How to Handle the Vitamin Crisis

Practically everybody is facing an acute vitamin and mineral
shortage these days. This has taken an ugly turn with people
on weight loss diets - especially low carb diets.

It is now an accepted fact that nutritionally driven chronic
diseases have reached epidemic proportions. Nearly 95% of
people over 40 are prone to suffer from one or more of these
chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes,
dementia, and vision loss by the time they reach
retirement.

Not long ago, the medical community used to laugh at the
so-called 'nutrition fanatics' who advocated the importance
of vitamins and minerals as a basis of our vital health.

Then came the most shocking part.

It was as late as June 19, 2002 that the Journal of the
American Medical Association announced that the 'suboptimal
intake of vitamins should be seen as a risk factor for
chronic disease, especially in the elderly.'

This came as an eye-opener to most people who realized that
our food contains much less nutrition today and yet our body
needs much more vitamins and minerals than ever before in
human history.

The problem is two-fold. On the one hand, we have reduced
the intake of vegetables in our daily diet; and on the other
hand, whatever vegetables we do take are devoid of natural
nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Let me explain the
problem further.

We all know that plants are the sole source of all vitamins
and minerals for every living creature. Even animals that
eat nothing but meat get their vitamins from vegetables
somewhere down the food-chain - from an animal or fish that
eats plants.

And, plants create body-ready vitamins and minerals from
nutrients in the soil. But, the soils have been
over-utilized due to commercial farming.

The soils are becoming sand; they are depleting at a very
rapid rate. Now, you can boast of getting seasonal and
out-of-season fruits and vegetables throughout the year, but
there is hardly any food value left in them.

The reason is simple; the commercial growers keep using the
same fields year after year, and the soils keep losing their
rich nutrients. And, as soils deplete, so does the vitamin
and mineral content of the vegetables grown in that soil.

To increase the produce, chemical fertilizers were
introduced to help plants grow in poor soil.

However, there are many problems associated with this
appraoch.

Chemical supplements have brought in more problems. Though
the vegetables look great they contain far less vitamins and
minerals they once did and they also absorb some of these
chemicals so that now our body needs even more vitamins to
deactivate these toxins.

The paradox lies in the fact that the vegetable available
these days are less nutritious than those hundred years back
but we still need more and more of them.

On the other hand, genetic engineers have created vegetables
that are more disease resistant, that grow faster, are more
visually attractive, and are easier to harvest. But, they
have done nothing to increase the nutrient levels of the
plants - or to enrich the soil.

To make matters worse, most fruits and vegetables are picked
before they're ripe, and treated chemically to get them to
the grocer's shelf as soon as possible. While this gives
the produce a much longer shelf life, it depletes most of
the nutrients because fruits picked at their ripe peak
contain maximum nutrients. But, ripe fruits spoil quickly
and are quite unprofitable for the grower and the grocer.

Apart from all these factors, we have to battle with higher
levels of air and water pollution, lower oxygen levels in
the air we breathe, not to mention our fast paced, fast food
societies of today. So, it is not difficult to see that our
wonderfully created bodies are being taxed to the maximum,
and need more protection than ever before.

How to Deal with the Situation

There are no two opinions about the dire need of vitamins
and minerals. So, it is absolutely essential to make fresh,
whole fruits, vegetables, and grains a larger part of your
daily diet and to eat the vegetables raw as far as possible.
If you cannot eat them raw, cook slowly at low heat to keep
the nutrients at the highest possible levels. Once you start
watching your intake of vitamins, you will realize that you
do not eat even the minimum recommended amounts, yet you
need much more than that today.

Secondly, always prefer organically grown produce at your
grocery store or health food store because it contains much
higher levels of nutrients, minus the chemicals. They are
costly no doubt, but they are tastier and contain much more
nutrients and much than the commercially grown produce.

Alternatively, you can try growing some of your own produce
in your yard garden, patio pots, or inside the home in
window pots. Plants are decorative and put oxygen in the
air. You will enjoy growing them as much as you will relish
the taste and nutrition of these home-grown veggies.

Finally, you must know that no matter how perfect your diet
is you still need vitamin supplements. And, you need to take
3 large tablets or six medium size tablets every day
minimum. You'll find the best vitamins online at the best
price.

You must buy good quality vitamin supplements at most
reputable vitamin or health food stores. You can get the
best deals in term of quality and price online.

For those who are making their retirement program, it is
recommended that they invest in vitamin supplements, which
are, by far, the cheapest health insurance and wisest
retirement plan they can think of.