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Nutritionist and dietician
Food supplements complement a balanced, healthy diet, they do not replace it. But why do we need additional nutrients at all if we eat a healthy and balanced diet? Surely human biochemistry is not designed for taking pills or drinking sherbet powder. Is there anything at all to be said for taking food supplements?
The answer to this question is very complex, but we will make it clear for you.
Nutrients are components of our food that we must regularly supply to our body.
The main nutrients include carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Essential nutrients include vitamins, minerals, trace elements, as well as certain fatty acids, amino acids and water.
A nutrient deficiency can have serious consequences that severely affect your health and well-being. But even people who appear healthy can suffer from a nutrient deficiency and not even know it. In most cases, a lack of nutrients comes from malnutrition.
Malnutrition leads to:
There are many different causes of malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies.
It can be difficult to obtain sufficient nutrients from food alone. This is because, above all, you also need knowledge about nutrition, for example about the nutrient content of different foods and how to prepare them correctly. This knowledge is not always sufficiently available and even if it is, it is not always possible to apply it.
The topic of nutrition should be addressed from an early age. However, as the topic of nutrition hardly appears on the curriculum in many schools, if at all, it is becoming increasingly difficult to give children and young people a feel for a healthy and balanced diet. In this case, the knowledge comes at most from home and often only half-knowledge or misconceptions about nutrition and nutrients are passed on.
Many questions arise, such as:
How are you supposed to know your way around if you don't have the necessary background knowledge of nutrition and nutrients?
And how is it possible for people with a lack of nutritional knowledge to eat a healthy and balanced diet?
Only education can help!
And this should start as early as possible. The topic of nutrition and the most important nutrients is frequently mentioned in biology lessons, and in some secondary schools in Germany and Austria the subject is even on the timetable. Further progress can be seen in some schools and day-care centers, which are already working on healthy lunches or similar projects. Despite this progress and although knowledge is developing, there is still often a lack of implementation.
A fresh, home-cooked meal with fresh ingredients is a rarity, as many people do not have this opportunity. Often there is simply not enough time. This starts with breakfast. Spreading a slice of bread or a roll is no effort at all. But the nutritional value is practically zero, unless you eat wholemeal bread for breakfast. After all, this provides nutrients such as: Fiber, minerals and vitamins. However, bread contains a lot of sugar, and spreads, jam, salami etc. are also not suitable for a healthy breakfast. Without fresh fruit or vegetables, the number of recommended vitamins and minerals will most likely not be reached.
Due to a lack of time, 70 percent of all professionals eat out or at the officeat lunchtime. When eating out, you can pay attention to the choice of meal, but you have no control over the origin, quality and nutritional content of the food or how it is prepared. Highly sugary and dairy products are often consumed, which often contain hidden sugar. For example, in fruit juices, fruit yogurts or bread. In restaurants and canteens, a salad from the counter may seem like a healthy, nutritious lunch to some. In any case, it is a better choice than a pork schnitzel. However, we often put the ready-made dressing on the salad, but we would rather not know what questionable ingredients it contains: cheap omega-6 oils, sugar, flavor enhancers and much more.
Grains, processed foods and most of today's dairy products are not good foods. Food is supposed to nourish the body and the mind. However, these products do exactly the opposite.
First of all, cereal products and conventional dairy products have very few nutrients. Many people also have difficulty digesting them.
An increased intake of sugary, carbohydrate-rich and predominantly animal-based foods, sausage and, above all, many processed foods in the diet often leads to acidification of the body, but above all to a lack of nutrients.
Even if you stop eating such foods, there may be a nutrient deficiency or persistent intestinal damage that impairs the absorption of nutrients.
Attention! A diet is not the same as a healthy diet. A low-calorie diet is always a nutrient-poor diet. It is also a very bad idea to deprive your body of key nutrients. A low-calorie diet means that you consume fewer micronutrients. The human body is designed to consume large amounts of nutrient-rich calories to meet its needs. Constantly restricting your calorie intake makes it easier to develop deficiencies. By consuming low-quality foods such as pasteurized low-fat milk or other achievements of the modern food industry, you can hardly meet your nutritional needs. As a result, you increase your portions - and get fat.
