When I was studying to become a holistic nutritionist I decided to work part-time at a vitamin store. You may laugh at this but working at a vitamin store was my dream job. So is teaching yoga and fitness but I was always envious of my sister who’s high school and university job was working at a vitamin store. Yes in some weird way I did quit my corporate job to work back in retail. After all I was obsessed with taking vitamins and supplements. You can literally take a pill for anything. So why bother eating at all?
One thing I was taught in holistic nutrition is that nutrition should come from food first. Mother nature has designed nature to have everything your body needs via food.
So is taking vitamins a waste of money?
I remember my mother listening to a recorded interview over and over again in our mini-van. I don’t really remember what it was about but I do remember the voice staying something along the lines that the only things supplements are good for are creating expensive pee. You may have asked your doctor if whether you need to take supplements and they have may have told you no. Or maybe you saw a news article suggesting that all supplements don’t even work.
I hear you and I’m not saying there’s not a tiny bit of truth. But here’s why I don’t thinking supplements are a waste of money AND should be considered in most people’s healthy living habits.
Taking a multivitamin, a vitamin that contains a wide spectrum of vitamins, minerals and herbs, is an insurance policy for good health. Like I said ideally you want to get all your nutrients from your diet but most of us don’t. Taking a multivitamin will “top you up” in your body’s daily requirements.
Convinced you already get all the nutrients you need? Consider this fact. I don’t know about you but I live in Canada. We have four seasons which is amazing. Unlike 50 years ago where the grocery stores only carried what was in season, I’m now able to buy anything I want. I can eat mangoes all year long if I wanted to. Canada doesn’t even have the climate to grow this fruit. We are so lucky that we don’t have to travel down south to eat it because it’s imported in for us. But here’s the flip side to this. When it comes to perishables (fruits and vegetables) that are imported, in order for them not to spoil before they even make it into the store they must be picked early. Green bananas and white strawberries. When fruit or vegetables are picked early they don’t reach their full potential in nutrients. So yes sure we are eating mangoes but it’s nothing like we would be eating if we were in Mexico.
The less something travels, the more time it can ripen natural, the more nutrients you get.
That’s why it’s so important to consider locally grown food whenever it’s in season.
Still not convinced that taking vitamins are a waste of money? Let’s look at the soil. Farming practices have changed and our soils have been depleted. Traditional farmers have been rotating crops which means one year growing corn, the next year potatoes, the next year tomatoes. Healthy soil is full of essential minerals and different crops pull on their nutrients. To meet the demands of food farmers are now over producing crops and usually growing the same crops. When you continue to grow the crops over and over again in the same soil, the soil gets depleted of that nutrient.
For example calcium, which is essential for strong bones. You have to eat almost TWICE as many tomatoes in 1987 as you did in 1936 to get as much calcium. No wonder more and more people are being diagnosed with osteoporosis.
So many taking vitamins and supplements isn’t a waste of money after all? Adding a multivitamin will give you boost to any already healthy diet. They are not a solution for a diet filled with processed foods and junk.