Thoughts on supplements and their usability in the body

July 3, 2021 | Learning, Nutrition | 0 comments | Author: LFA

Here at Life Fitness Academy, many of our clients have heard us discuss supplements and so we want to discuss why we recommend only whole food based supplements, if any. It is rare to find high quality supplements among the thousands and thousands of products being offered-and it seems like new products are being added all the time that one might feel the need to review.

One of the reasons we only recommend whole food based supplements is that so many supplements which are isolates or extracts can do more harm than good-or they are chemically synthesized from questionable sources (just study where so much of the ascorbic acid (aka vitamin c) comes from). Ascorbic acid is just one component of vitamin c and is not true vitamin c.

The same is true of minerals. the body doesn’t absorb rocks very well. So many of the calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, or zinc supplements just get flushed down the toilet or built up in the kidneys and eliminative organs of the body-impeding proper elimination. Due to wanting to get a better return on investment many people switch to chelated minerals which have a higher absorption and usability rate (40-60%), but still have the same problems-trying to get the body to use inorganic minerals. The best way to get minerals is to have plants uptake these inorganic minerals which are broken down by fulvic acid, humic acid, and billions and billions of good microbes in healthy soil-and then these minerals are turned into organic acid form and are found in the fruit or vegetable or plant that you consume.

When looking at the mineral size of these organic minerals it is important to note the size. The size of organic acid minerals are so small in microns that they are easily utilized by the cells of the body. However, even comparing fruit to vegetables there is a difference. Due to the perennial nature of trees, they produce a smaller mineral than vegetables which can be grown very quickly and then die. The mineral size in trees that have been around for hundreds and sometimes thousands (ie. olive trees in the mediterranean) of years have more usable minerals when compared to leaf lettuce which took six weeks to grow. This is an important distinction to make. Nonetheless, an overall approach to supplement via organic acid minerals is a much better approach than any rock minerals.

For many clients we recommend that instead of supplementing, they look to see how to increase certain foods high in the needed supplement as a percentage of their diet. So for example, if one was deficient in magnesium, increasing foods high in magnesium-such as raw cacao (mineral from a perennial plant), one of the highest sources of plant magnesium. There is no need to add more food to one’s diet, just increase the percentage of the food that is high in the supplement needed. That way the body is not overtaxed with a greater quantity of food and it can build up a reserve or give a sign that its needs have been met. The body knows what it needs. As another example, if one was looking to supplement potassium, the best way might be to increase as a percentage of the diet the consumption of raw coconut water (mineral from a perennial plant). Only good can be obtained from this method of supplementing. In fact, such good can be done that the body gains enough strength and enough vitality that it may decide to purge and clear of not only toxins and waste, but also minerals which have clogged up organs all over the body-this purging may not be a pleasant experience.

Recognizing the core foundational truths about food and the body and the way they interact is key to pressing forward through times of detoxification (which will occur all life long). Being able to discern whether the body is under distress because of what is being put in it or what is trying to come out is key.

For many clients we recommend looking into using whole herbs to address problems. Not only do herbs offer many vital minerals in whole food form, but they also are a source of many other phytochemicals which have medicinal properties. Many of the issues with modern prescription drugs are the same problems of white sugar versus completely unrefined sugar-it becomes an adulterated, poisonous product when not in whole form. Go enjoy some coca tea but stay away from the cocaine-same plant, very different products!

Thus concludes, thoughts on supplements-for now!

By Tim Mallon