VITAMINS, MINERALS, & TRACE MINERALS

VITAMINS, MINERALS & TRACE MINERALS

ARE THEY NECESSARY?

ISN’T A WELL-ROUNDED DIET SUFFICIENT?

If we were to eat a “perfectly” balanced, natural – whole foods diet mostly comprised of plants – vegetables, grains, seeds, fruits, and berries along with the balance, 25%, comprised of organic grass-fed livestock and wild caught fish we would consume a diet that would provide us with “most” of the vitamins and minerals our body needs.

However, most does not equate to all our body needs.  Eating a balanced diet does provide us with many of the vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals our body needs.  There is a catch.  Our body does not make vitamins, minerals, or the trace minerals.  We take in these essential nutrients from our foods.  Only by consuming nutrient dense foods can we ensure that we are taking in what we need to maintain optimal health.

In a perfect world our foods would contain the nutrients we need.  We do not live in a perfect world.  Food from agriculture is seriously deficient in many of the essential nutrients we require.  Why?  Our soils have become significantly depleted in these essential elements through over usage and the common practices of big agribusiness – limited usage of broad- based fertilizer, over-harvesting, limited crop rotation and soil degradation.  Since our soils are nutrient deficient and most of our protein sources, coming from unnatural feed sources, can’t be classified as healthy – where are we to acquire these life supporting nutrients?

First, most of the nutrients we require should be taken in through the food we eat.  Eating natural, organic vegetables, fruits, and berries along with organic grass-fed beef and wild caught seafood would ensure that we are getting more nutrients than if we were to rely primarily on commercial agriculture and grain fed beef and seafood. Only by consuming these natural foods can we obtain enough of the necessary 13 vitamins, minerals and trace minerals that are necessary for optimal health.

The vitamins that are essential to good health are:

The very word, vitamin, means “being vital for life.”

How about the essential elements – the minerals and trace minerals – also necessary for life and health.

Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Iron, Zinc, Manganese, Copper, Molybdenum, Iodine, Chromium, Selenium, and Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

That is quite a list. We aren’t even discussing the supplements that come from so many of these vegetables, fruits, berries and protein sources – the carotenoids, the flavonoids – the catalysts that are also included in natural whole foods.

Now, what if you were to find out that by eating a perfect (?) diet you were still short of the essential elements your body needed?  What would you do? Believe it or not if the body had the essential nutrients it needed in the right amounts – virtually all chronic diseases would be averted.

Let’s examine this.  The following information, regards to the efficacy of vitamins, is sourced from “The Vitamin Cure” by Monte Lai, PhD.  The data he compiled was garnered via a statistical method known as meta-analysis.  This method is widely recognized as the most reliable method currently in use in determining the power of vitamins and essential elements in preventing and, yes, in treating chronic diseases.

Vitamin A – prevention of lung cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, glioma, cervical cancer, asthma, and cataracts.  Best sources: beef liver, fish oil, sweet potato, pumpkin – cooked, carrots – raw, spinach, cantaloupe.

Vitamin B1 – may prevent cataracts and type two diabetes.  Best sources: Pork, green beans, brown rice, walnuts, oranges, cantaloupe, milk, bread, and eggs

Vitamin B2 – Prevention – may prevent cataracts, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer. Best sources: milk and dairy products, internal organs – liver, kidneys, heart, nuts, legumes, dark leafy green vegetables.

Vitamin B3 – Prevention: may alleviate osteoarthritis.  Best sources: tuna, turkey, chicken, salmon, beef, peanuts, bread, fortified breakfast cereals, coffee, nuts.

Vitamin B5 – Prevention: may lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, increase of HDL, may help with lessening morning stiffness and pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Best sources: beef liver, sunflower seeds, trout, yogurt, fish, eggs, milk.

