The Tribune

By Dr Monique Thompson

WELCOME to another exciting edition of “Healthy Living Made Simple!” where you are educated, encouraged and empowered to live well.

In the last article we minutely tipped the surface of basic things we can do to make ourselves healthier. This week, as promised, we are going to dive a bit further into nutrition, in particular looking at a few myths surrounding supplementing our diet. This is the first of a two-part series.

Before we get into it, I wanted to briefly explain what vitamins and minerals are so that we can better understand why they are important.

They are both broadly classified as nutrients, as well as essential fatty acids, amino acids etc. Vitamins are organic compounds that organisms need to ensure that different chemical processes and reactions occur, but are not made directly by the organism. Therefore, they must be acquired through diet, supplements, microorganisms, pro-vitamins etc. Minerals are inorganic, naturally occurring substances that living things are unable to produce. Examples include calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.

Supplementing is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for a few reasons. First, Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for vitamins and minerals were established as the amount needed by “healthy individuals” to prevent disease.

They do not address optimal health attainment or maintenance, and what about unhealthy individuals? Second, the nutritional value of food just is not what it used to be. Soil erosion due to poor farming methods and overuse has led to soil being minerally depleted. As a result, nutritional value is lost. For example, the Nutrition Security Institute found that an apple in 1914 contained 13.5mg of calcium and by 1991 an apple only had 7.2mg of calcium.

And now, 24 years later? I cringe at the thought. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition, British Food Journal, and numerous other sources have done more recent studies with similar findings.

Thirdly, the refining process of foods further strips away nutrients, many chemicals such as preservatives and dyes are added, and we have to take into account the nutrition that is lost when we cook/prepare foods. For all these reasons, even with a healthy diet which many fall short of, it is very difficult to get adequate amounts of certain vitamins and minerals.

Now that we understand why supplementation is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, let’s tackle a few myths!

You say: “Because supplements are over the counter and safe I can take them how I want and when I want.”

I say: “There’s a few things with that…”

First, taking too much of one nutrient can cause a deficiency of another. For example, too much iron can lead to a zinc deficiency because both minerals use similar sites in the body to work. Also, if you are taking zinc, you should take copper as well because zinc depletes copper in the body. So beware. There are other interactions that make us taking supplements how and when we want potentially harmful.

Unfortunately that’s my word limit for today, but more mythbusting is on the way in Part II.

• Disclaimer: This information is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, rather to be used for educational purposes. Dr Monique Thompson is a naturopathic medical doctor and founder of Cornerstone Healing Institute. For more information call 356-0083.