Andhranews

A person who doesn’t require vitamins is a rare find. Our food production methods (over farming, use of pesticides) coupled with the burgeoning fast food industry and poor cooking methods (over cooking, deep-frying) play a key role in depriving our bodies of important nutrients. When nutrient deficiencies interact with high levels of stress and little or no exercise, they result in lifestyle diseases like type II diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure etc.

It is clear from the growing incidence of lifestyle diseases that the food that we eat today does not provide us with optimum nutrients required to maintain a positive state of health. Fresh fruits and vegetables provide adequate nutrients if they are picked when ripe and eaten immediately. Today that is not possible as they are picked before they are ripe and then treated with chemicals to “appear” ripe but do not have the nutritional value of ripe vegetables. These “fresh” fruits and vegetables lose further nutrients as they travel from the farm to your kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, we overcook, deep fry, mishmash our food and even reheat the leftovers thus creating nutritional disasters. Such food has not more than 25 per cent nutrient value left in it. Therefore we cannot think of getting adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals only through food. Micronutrient deficiencies over a period of time reflect in terms of falling hair, lack lustre skin, weight gain, uncontrollable hunger, sugar cravings, low energy levels, mood swings, skin rash etc.

The polishing of rice into “polished white rice” and the refining of wheat into ‘maida’ has threatened our body into multinutrient deficiencies. Such food not only fails to nourish us, but also robs us of other nutrients in order to get metabolised, creating a shortage of chromium, B-complex, magnesium, zinc in the body. As we age, our capacity to assimilate nutrients decreases due to inadequate hydrochloric acid.

Frequent intake of antibiotics upsets the intestinal flora creating a shortage of beneficial bacteria.
Many people don’t like taking vitamin and mineral supplements, as they want to get everything from their diet. I truly wish this was possible, but this route just doesn’t work in this modern world. Today we are exposed to more environmental pollutants than ever before. This causes more free radical generation in our body and our food does not give us enough antioxidants to defend ourselves against these toxins. Therefore the need to take vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants like vitamin A, C, E, selenium.

Antioxidants: The best way to get antioxidants is to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as your primary source of antioxidants and also take supplements containing vitamin A,C,E and selenium. Choose fresh fruits over canned juices. Avoid boiling or overcooking your vegetables. You must steam, stirfry, lightly cook or eat them raw.

Consume Omega 3 fats: These reduce the damage caused by pollutants. These fats are found in the alsi seeds, fish, soyabeans, pumpkin seeds, and almonds. Avoid cooking in oils that go rancid easily. PUFA based oils derived from sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, cottonseed, and corn get rancid easily and should be avoided. Olive oil is richest in MUFA and doesn’t go rancid easily. Other MUFA based oils are those derived from mustard seeds, tilseeds, and groundnut.

Antioxidants help to rev up your immunity and decrease your chances of falling prey to disease. Those who exercise regularly also need to take supplements of antioxidants as exercise generates more free radicals. All this business of living in today’s modern, toxic world creates the need for supplementation. Without optimum food intake combined with appropriate vitamin supplements we cannot expect to live a healthy life.