Originally published December 28 2008
Six Important Supplements Everyone Should Take
by Richard Stossel
(NaturalNews) In today's world full of confusion and conflicting information on supplements and supplementation, it`s often very hard to know what to take or even whether we should be taking any supplements at all. You need to know the truth on this subject and to know what is worth your time and money and what is not.
This article will hopefully help to clear up some if not all of that confusion and give you the vital and necessary bottom line on what supplements we all need to be taking, along with dosages for each to truly stay healthy in this unhealthy world. There are many more that could be added to this list but these will go a long way to making sure you stay healthy and greatly enhance your resistance to illness and disease.
If you rely only on your doctor or the main stream media, you're only going to hear about the slash and burn methods of medicine, those being drugs and surgery. Today far too many are only told about a very narrow dimension when it comes to health care.
That's because doctors and hospitals only want to get you hooked on their expensive and invasive technological methods to turn you into a long term sick care customer. They're never going to be interested in telling you how to remove your illness or prevent it altogether since they would not make the kind of money that they have grown accustomed to.
So we have to do our own research from sources that we know are not interested in money as the primary motivator but true health and healing. This means that the only real source of true health information that can be trusted are those from the ancients.
While the ancients may not have known about vitamins or which herbs contained which nutrients as we do today, they did know which ones would cure you and which ones would keep you healthy well into old age. There same herbs are often found to have high and vital nutrients in them along with other co-factors that greatly boost immunity and health.
There are a number of common and inexpensive supplements be it both vitamin and mineral that we all need to take on a regular basis to help maintain immunity and make sure that our bones, blood, brain and nervous system are all working correctly. Here is the list of vital and necessary supplementation for the modern world.
WHOLE FOOD MULTIVITAMIN
We all need to be taking a good whole food multivitamin on a daily basis. This is to make sure that we`re getting all the necessary nutrients from complete whole food sources as the body is meant to. If you have a good diet full of super foods, organics fruits and vegetables and other natural sources, then a multivitamin may not be as necessary though it`s still recommended to take one on a daily basis for added protection and benefit.
With the soil being so depleted, the air so polluted, less oxygen in the air and less sunlight hitting the earth we need to take more amounts of nutrients today than those who lived even one hundred years ago. The fact that our food is also about ten times less nutritious than it was a hundred years makes taking a good whole food multivitamin that much more important.
Whole food multivitamins are not the same as synthetic vitamins from any of the major vitamin manufacturers. You want to take only a true whole food multivitamin supplement or better yet, make it yourself.
Making your own juices on a daily basis with lots of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, berries, superfoods and herbs is the best way to consume your own whole food multivitamin supplement. This way you'll also receive plenty of freshly activated enzymes and tons of other nutrients and substances that haven't even yet been identified.
VITAMIN C (3000-6000MG) per day is three doses every six hours (Morn, noon, Eve)
Called the king of the anti-oxidants and the most powerful one in the body, vitamin C has over forty six different beneficial effects alone. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin which can not be stored in the organs or fatty tissues as fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, and E can. The body needs to be recharged with vitamin C in six hour intervals because it is quickly used up and eliminated from the body
Due to a critical deficiency of a certain enzyme in the liver humans are one of only a half dozen species that can't manufacture their own vitamin C, so we have to be completely supplied with it from the diet.
The current recommendations from the FDA of 60-90mg is way too low. That's because those guidelines are only minimums to prevent diseases that occur due to deficiency of that nutrient. They're no where near the proper amounts that the body needs to truly be healthy, thrive and prevent disease.
Don't worry about overdosing on vitamin C. All that happens if you reach "bowel tolerance" is you get a slight case of the runs. If that happens simply lower you dosage by a 1000-2000mg per day. Most people have no trouble with 3000-6000 per day where as some can go as high as 15,000-20,000mg per day.