And here's another example of why high-quality food is so important.
Around 75 percent of all people do not consume enough nutrients. This is according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
One reason for an inadequate supply of nutrients is the eating habits in the western world, which are too high in salt, sugar and animal fats. In the USA, for example, the recommended daily allowances (RDA) for the most important vitamins and trace elements are not reached by the majority of the population:
The unbalanced diet is also linked to an increasing tendency towards obesity, which can be observed not only in the USA but also in Europe. WHO statistics from 2002 show the following result:
That's all well and good. But one question arises: what if we were to eat whole, nutrient-rich foods that covered one hundred percent plus X of our nutritional needs? Would we still need food supplements?
And if I were to eat a wholefood diet for the rest of my life, would I still need supplements?
These are all good questions. However, all the evidence points to the fact that our food alone is simply not enough.
As paradoxical as it may sound, the modern diet is by no means as rich in vitamins and trace elements as we might think. Quite the opposite: many of the foods we eat today contain fewer nutrients than in the last century.
For example, as studies by the US Department of Agriculture show, the nutrient content of an apple from 1914 is equivalent to the nutrient content of 26 apples today!
In all probability, this applies not only to apples, but also to many other products. There are many reasons for this:
Fresh fruit and vegetables are among the most nutritious foods available to us. However, their actual nutrient content depends on many different factors. So you can never be sure.
The nutrient content depends on:
The nutritional composition of meat also depends on various factors relating to the feed used or the conditions in which the animal was kept. Pasture-raised beef contains high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, but animals from fattening farms that are mainly fed grain do not.
But these are not the only factors that have a negative impact on the nutrient content:
... also contribute to this. Some foods provide more nutrients in their raw state (e.g. berries), while others need to be cooked to extract the maximum amount of nutrients (e.g. kale, tomatoes and Brussels sprouts).
The high degree of industrialization in the food industry leads to a loss of nutrients or to a very low nutrient content in the end product, as a central study shows. With the same healthy diet 50 years ago, you would have consumed twice as many nutrients as you do today.
Incorrect cultivation methods deprive the soil of important nutrients. If plants are repeatedly planted in the same soil, it loses vitamins, minerals and microbes faster than they can be replaced (monoculture). Over time, fewer and fewer nutrients are available to the plants. Fertilizers do contain enough nutrients to keep the plant alive until harvest. However, this is not enough to keep our bodies healthy. In addition, most plants are not harvested fresh. They are stored in trucks, on shelves or on the counter - sometimes weeks pass before they are consumed. Over time, the nutrient content of the plants dwindles noticeably.
Nowadays, most fruit and vegetables are grown in such a way that they grow to the right size and shape. Nobody pays attention to the nutritional value. As a result, most fruits today contain an artificially high amount of fructose at the expense of their content of vital nutrients.
Crops low in nutrients lead to malnutrition in animals. The results of a study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Health show that copper levels in British foods have fallen dramatically: by 90 percent in dairy products, 55 percent in meat and 76 percent in vegetables. Copper is a vital nutrient that regulates various pathways in the body, including energy production and brain function.
Due to modern production methods, more and more minerals are also being removed from our water. The mineral content of tap water differs considerably from bottled water. Tap water normally contains more minerals. Most water filters remove important minerals from the water, including magnesium, which is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. Until recently, clear, unfiltered, fresh water was the main source of magnesium for humans. But that is history. Important minerals such as magnesium are filtered out of the water. Instead, chlorine is added and enriched with potentially harmful chemicals such as fluoride.
Conventional, pesticide-treated vegetables contain fewer polyphenols (important for fighting cancer) than organically grown vegetables. Plants produce polyphenols to protect themselves from predators and pathogens (disease-causing organisms). However, if plants are deprived of the need to protect themselves, they do not produce any polyphenols.
