Here’s a question that can begin to answer the question about why you need to take a multivitamin every day.
Who’s eating 50 carrots?
A day.
I know I am not and am pretty sure most people are not.
But did you know that zinc is an essential nutrient, and today we need to eat 50 carrots to get the daily amount of zinc our bodies need – when just 50 years ago you could get the same amount from eating just one carrot.
There are more examples like this. In fact there are many examples like this because the fact is that we don’t get the same nutrition from our food today that we did in the past.
Why we don’t get enough nutrients on a daily basis from the food we eat:
- We eat way too much processed food, fast food, or some other kind of ‘pretend’ or ‘make believe’ food that is not fresh and does not have natural nutrients.
- The soil used for commercially growing fruits and vegetables has been depleted in the last 50 years, seriously depleted and so the same nutrition is not there.
- Today fruits and vegetables are harvested early to be transported, even though up to 80% of the nutrients are received by the fruits and vegetables in the last 24-48 hours before they are ripe and ready to be picked- but they aren’t getting those nutrients.
- After harvesting, even if the fruits and vegetables are closer to being ripe, they lose their nutrient content each day and a lot of the produce that is in grocery stores could be weeks or months old.
There are ways that you can do better with the food you eat. You can buy local grown produce that you know may be fresh, full of nutrients, even organic.
Why does your body need essential nutrients?
Your body is made up of cells that are constantly being renewed, to the tune of 10 million new cells every second.
The goal is for your body to make new cells that are better than those being replaced.
Your cells determine your health. If you build good cells, you will have good health. It is the most simple thing, and yet it is very hard to do.
Your body is a self-repairing system – but you are in charge of what you put into it.
To consider the challenges we have today, more people take more prescription medications than ever before. 15% of teenagers have arteries that are already half clogged. Today’s generation of children are projected to be the first that do not outlive their parents.
The majority of Americans are either low or deficient in vitamins such as vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, zinc and B vitamins.
One of the health choices you have each day is to take a broad spectrum multi-vitamin that can help your body get these essential vitamins that it needs, that it may be lacking. It is up to you to be an advocate for your good health.
Because getting these essential vitamins each day is hard to do, we have some nutrition insurance: a daily multivitamin.
Multivitamin
A multivitamin is a supplement that has a broad range of essential nutrients your body needs in order to be healthy: vitamins and minerals that are essential to good health and that you want to make sure your body consumes on a daily basis.
The purpose of a multivitamin is not to work on a specific health challenge, although it can help with one. When the cells in your body lack nutrients it can lead to illness and disease. And so taking a multivitamin everyday that will feed your cells the nutrients they need to be healthy can help you build better overall health.
The best way to take your multivitamin is with your meals. If your daily serving is 2 tablets, you can take them together with one of your meals, or you can take one at breakfast or lunch and the other at dinner.
The reason you take (whole food) vitamins with food is because they will be absorbed in your body better when consumed along with the nutrients from your food.
Multivitamins Are Not Created Equal
I have heard crazy stats like the following. Whether they are completely accurate or not I don’t know because I am not going to spend the time researching since I am not interested in taking a product like these.
- 80% of multivitamins are made by a few manufacturers who slap on various brand labels and so essentially many products are the same.
- Many popular brands are synthetic vitamins, or chemical based vitamins – not natural ingredients like you find in real food.
- Synthetic vitamins cannot be completely absorbed by your body because of their molecular structure and so it may be completely useless (and a waste of money) to take them.
- Vitamins need only be 10% natural to put ‘natural’ on the label. And there is very little regulation of quality of ingredients so you have to really research and trust the brand you choose to consume.
- Few brands do their own research on ingredients, including science behind formulating products your body can absorb well.
- If you read vitamin labels, you will find there are unhealthy ingredients in many multivitamins, and there are unsafe products that are readily available to buy.
This list is disappointing because you take vitamin supplements to be healthy, not to hurt you.
On the other side are options you can feel confident using.
Multivitamins That Help Build Better Health
- Whole food vitamins that are made as close to the way you would find them naturally in foods as possible.
- Brands that do research and testing on individual ingredients to be able to verify safety, efficacy and quality.
- Formulations that facilitate absorption of nutrients in your body – different ingredients need to get to specific parts of your body in order to be broken down and absorbed.
- Chemical free vitamins because your body doesn’t need more chemicals.
- Results that are guaranteed through clinical studies that evaluate blood test results that measure your individual health.
The multivitamin we choose is from The Shaklee Corporation, the #1 Natural Nutrition Company in the country: Vita Lea (Women, Men, and Gold Over 50 Years Old options).
Shaklee does the research and the clinical studies and the testing of ingredients and the measuring of healthy results so that they can guarantee you get results.
Shaklee vitamins are made from all natural ingredients and formulated as close to the way you find the nutrients in nature as possible, and they do not contain chemicals that your body does not need and that can actually hurt you.
Shaklee formulates vitamins that will get absorbed in your body so that the nutrients reach your cells and can make you healthier.
Shaklee guarantees every vitamin, mineral and supplement – 100% money back guarantee.
Shaklee Vita Lea is sold as a stand alone multivitamin. It is also included in both Vitalizer (a more comprehensive program with additional nutrients and a probiotic supplement, and Shaklee Life Strip (with additional nutrients and a potent form of resveratrol plus polyphenols that help fight aging).
We started with Vita Lea over 35 years ago, moved to Vitalizer when it was introduced about 15 years ago, and then switched to Life Strip when that became available. Each is an excellent product and we recommend you starting where you feel comfortable. Learn more about each at the links below.
Shaklee Vita Lea (120 size lasts one person 2 months and 240 lasts 2 people 2 months)
Shaklee Vitalizer (30 day supply for one person – available With and Without Iron and an Over 50 formula)
Shaklee Life Strip (30 day supply for one person – available With and Without Iron)
Get your Personalized Health Assessment today. There are more than 1 million possible outcomes, based on your personal answers to 20 questions. There is no cost for this service.
What you get: A diet and lifestyle score plus a customized plan that consists of educational content, practical tips and recommended nutrition support backed by Shaklee science to help you reach your unique health goals.
