Your health is a serious matter!
No, this is not another lecture telling you to cut out fat and sugar from your diet, ditch alcohol and give up smoking or 'pass' on the next lot of cardiovascular-threatening French fries. Nor to tell you to avoid eating BSE-infected beef or to reject that nice looking barbecued leg of hormone-injected chicken, that tasty-looking piece of transgenic salmon or that plate of irradiated, E beamed, 'cold pasteurised' prawns! Joking apart, but this is not really joking, these days your good health can be in the lap of the gods. It is as well not to take it for granted.
General Guidelines
The hugely negative aspects of some of the above have quite rightly made many people very careful about what they eat and drink. More and more people are placing ever greater emphasis on using natural and organic foods and nutritional supplements to stay in shape and maintain a good quality of lifestyle. Obviously we are firm believers in the use of such products and have existed for almost 20 years to serve the interests of like-minded people.
However, particularly as the use of nutritional supplements has grown significantly in recent years, we believe it is important to bear in mind the limitations to their benefits and also the possible dangers of their use.
A number of points are worth bearing in mind.
Firstly, supplements should be used sensibly. As the great sports nutritionist Dr. Michael Colgan noted some years ago,
"Some people can be adversely affected by nutrients, and nutrients can adversely affect some prescribed medications".
(Optimum Sports Nutrition, Advanced Research Press, 1993; page xi).
So, take heed. It makes sense to think about what you take and why.
Secondly, mega dosing on nutrient supplements may not only be harmful but also wasteful. The body uses some nutrients in such microscopically small amounts that it simply excretes any surplus as waste. So please, don't waste your money.
Thirdly, supplements are no magic bullet. Different cells have different replacement rates. Whilst some cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages, which deal with bacteria and particulate debris, have half lives of less than 12 hours and are replaced by the body twice a day, other cells have far longer regeneration times. Blood cells, for example, can take 2 to 4 months months to be replaced, muscle cells 6 months and bone cells as long as 12 months. Clearly, as anyone undertaking training knows, it takes time to get one's body into really great shape. Supplementation therefore needs time for the benefits to work fully into the system.
Fourthly, it is worth bearing in mind that nutrients work synergistically. A balanced intake is therefore important so that each nutrient can work to best effect.
Fifthly, each of us has our own biochemical individuality. Nutrient needs differ from person to person, just as one person is different from the next. A 'one size fits all' approach to diet and supplementation has obvious limitations. Depending upon whether we are male or female, young or old, couch potato or aspiring Olympic athlete, employed or unemployed, stressed urban dweller or happy rustic, each of us needs to evaluate our own individual condition and lifestyle needs. On the law of averages, recommended dietary allowances for specific nutrients may be fine as a general guideline but each individual should adapt their nutritional intake according to their personal requirements.
Warnings and precautions
These days anything manufactured for human consumption must conform to stringent regulations. The supplement manufacturers are therefore most careful to state clearly on their products any warnings that should be heeded or precautions that should be taken. The manufacturers instructions should always be read and followed before the product is taken.
Whilst our experience with our customers is that people are well able to use their common sense in these matters it is helpful to keep in mind certain considerations.
Children, pregnant women, the elderly and those taking medication are always well advised to seek professional advice before taking supplements.
Anyone with a medical condition should consult their doctor immediately and not take any proprietary or prescription medications or supplements of any kind unless advised by a medical practitioner to do so.
Women who are pregnant or breast feeding are advised to take particular care over what they eat and drink and they should always consult their doctor before taking any proprietary, prescription medications or supplements.
None of the products sold by us is intended by their manufacturers to be used to treat, cure or prevent any disease or to be taken as a medicinal substitute.
With these considerations in mind it is our goal is to help you improve your vitality and get into better shape. Hopefully, as a result you will feel better able to deal with the demands of modern life. If we can help you achieve a happier, more successful and satisfying future, then so much the better.
Good health is probably the greatest asset we can have. With it, all else is possible; without it, so much is unachievable.
A commentIt is all too easy to be alarmist about what we eat and drink, let alone the air we breath, but we have good reason. A whole host of contaminants have found their way into the food chain; both fresh and salt water are being increasingly polluted; carbon levels in the atmosphere are greater than they have been for 150,000 years.It is against this environmental background that people are having to make choices about how they safeguard their health. One result is that nutrient supplements have become a big part part of people's lifestyle and a further consequence is that there are now many books on the subject.Many authors are passionate believers in supplementation but it is important to recognise the limitations and the possible risks. For anyone interested in learning more about these matters we have a wide range of fascinating books on offer.One of our personal favourites for its objectivity and readability is the classic tome, Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies, by Frances Sienkiewicz Sizer and Eleanor Noss Whitney (published by West Publishing Co, New York). In our opinion, this thoughtful and well-researched book provides an excellent starting point for anyone interested in nutritional supplementation issues. |
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