doctor has put it, “expensive urine”. The truth is, if the food we eat doesn’t contain the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and other nutrients we need then we may need to suplement our diets, at least at certain times.

Nutritional supplements have certainly become more popular with an estimated 50% of Americans now taking supplements on a regular basis. Studies are proving that supplementation is important because our foods do not contain all of the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and enzymes we need for our bodies needs. In fact a Earth Summit Report report in June of 1992 indicated that North American farms and range soils have become 85% depleted over the last 100 years.

As early as 1936 it was reported to the United States Senate that “99%of the American people are deficient in minerals and a marked deficiency in any one of the more important minerals actually results in disease.” [United States Senate, Document 264, 74th Congress, 2nd Session] Dr. Linus Pauling, the noted winner of two Nobel Prizes, stated, “You can trace ever sickness, every disease and every ailment to a vitamin or mineral deficiency.”

Here’s what happens. Minerals are rocks. Rocks are not easy for most of us to digest so we eat plants that grow in these rocks (soil is broken down rocks, etc.)or animals that feed on these plants. These plants convert these elemental minerals (rocks) into ionic minerals which are much smaller and are water soluble so that our cells can absorb them. If the soil the plant is growing in doesn’t contain these minerals then the plant will not either, which means we’re eating foods that are nutritionally deficient.

In his book, “Homocysteine Revolution” Dr. Kilmer S. McCully, MD, explains how normal dietary proteins break down into an amino acid known as homocysteine. As homocysteine levels are elevated, Dr. McCully explains, our blood vessels become subject to disease, and he explains this to be caused primarily by insufficient levels of folic acid, and vitamins B-6 and B-12.

Wouldn’t it be something if we could prevent illness by making certain that our body gets the essential nutrients it needs each and every day while we avoid those foods (as best we can) that weaken or stress it? Understanding this principle truly can give us the power to be in charge of our health.