Okay, so you think you are doing pretty well with your diet. You prepare most of your meals at home, don't eat much junk food and aren't a fast food eater only rarely. You think vitamins are pretty much nonsense-particularly since you are eating so well-and besides, you feel pretty healthy.
Well let me rain on that parade a little.
Consider this. In order for nutritional researchers to determine the required levels of nutrients, diets must be designed of known nutrient content with a specific deficiency in the nutrient being studied. Then varying doses of the nutrient can be added to the diet to determine at what level symptoms of deficiency disappear.
In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a vitamin C-depleted real meal menu is described. The diet consists of the following choices:
Breakfast: Apple Juice, Applesauce, Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, Unprocessed bran, Hominy grits, Cream of Wheat, Eggs (scrambled or hard poached), Cheddar cheese, French toast, Syrup, Yogurt (plain or strawberry), Bran muffin, Glazed doughnut, Mini bagel, Cream cheese, White toast or bread, Wheat toast, Margarine, butter, Honey, Peanut butter, Sugar substitutes, Low-fat cream cheese, Coffee (regular or decaffeinated), Tea (regular or decaffeinated), Cream, White milk (whole, 2%, or skim), Chocolate milk, Buttermilk.
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup, Cream of chicken soup, Croutons, Escalloped chicken, Pork chops, Brown gravy, Garlic herb pizza, Grilled cheese sandwich, Tuna chunks, Yogurt (plain, vanilla or blueberry), Rice royale, Black beans, Rice, Pretzels, Applesauce, Diet Jell-O?, Cookies (chocolate chip or sugar), Ice cream (vanilla or chocolate), Bread (white or wheat), Saltines, Margarine, Butter, Sour cream, Peanut butter, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Sugar substitute, Relish, Coffee (regular or decaffeinated), Tea (regular, decaffeinated or iced), Cream
Dinner: Chicken and rice soup, Cottage cheese, Croutons, Fried shrimp, Roast beef, Brown gravy, Macaroni and cheese, Cheeseburger, Chicken salad, Yogurt (plain or peach), Pinto beans, Rice, Diet Jell-O?, Vanilla ice cream, Angel food cake, Bread (white or wheat), Margarine, Butter, Peanut butter, Coffee (regular or decaffeinated), Cream, Tea (regular, decaffeinated or iced)
Evening Snacks: Peanut butter crackers, Graham crackers, Chocolate chip cookie, Popcorn, Ginger ale, Diet cola
If you review these choices you should note something familiar. They are the very foods that the majority of people now consume! By eating these foods a person will restrict vitamin C intake to less than 5 mg per day. The bare minimum RDA (Recommended Daily Alolowance) so far established for vitamin C is 90 mg per day for men and 75 mg per day for women -- and this is highly contested as being far too low. There is a huge body of research now demonstrating that humans need several hundred milligrams (some believe more than a thousand) per day to achieve optimal health.
Vitamin C is a critically important nutrient for humans since our bodies are unable to synthesize it. In the wild, fruits and vegetables would be the main source. Vitamin C bolsters the immune system and is critical to connective tissue integrity and health. In its absence, the nutritional disease scurvy occurs resulting in a sort of meltdown of the basic structure of the body. Teeth fall out, internal bleeding occurs and it can cause a miserable death. In days gone by, ancient mariners feared the disease more than capsizing. But left out to sea long enough with only bread and salted meat they were almost sure to suffer it to one degree or another
Heart disease is a leading killer in modern society. Dental disease is epidemic. Both of these conditions can be initiated or fostered by vitamin C deficiency. There presence may in fact be the very marker that vitamin C deficiency is widespread. Coronary and cerebral vessels lose their integrity leading to heart attacks and strokes, and periodontitis (gum recession, bleeding and oral infection) leads to loss of teeth, foul breath and seeding of the body's organs with pathogens.
Vitamin C is not a silly nutrient to be ignored or played with. Don't assume that because you seem healthy at the moment that chronic degenerative disease is not incubating within. In fact, if you are eating exclusively processed modern fare, you can count on it.
