Three reasons why we should include nutritional supplements in our diet.

When Popeye first chugged down a can of spinach and flexed his biceps in 1930s he was probably getting some pretty decent nutrition. Even canned spinach, at that time, was likely to contain considerable quantities of important nutrients, like iron and vitamin A. Today, Popeye might need a vitamin supplement along with his spinach to get the same effect.

DATA COLLECTED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

Data collected by the U.S. government shows that the nutritional content of our fruits and vegetables have declined dramatically over the last few decades. The following changes are the reasons we simply are not getting the nutrients from our foods.

The way our foods are – grown – harvested – ripened - sold.

Add to these, the challenges of modern-day living - which increase our demand for essential nutrients - and the case for taking nutritional supplements become clear.

MEDICAL COMMUNITY

According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly 15,500 men and 12,500 women would be saved from coronary heart disease each year if only half the population took 400 mcg of folic acid daily.

The Nurses Health Study followed approximately 87,000 women for 14 years. This study showed that moderate daily supplementation with Vitamins B-6, B-12 and folic-acid decreased the risk of death from coronary heart disease by 30 percent.

MEDICAL COST

An editorial from The Western Journal of Medicine reports that the national hospital bill would be lowered by $20 billion a year, and the rates of birth defects, low birth weight and heart disease would drop dramatically if we just did the following:

1. All American women of childbearing age supplemented their diet with zinc and folic acid.

2. All older Americans supplemented their diet with vitamin E (a vitamin that protects cardiovascular health).

Supplementing our diet with nutrients can boost our health dramatically and help relieve some of the financial burden on our health care systems.