VITAMIN D (Sunlight exposure and Lemon-Flavored Cod Liver Oil 800-1200IU's per day)
Make sure to get enough sunlight exposure on a daily basis. Typically about 15-20 minutes per day on the skin of the upper body and face is adequate to generate sufficient vitamin D to protect you from cancer and boost immunity. Vitamin D is often thought of as a vitamin but it's really a steroid hormone precursor that is primarily formed when our skin is exposed to sunshine.
Taking a good form of cod liver oil during the winter months can help maintain adequate vitamin D in the body. You can also install full spectrum lighting to help irradiate the retinas and skin with vitamin D and boost immunity via the ocular endocrine system in the brain.
Some recent studies show that adults need to take amounts between 3000-5000IU's per day of vitamin D. But check with your doctor or get regular vitamin D blood tests to make sure that your not overdosing at this level of intake. Since vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is not flushed out from the body as water soluble vitamins are, making certain that your vitamin D levels are correct is an important consideration.
ZINC (25-50mg) per day with morning or noon meal
Zinc is a vital mineral that due to food processing and destructive farming practices is far too low in the human diet today. It has powerful immune enhancing properties especially when taken with extra selenium on a regular basis. It's best to take zinc with a meal as it can cause mild stomach upset if taken alone.
Zinc works with Selenium to produce SOD (Super Oxide Dismutase) and GTP (Glutathione Peroxidase), which are two of the most powerful anti-oxidant/Anti-Aging enzymes in the body. Zinc is a vital component of more than 300 enzymes that are needed to repair wounds, maintain fertility, synthesize protein, help cells reproduce, preserve vision, boost immunity, and protect against free radicals. So this is definitely one mineral you want to make sure your getting enough of.
Some good natural sources of zinc include meat, eggs, seafood, black-eyed peas, tofu, and wheat germ.
SELENIUM (200-250MCG) per day with morning or noon meal
Again due to destructive farming practices, overuse of pesticides and not letting the soil rest, over two thirds of the world's soil is selenium deficient and not fit for growing crops. Selenium is a vital and necessary mineral and is almost totally devoid from the human diet because of modern farming methods.
Selenium should be taken daily along with Zinc which greatly increases the effectives and immune boosting capabilities of both. 2-3 Brazil nuts contain approx 200mcg of selenium, so this is an excellent natural whole food source of selenium along with yeast, whole grains, and seafood.
VITAMIN B Complex (50-100mg)
The vitamin B complex refers to all of the known essential water-soluble vitamins except for vitamin C. These include thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), biotin, folic acid and the cobalamins (vitamin B12).
Vitamin B complex provides potent anti-oxidant protection to the body and particularly to the cells of the brain and central nervous system. Since they are part of a family of vitamins which function best as a team they should all be taken together instead of separately.
Adults should take 50-100mg per day of each of the B vitamins except for B12 which should not exceed 1mg per day. Various dosages of the B vitamins may be taken for specific purposes. For example, niacin can be taken at 2-3 grams per day to lower cholesterol or treat schizophrenia. 500mg of vitamin B5 can be taken to increase mental and physical stamina.
Food sources of B vitamins include fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products.
About the author
Richard is a network engineer and longtime practitioner of Chinese martial arts, medicine and chi-gung for over twenty six years. Having learned many Chinese health and healing arts from old world gung-fu and healing masters and practitioners, he has helped many people to overcome their health issues and achieve their fitness goals. Through diligent study and experience he has taken this knowledge even further over the years including reading scores of books on Chinese medicine, health, chi theory, science, physics, nutrition, supplements, meditation, martial arts, and many other subjects. Utilizing the web, health and fitness videos, newsletters, articles, teachings and lectures, Rich is passionate about spreading the true knowledge of health, healing, fitness and spiritual truths. I'm proud to be writing articles for NaturalNews.com You can read many articles, hear audio interviews, and learn more about the highly praised Chinese Health and Fitness video by visiting Chinese Health and Fitness.com
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