Research results also indicate that glyphosates and herbicides bind minerals in crops treated with them. Only time will tell what effects genetically modified plants have on the human body. However, such foods should be avoided for a number of other reasons.
Unfortunately, organically grown food is not always available. The reasons for this can be financial or logistical. And even if you use organic food, it is not necessarily better.
Compared to pasture-raised meat, grain-raised meat contains appallingly low levels of antioxidants, micronutrients, fatty acids, minerals and vitamins. Grain is not a suitable food for either humans or grazing animals. When herbivores are fed only grain, they become malnourished just like humans. Grain-fed meat and farmed fish can also be more contaminated with toxins, which further increases the nutrient requirements of humans.
Raw, unpasteurized, unprocessed whole milk products can be good for you. But what most people buy in the supermarket has no nutritional value. Most of the nutrients in milk are contained in the fat (the cream). If the cream is removed or the fat content reduced, the nutrients are also removed or reduced. Pasteurization destroys some of the nutrients in both whole and low-fat milk. Conventional dairy products also contain a lot of aflatoxins and other mycotoxins that were in the cattle's feed.
Since the Western diet is becoming increasingly one-sided and at the same time increasingly nutrient-poor, because the food itself (whether agricultural or animal products) contains fewer and fewer nutrients, it makes sense to compensate for these deficits.
This should be achieved on the one hand by eating more fruit and vegetables and limiting sugar, salt and animal fats, and on the other hand by compensating for the increasing nutrient deficiency.
And the best way to do this is to take additional vitamins and trace elements such as chromium, magnesium, selenium or other essential minerals in addition to a more conscious, balanced diet. Food supplements are exactly what their name implies: a supplement to boost nutrient levels above and beyond food.
So you're eating a meal of dubious nutritional value - but that's not all. The term "bioavailability" refers to the ratio of the nutrient content of a food (or supplement) that is digested, absorbed and metabolized in the normal way.
Hundreds of factors influence what happens to a nutrient between the mouth and the intestine. Nutrients are always lost along the way. A nutrient-rich meal always has more nutrients on the plate than in the stomach.
As soon as we swallow our food, the availability of nutrients is a bit of a mystery in itself. It is influenced by these factors:
Food supplements avoid these factors. High-quality supplements provide nutrients in a bioavailable form and guarantee that they can be easily absorbed and used by the body. They often also contain co-factors - vitamins or minerals that support the main nutrient of the respective supplement. For example, calcium supplements often contain vitamin D, as both nutrients need each other to be absorbed and work together in the body.
Well, we can't be sure that our food contains enough nutrients or that our body absorbs them in sufficient quantities. But it gets even more complicated. There are times in our lives when we have an increased need for nutrients:
The body needs additional nutrients to be able to cope with all kinds of illnesses, injuries or physical stress. This also applies to mental stress. These life situations also have an effect on our digestion. Stress of any kind impairs gastrointestinal function or intestinal flora, which results in a lack of nutrient absorption.
An inadequate supply of nutrients can lead to an endless downward spiral and ultimately result in chronic deficiency symptoms.
Let's take a closer look at magnesium. Magnesium is a water-soluble mineral that the body needs to relax. Paradoxically, however, it is increasingly excreted during any kind of stress. As a result, we lose the magnesium that we actually need to relax our muscles and nervous system. It is also needed to produce important brain messengers such as serotonin and GABA. Without enough magnesium, stress continues and we excrete what little we have left. Supplements are a good way to break this cycle and raise magnesium levels. The body is given the chance to regain its balance. The cycle just described applies to most water-soluble nutrients, especially minerals, vitamin B and vitamin C.
Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body for days or even years, so they are not so much at risk of being excreted. However, the need for these nutrients increases dramatically during times of illness. Vitamin D is quickly depleted to increase white blood cell counts during an infection; vitamin B12 is needed more in stressful situations and vitamin A stores dwindle when blood loss occurs. It takes longer to develop a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins. However, it is also much more difficult to absorb them from food or replenish supplies without supplements.
