The Vita'myth'

Ideally, we should be getting all of the vitamins and nutrients from the foods we eat, however, with the way we have been conditioned to prepare our food, most of us have needed to supplement those missing nutrients for years. Every time we heat up our food, it loses some of its beneficial properties. When we microwave that food, it essentially destroys whatever health benefits the food formally had. If that wasn't bad enough, the industrial processing of these foods prior to hitting the shelf of our grocery store has already started the destruction, and we only make it worse with our end-user preparation.

Whether you pop a multivitamin daily or you religiously swallow a whole cluster of vitamins that range from A to zinc, there’s no denying that there’s a lot of misinformation surrounding these little pills. If you do a web search for information on vitamins, you will find a wide range of information running the full spectrum from "you must add these to your diet" to "avoid at all costs". When you ask your doctor about the benefits of vitamin and mineral supplements, most of them will skirt away from the conversation at all costs, almost to the level of suspicious denial. In my most humble opinion, most of the "studies" that you read that tell you to stay away from vitamins need to be tempered with a heavy level of skepticism. Remember, these studies are often completed by the very same medical community and pharmaceutical industry that has a lot to lose when the general public begins to learn the truth, makes better food choices, and ultimately becomes significantly healthier.

What brand should I choose?
The vast selection of vitamins and mineral supplements you see at your local grocery store is simply mind boggling. You could easily stare at the display for an hour and ultimately walk away frustrated after giving up. As if the varied vitamin choices weren't intimidating enough, there are often 3 or 4 brands of these vitamins staring you in the face as well. How do you choose? My suggestion... WALK AWAY!! Because the entire supplement industry is largely self-regulated, the claims found on the bottles is nothing more than flash, designed to draw you in, and have you spend your money. The real issue here is the fact that it is impossible to know the purity of these supplements. In a perfect world, these companies would not only have to disclose how much of their formula is filler product, but would also supply information about the farming, harvesting, and processing habits of these items. There are many companies out there who are as much about education as they are about business, and work to empower the public to make the best decisions for themselves. Our personal favorite for this is Garden Of Life. The biggest thing that drew us to them in the first place, after doing exhausting research, is the fact that their multivitamin is a whole food / raw food vitamin, providing you with not only the purest of ingredients, but with the highest level of vitamins and nutrients possible shy of eating the raw foods yourself.

So many vitamins to choose from-
As to the specifics of what vitamins you should be consuming, that depends entirely on your dietary habits and your health. Each of these are designed to enhance or supplement specific dietary needs. The best advice may be to seek out the assistance of a dietitian or nutritionist. Try what works for you, and know that taking these supplements should only be a short-term stop gap on your journey to better health and better food choices, so you you won't need to rely on a pill to get the nutrition that our bodies crave to do the job they were intended to do. This is a marathon, take the first step, and Take Back Control Of Your Life!


Cheers,
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