Supplements: To Be or Not to Be?

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I am often amused at how many folks refer to nutrition when they talk about “supplements.” Let me set the record straight for all those who are proponents of supplements. Supplementation is NOT nutrition. It’s just as it says it is: supplementation! Here’s the best definition of nutrition I can come up with: Nutrition is nothing more than a series of four processes the body employs to make food materials available for the body to use. It takes place without thought or conscious effort as it’s an innate response from the superior wisdom of the body we were born with. That’s all nutrition is. It doesn’t heal, cure or do anything for that matter. It’s the body that performs the processes.

Now, let’s look at supplementation. Supplements are just that — supplements. They’re not “circumvents.” We should be thinking of supplements (vitamins and minerals in the multitude of ways they are sold — i.e., pills, potions, lotions etc.) as something to complement the meal not to take the place of the meal. So I decided to ensure that in all these 30-plus years I’ve spent in the business of nutrition, that I focus my effort and knowledge on teaching the meal. If we can get the meal down, then supplementation will serve us a lot better. And here’s an interesting thought: if vitamin supplements are supposed to make us feel better, then we should at some point get to where we don’t need them anymore. But it appears that we always increase the dosage as we go. It’s not my intent to pooh-pooh supplements, but rather to put them in the proper perspective.

But then there’s so much confusion about this subject of just plain sensible eating that it was my quest to teach those who wanted more zest in their lives exactly how we are designed to eat. Let’s understand that we all digest food exactly the same way. That’s the basis for my “Perfect Diet” program.

I will make this challenge to anyone who is reading this post: If you can prove me wrong on that statement, I will buy you what you want. If you put horses in Africa, China or the U.S., they will all digest food the same way; they are species-specific. We are humans — species specific. We all digest food the EXACT SAME WAY! Go to any anatomy or physiology book and you will never find Wayne Pickering’s name, Judith Dacey or Nick or Darlene Nicholas’ names there! What you will find is where it says that as a species, when food is introduced to the mouth, this happens; when it hits the stomach, this happens; and so forth right on through the entire alimentary canal.

But let’s give supplementation the benefit of the doubt here. A classic line by the great Joe Marino, a fellow speaker and friend of mine in Jacksonville, Fla., always makes me crack up: “Nobody likes change except a wet baby.”

It has helped me to understand why it’s easier to get someone to change their marriage, their job, their religion or even their home than it is to change their diet. Also, people would rather take a quality supplement than to try to make a lot of changes in their diet. I guess it’s a comfort zone type of thing. Well, we had to address this and design our own line of high potent, quality, totally safe herbal line of supplements! We were adamant about this as our reputation was at stake, and I’ve learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. These are also available from our web site.

I will close with saying that no matter what anyone else tries to tell you, the bottom line is, “if we want to be tough, we’ve got to eat good stuff!” Treat yourself to the very best, as you are the best you’ve got. Stay terrific!