Athletes often believe that a lot of exercise is the key to a long and healthy life.(It's not!) Many of them are among the first to reject food supplements as unnecessary and believe that exercise is the best medicine. Many workouts are not recommended, this is very important to note. If you do so much sport that you use up all your energy reserves, you will also consume more nutrients for energy supply and recovery. As a result, athletes are at a higher risk of nutrient deficiency. In addition, many athletes eat a diet low in nutrients and high in toxins - a dangerous combination.
Whether it's short-distance running, long-distance swimming or weightlifting, athletes consume more energy than the average person. Therefore, they also need more nutrients to recover from this intense physical exertion. Proteins play an important role in the diet of athletes, as they are needed to strengthen and regenerate muscle tissue. A high-protein diet is very popular among athletes, especially those striving for a lean, shapely body. How much protein do we actually need?
Protein is crucial for building muscle mass, but more is not necessarily better. Eating large amounts of lean protein does not go hand in hand with a shapely body.
When determining the protein requirements of athletes, their diet must always be considered in the overall context. Athletes who consume sufficient carbohydrates and fats end up using less protein for energy than those who eat a high-protein diet. This means that protein is available for building and maintaining lean muscle mass. Athletes therefore need to make sure that they cover their carbohydrate and fat requirements and not just focus on protein intake.
Muscles can only be built up with exercise and an appropriate diet.
Studies show, for example, that the time at which proteins are consumed plays a role. If high-quality proteins (e.g. meat, fish, eggs, dairy products or soy) are eaten two hours after exercise - either alone or together with carbohydrates - they promote muscle healing and growth.
However, the duration and intensity of the training session also influence the protein requirement.
Strength athletes who want to build muscle need more protein than endurance athletes.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Canadian nutritionists and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend that athletes consume 1.2 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, depending on the sport. Protein should be consumed throughout the day and after training sessions.
The older we get, the fewer enzymes our body produces. This includes those enzymes that are important for digestion and nutrient absorption. At some point, this leads to common complaints such as acid reflux and heartburn, indigestion and chronic constipation.
Numerous studies have shown that children have a higher nutritional requirement due to their growth and the elderly due to poor absorption. The older you get, the less stomach acid and digestive enzymes you produce. This makes it more difficult to break down food and absorb nutrients. Older people are also more likely to take medication, many of which interfere with nutrient absorption. For this reason, you need to consume more nutrients in a highly absorbable form.
Filtering processes remove precious minerals from the water. This may explain why people who drink water with a higher calcium than magnesium content are more likely to suffer from heart attacks and ischemic heart disease than others.
Your body needs nutrients to fight toxins effectively. The more pollutants you are exposed to, the more nutrients you need. Only if you live in a cave or the Garden of Eden do you not need to worry about this. For the rest of us, we are exposed to a huge amount of pollutants every day.
Here is a small selection of the toxins that your body has to deal with on a daily basis:
There are several other causes that cause unnatural stress and increase the body's nutrient requirements. Even if you pay attention to your diet and do everything right, it is almost impossible to get all the nutrients you need from food.
Our bodies are simply not designed to fight all toxins with just the nutrients contained in food. Instead, it is advisable to support detoxification and methylation pathways with appropriate supplements.
If you are looking for a supplement to help you break down heavy metals in your body, the freshwater algae called chlorella is just the thing for you.
If you have amalgam fillings in your teeth, have been vaccinated, eat fish regularly, have been exposed to radiation or regularly consume food from China, you could be carrying heavy metals. It is essential for your overall health and well-being that you proactively detoxify heavy metals and other toxins.
One of the most significant benefits of chlorella algae for your body is that it wraps itself around even the most stubborn toxins in your body. These include lead, cadmium, mercury and uranium. This wrapping means that the heavy metals can no longer be absorbed. Regular consumption of chlorella algae also helps to prevent heavy metals from accumulating in soft tissue and our body organs in the first place.
As you already know, certain deficiencies are unavoidable even with a balanced diet. We have summarized the most common deficiency symptoms for you.