Vitamin B6 – Prevention: analysis confirms help in prevention of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, Parkinson’s disease, renal cell cancer, and venous thrombosis. May also help prevent stroke recurrence, stroke, heart disease, and depression. Best sources: Meats, chicken, beef, and pork, fish – cod, salmon, trout, bell peppers, spinach, potatoes, broccoli, chickpeas, banana, nuts.

Vitamin B7 – Prevention: may lessen symptoms of MS, type 2 diabetes, brittle nails, and hair loss.  Best sources: organ meats such as liver and kidneys, egg yolks, oats, bananas, nuts, milk and wheat, tomato, avocado, cabbage, cheese, and raspberries.

Vitamin B9 – Prevention: can help prevent breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, renal cell cancer, bladder cancer, and pancreatic cancer, hypertension, depression, chronic kidney disease, stroke, coronary artery disease, venous thrombosis, atherosclerosis, glaucoma, oral cleft, neural tube defects, recurrent stroke, and age-related macular degeneration.  Best sources: dark leafy greens, liver, cooked spinach, asparagus – cooked, avocado, papaya, corn, tomato and orange juice, watermelons, oranges, and strawberries.

Vitamin B12 – Prevention – colorectal cancer, renal cell cancer, cervical cancer, MS, depression, venous thrombosis.  Best sources: primarily from animal-based foods. Oysters, beef liver, trout, tuna, cod, beef, milk, cheese, eggs, chicken and mushrooms, and miso.

Vitamin C – Prevention – breast cancer, renal cell cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, cervical cancer, esophageal cancer, endometrial cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, gout, stroke, cervical neoplasia, cataracts, exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, atrial fibrillation, and sleep apnea.  Best sources: all fruits and vegetables – oranges, kiwi fruit, grapefruits, lemons, limes, papayas, strawberries, pineapple, cantaloupes, raspberries, kale, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers and cauliflower.

Vitamin D (D3) – Prevention – most cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, rickets, lupus, Parkinson’s disease, autism spectrum disorder, cognitive impairment, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, MS, respiratory infection, TB, hypertension, RA, fatty liver disease, thyroid disease, depression, gestational diabetes, obesity, Graves disease, bone fractures.  Best sources: Vitamin D3 The sun – depending upon the color of your skin, e.g. northern city – light skin Caucasians 15 minutes, Asians and Hispanics 30 minutes, African Americans 2 hours.  Winter also eliminates most of the sun’s natural supply-we stay indoors more. Food sources: cod liver oil, fish oil, fish, beef liver, eggs, salmon, tuna (cooked) milk, yogurt, sardines, eggs, and cheese, fortified milk, and fortified fruit juice.

Vitamin E – Prevention – can help prevent breast cancer, lung cancer, renal cell cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and cataracts.  Best Sources: wheat germ oil, almond oil, sunflower oil, asparagus, sweet potatoes, avocados, mangos, nuts, cooked spinach.

Vitamin K – Prevention – helps prevent osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and calcification of blood vessels.  Best Sources: Dark leafy vegetables, spinach, kale, broccoli, green beans, oats, wheat, meat, milk, eggs, natto, swiss chard, parsley, olive oil.

In addition to the disease-preventive natures of these vitamins they have also been used for millennia, in the treatment of most chronic diseases.  A body well stocked with these essential vitamins is a body well prepared to handle most chronic diseases.  From the above list one realizes that a broad based, diversified diet is one of the most important keys to good health.

The essential minerals and trace minerals work together with the operation of vitamins.  By eating a balanced, diversified diet, most of today’s ailments – obesity, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune diseases, and the big killers – heart disease, cancer and stroke can be severely limited if not prevented.  The ancient saying: “Let your medicine be your food and your food by your medicine” has original ties to the ancient Greeks.  Before the advent of modern medicine and our pharmacological industry – people relied upon the natural elements they received from their foods to retain health and vitality.  In many ways, a return to natural foods and the curtailment of “fast food”, processed foods and “junk” foods would see a dramatic improvement in the overall health of most Americans.  Remember, we are what we eat and what we later absorb.

Don Wright

Catch A Lift Fund