Convert the diet to more fresh and raw foods (See authors The Thinking Person's Master Key to Health (CD), http://wysong.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WOTTPWS&
Product_Code=EDCD21&Cate
gory_Code=EDUAIDS&Product_Count=0. Note that there were no fresh foods in the test diet. And certainly taking daily vitamin C supplements (500-1000 mg per day) is prudent insurance given that normal dietary fare is clearly vitamin C deficient.
. (Am J Clin Nutr, 1997; 65(5):1434-40.)
Dr. Wysong is a former veterinary clinician and surgeon, college instructor in human anatomy, physiology and the origin of life, inventor of numerous medical, surgical, nutritional, athletic and fitness products and devices, research director for the present company by his name and founder of the philanthropic Wysong Institute. He is author of The Creation-Evolution Controversy now in its eleventh printing, a new two volume set on philosophy for living, several books on nutrition, prevention and health for people and animals and over 15 years of monthly health newsletters. He may be contacted at wysong@wysong.net and a free subscription to his e-Health Letter is available at wysong@wysong.net
tidy up service Northbrook ..Bye Bye HolidaysHoping everyone had a fun, fantastic, exciting and... Read More
We've heard it not only once or twice or even... Read More
Step 1: Eat five to ten servings per day of... Read More
I'd like to explain an important concept that most online... Read More
When you take your food next time, take care of... Read More
What is Cholesterol?Before we go into how to reduce your... Read More
All of my life I believed the best way to... Read More
The latest tallies show that over three million people in... Read More
Do you allow pleasure from food? Are your senses throughly... Read More
Headlines:Nearly a quarter of American adults just got diagnosed with... Read More
Your healthOrganically grown fruit and vegetables are not covered in... Read More
Fat is a nutrient that is a contributor to the... Read More
Did you know that much of our dry skin comes... Read More
ABC News has recently focused on the possible anti-aging benefits... Read More
Some of the things you think you know that just... Read More
They sit left behind on relish trays. They're often by-passed... Read More
Dieters who dejectedly complain they are figuratively "stuck" with their... Read More
Evidence for the importance of fruit and vegetable intake to... Read More
Understanding What a Low Cholesterol Diet isBasically, in order to... Read More
Carbohydrates have gotten a lot of bad press in the... Read More
There's no doubt--carbohydrates have taken center stage in public discourse... Read More
The story of creation begins with water. Water is an... Read More
Most recipes end with instructions to "serve immediately." You could... Read More
Understanding ocular nutrition and eye health can be one of... Read More
Although many realize that the liver has its own cleansing... Read More
reliable home cleaners Buffalo Grove ..Meal sizes and frequency are very important. Over the years... Read More
Today, more than ever, consumers over the age of 50... Read More
The reason I remember the first time I was served... Read More
If you have a business trip tomorrow morning, you've probably... Read More
The Omega Zone Diet and specialists' opinion"Omega RX Zone -... Read More
Do you need omega 3 fatty acid in your diet?... Read More
Oats (botanical name Avena sativa)An oat is a grass that... Read More
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in... Read More
Milk is highly underrated. Experts say, America finds itself in... Read More
Nuts of all kinds (I am talking peanuts, cashews etc)... Read More
Last year I had a number of clients who started... Read More
Fats (triacylglycerols) ...Some basic terminology ...fat or fatty acid ...In... Read More
Making simple changes to your food diet can help remedy... Read More
Can a child thrive on a vegan diet? The answer... Read More
Water is a vitally important component of any valuable and... Read More
Information on potassiumWhen you read about potassium and senate document... Read More
I am sure you have heard you have to build... Read More
Much controversy and argument surrounds the idea that food may... Read More
Eating right to suit your blood type" is a subject... Read More
Protein is one of the basic building blocks of the... Read More
Apart from eating many of the wonderful vegetables and fruits... Read More
Initially discovered as a new element in 1811 by Barnard... Read More
What is the Atkins diet and how can it help... Read More
Dr. Christine Wood, M.D, a practicing pediatrician in Encinitas, California,... Read More
I had finally come to a place in my life... Read More
Nutrition |