The body can produce vitamin D (sun vitamin) itself. But to do this, we need to expose our skin to sunlight. We cannot provide our bodies with sufficient vitamin D through food alone, as it is only found in small amounts in food. The main reason why vitamin D deficiency occurs so frequently is because we spend too little time outdoors. And even if we do, our skin is covered by layers of clothing in winter and we usually use sun cream in summer. This prevents the sun's rays from reaching the skin and vitamin D cannot be produced.
57 percent of all German adults have a vitamin D deficiency towards the end of winter. The vitamin D level is below 20 µg/l. The optimum 25-OH vitamin D level should be between 30 and 70 µg/l.
The following groups of people are particularly at risk of vitamin D deficiency:
A persistent vitamin D deficiency has many negative effects on the body:
According to the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society (DGE), 0.5 percent of total energy intake should come from omega 3 fatty acids. This amount is around 1-2 grams of omega 3 per day. Although most of the German population reaches this target, a large proportion of this is covered by the plant-based alpha-linolenic acid. Only small amounts of this can be converted by the body into the fatty acids eicosopentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are particularly important for our organism.
Of the truly bioactive fatty acids EPA (eicosopentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), only 0.1 g EPA and 0.2 g DHA are consumed daily. However, the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) are 0.3 to 0.5 g EPA+DHA daily.
In addition, our modern eating habits usually result in an overabundance of omega-6 fatty acids, which further increases the need for omega-3. However, foods rich in EPA and DHA, such as oily sea fish, chia seeds, linseed oil, walnuts and avocados, are consumed far too rarely in this country. It can therefore be assumed that there is a deficiency of the essential fatty acids DPA and DHA in large parts of the German-speaking population.
A lack of omega 3 is mainly due to the fact that we have an abundance of omega 6 fatty acids, which further increases the need for omega 3. In addition, foods containing omega 3 such as oily sea fish, high-quality linseed oil, walnuts, chia seeds or avocados are consumed relatively rarely.
The following groups of people also have an even higher omega-3 requirement:
The effects of an omega-3 fatty acid deficiency are, for example
Iron deficiency is the most widespread nutrient deficiency and affects around 2 billion people worldwide. In Europe, 5 - 10 % of the population suffer from iron deficiency. According to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), 20% of all women of childbearing age in Europe are affected by iron deficiency. Young girls in particular suffer from iron deficiency during puberty as a lot of iron is lost during menstruation.
A lack of iron impairs the function of iron-dependent enzymes and proteins. As a result, physical and mental performance decreases and, in children, so does intellectual and psychomotor development. Furthermore, iron deficiency weakens the immune system.
The following groups of people have an increased iron requirement:
Iron deficiency can be recognized by these acute symptoms, among others:
Folic acid is also known as vitamin B9, vitamin B11 or vitamin M. It generally belongs to the group of B vitamins. Here too, the daily reference amount of 300 µg is hardly reached. 66 to 89 percent of men aged 14 to 80 do not reach the recommended intake. For women of this age, the figure is as high as 78 to 91 percent.
Folic acid is not only essential for the human organism, but also for the healthy development of the embryo during pregnancy: if the expectant mother has insufficient folic acid stores at the beginning of pregnancy, there is a risk of significant malformations in the baby. In the body itself, deficiency symptoms primarily affect the blood count and cell structure.
The German Nutrition Society recommends a daily intake of 300 µg folic acid for a healthy adult. Pregnant women or women who want to have children should even take 550 µg of folic acid to avoid a deficiency. Folic acid deficiency is widespread in western industrialized countries - in Austria, for example, only around a third of the population reaches the recommended amounts.
In the USA, folic acid has been added to foods for several years.
The main reason why the reference amount is not reached is because too few fresh plant products are consumed and instead all the more industrially processed foods. Other causes of a folic acid deficiency can be:
The following signs on your body could indicate a folic acid deficiency:
As a vital nutrient, magnesium is involved in over 300 metabolic processes in the body. It is therefore not surprising that an acute magnesium deficiency can manifest itself in many different ways. The most common symptom is nocturnal calf cramps or painful muscle cramps after strenuous exercise. Frequent headaches, inner restlessness, rapid exhaustion and irritability, sensitivity to noise, circulatory disorders (cold hands and feet, even numbness) and an excessive need for sleep can also be signs of a magnesium deficiency.
The recommended daily intake of magnesium is 350 mg for women over 25 and 300 mg for men. The national consumption study shows that 26% of men and 29% of women do not reach the recommended daily intake.
One reason for this is that the magnesium content in food is very low due to depleted soils. As animal feed does not provide sufficient magnesium either, this applies to both plant and animal foods such as dairy products, meat and eggs. Furthermore, valuable nutrients are lost through the processing of food. White flour, for example, contains only 20 to 30 percent of the magnesium content of wholemeal flour. Similarly, husked rice contains only a fifth of the magnesium content of wholegrain rice.
The magnesium requirement is increased in the following groups of people:
Selenium is an essential trace element that we must obtain from our diet.
As a nutrient, selenium plays many important roles in our body. One of these is in the ageing process. Although this cannot be reversed, it can at least be positively influenced by our diet. Selenium has an optimal effect on healthy ageing because, as an antioxidant, it protects against cell damage caused by harmful environmental influences, known as free radicals. Selenium also contributes to a healthy heart. It reduces inflammation and strengthens the immune system. The nutrient therefore also helps with cardiovascular diseases.
Selenium also increases fertility in men. The antioxidant improves both the formation and motility of sperm.
The nutrient is also said to have a preventative effect on cancer.
The reference values are 60 µg per day for adult women and 70 µg per day for men. In Germany, however, the average selenium intake for women is only 39 µg and for men 46 µg per day. The selenium content in plant foods depends on the selenium content of the soil. Selenium deficiency is widespread in Europe, as the natural selenium content in agricultural soils in Europe is very low.
The selenium requirement is increased under the following circumstances:
The following signs may indicate a selenium deficiency:
Ubiquinol is considered a very powerful antioxidant and is found in small quantities in meat or fish, for example. It is the active and antioxidant form of the coenzyme Q10. To get the recommended daily dose of 100 to 150 mg from food, you would need to consume 3.4 kg of red meat, 5.7 kg of chicken, 14 kg of sardines or 50 cups of spinach.
From around the age of 30, the concentration of ubiquinol in our body decreases significantly. This is because our body can only convert small amounts of conventional coenzyme Q10 into its active antioxidant form ubiquinol. The body's own ubiquinol production is also reduced by taking cholesterol-lowering medication (statins).
Ubiquinol is effective in the prevention of age-related diseases. For example, it improves the health of patients with heart problems and heart disease. Thanks to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, coenzyme Q10 has been shown to improve the functioning of the heart and significantly reduce cardiovascular symptoms in patients with heart failure. Ubiquinol is also said to help with high blood pressure. Study results show a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure in people with hypertension. Age-related dry mouth and gum disease are also improved by ubiquinol.
There is an increased need for:
If you notice an unusual symptom of illness, seemingly without any reason, you should consider a nutrient deficiency as the cause. Look out for the following eleven signs.
Dr. Susan Blum, founder of the Blum Center for Health, explains:
"You may not get really ill, but the functioning of your body can still be impaired. Vitamins are so-called co-factors for all biochemical reactions in the body. We need them to function properly."
This can be a sign of an iron, zinc and vitamin B deficiency (niacin, riboflavin and B12). You may also be consuming too little protein. Good food sources for these nutrients are
The absorption of iron is supported by vitamin C. Therefore, include plenty of vegetables containing vitamin C in your diet, for example broccoli, red peppers, green cabbage and cauliflower.
The cause of hair loss or skin rashes could be a biotin deficiency (vitamin B7). The body needs biotin to metabolize fats, carbohydrates and amino acids. However, biotin is best known for its hair and nail strengthening properties. One of the best sources of biotin:
These can be signs of a deficiency of essential fatty acids (e.g. omega-3) or vitamin A or D. Increase your intake of omega-3 fats by eating more sardines or anchovies (or Alaskan wild salmon). Alternatively, you can take a krill oil supplement.
Vitamin A is found in green leafy vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes and red peppers. The best way to replenish your vitamin D stores is with sunlight or in a high-quality tanning salon. In both cases, take precautions for safe sunbathing.
There may be a deficiency of B vitamins (especially folic acid, B6 and B12). A deficiency affects the peripheral nerves and can be associated with anxiety, depression, anemia, fatigue and hormonal imbalance.
B vitamins are contained in:
Muscle cramps can indicate a lack of magnesium, calcium and potassium, especially if they occur frequently. You can counteract this by taking more:
According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 21 million Americans suffer from a mood disorder each year. Deficiencies of the following nutrients may be linked to anxiety and depression:
Do you sometimes feel like you want to get a lot done, but you're just too tired to get anything done? Fatigue is a big problem for many of us and prevents us from enjoying our lives to the full. If you are tired and lacking energy, a lack of
be the cause.
Sometimes medication is essential to calm the mind. But perhaps the cause is simply a mineral or vitamin deficiency:
None of us wants to be sick all the time or be plagued by inflammation or infections. A strong immune system can fight off many pathogens and help you recover. If your immune system is constantly letting you down, it may need
Did you know that 90 percent of patients who suffer from insomnia also develop chronic diseases such as diabetes, strokes, heart disease or high blood pressure? They are also at a much greater risk of depression or weight gain.
If it seems impossible for you to get enough sleep, you may lack
If you cannot digest or absorb food properly, even the best diet is useless. Digestive disorders such as constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, etc. can be caused by a lack of
be triggered.
You can guess which vitamins and minerals we are lacking based on some of the symptoms. However, a deficiency is not always easy to define, as the symptoms often overlap. A consultation with a doctor, a blood count analysis or a urine test will provide more precise results.
"Nutrient deficiencies alter body functions and processes at the most basic cellular level," explains Dr. Tricia L. Psota, a nutritionist and lecturer at the Millennium School of Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, DC. "These processes include water balance, enzyme function, nerve signaling pathways, digestion and metabolism. Correcting these deficiencies is important for optimal growth, development and healthy body function."
Most disorders caused by a nutrient deficiency disappear as soon as the deficiency is corrected. However, in some cases the damage is permanent. Usually this is only the case when a severe deficiency has persisted for a long time.
Nutrient deficiencies can also cause diseases. "For example, a calcium and vitamin D deficiency can cause osteopenia or osteoporosis. Both of these diseases are characterized by brittle bones," explains Kate Patton, registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "Inadequate iron intake can lead to anemia, which robs you of all energy."
Tell-tale symptoms are usually the first indication that you are suffering from a deficiency of one or more important vitamins or minerals.
For example, a long-term thiamine deficiency is associated with stunted growth and depression. Especially in children, nutrient deficiencies have serious consequences that have a lasting effect on their health.
If you are experiencing symptoms and are concerned that you are not getting enough of a particular nutrient, talk to your doctor. You can discuss your diet with him or her and find out what changes you should make or what supplements you should take.
Our aim is to concentrate on what your body is really lacking - a nutritional supplement that can compensate for existing disorders and deficiencies.
With HERBANO, we offer targeted support for the twelve most important areas for your physical and mental health. In harmony with nature and in combination with the leading findings of medicine, we bring your body and mind into balance. The most important prerequisite for your health and happiness.
We stand for:
Due to changes in the nutrient composition of our soils and increased body requirements, it is more important than ever to take regular food supplements. This is the only way to ensure that all of the body's nutritional needs are reliably and consistently met. Normally, it is not necessary to supplement every single nutrient. However, most people benefit from targeted supplementation as part of a healthy diet. Contact a qualified nutritionist or naturopath for personalized advice.
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Urashima, M., Segawa, T., Okazaki, M., Kurihara, M., Wada, Y. & Ida, H. (2010, May). Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(5):1255-60, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.29094
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