Certain nutrients have to be a part of our regimen or we’re going to breakdown. However, nothing in nutrition is simple. The more I learn, the more difficult it becomes to try and remain healthy. Many people today think they are doing everything they can because they take a chewable Flintstone all purpose vitamin. Sorry, you probably are not going to get the same benefits as someone that takes a whole lot of crazy stuff like me, hoping that I may be receiving some benefits. Who knows, but I certainly don’t buy anything on Amazon because I could be buying rat poison? It’s kind of the wild west on that site when it comes to counterfeit items.
What makes things more difficult is something such as micronutrient competition. Maybe we could call this subject Anti nutrients. Spinach equals good. Not so fast. Even if it is organic spinach free of poisonous pesticides it contains Oxalic acid. It binds to Calcium, it doesn’t let Calcium get absorbed. Raw spinach is higher in Oxalic acid than cooked. Cooked vegetables are safer. Something to think about while you’re eating your spinach salad. Of course you could supplement with extra Calcium. What kind of Calcium? Most Calcium supplements are chalk. Do you eat chalk? We were told not to in elementary school. But yes you do eat chalk if you buy the typical Calcium supplement which is really an antacid. What does that do? No acid in your gut means you don’t digest your proteins, which make organic acids that give you heartburn. More importantly, undigested proteins are large molecules that don’t belong passing through your intestinal wall into your blood stream where they go on to create autoimmune disease, and a lot of painful conditions. All this because you wanted to get healthy. Not as easy as it looks on T.V., is it?
I’m told we should now avoid foods with high tannin levels. Fittic acid. I don’t even know what foods contain that stuff, but plants are full of these anti-nutrients. Plants don’t want to be eaten anymore than animals do. They have natural defenses against being eaten. These chemicals blow up the guts of insects. In humans, they slowly destroy our gut and can create leaky gut syndrome.
We do not live like our ancestors. The stress of our daily life leeches out our micronutrients. Supplementation is imperative. There is nothing wrong with any of the modern diets. Everyone of these diets have actual benefits. It comes down to what you want to do and what makes you feel good. The universal truth is that you need to be sufficient in the required micro nutrients. So if you want to be vegan and not get sick, make sure you are getting all your micronutrients that are not found in that kind of diet. Same thing for all the other diets. This is called the nutravore concept.
One last example of how difficult this can be. I take Leutine for my eyes. Carrots are also good for your eyes. Leutine and Beta Carotene are known to be competitors. So now I alternate the days that I take them. You hear a lot about omega 3’s. EPA and DHA in fish oil. They share a similar molecular structure so they compete for receptor cites. Take EPA in the morning and DHA in the evening. Remove the competition.
If all of my advice over the years didn’t make you hate me before, I certainly don’t blame you now. I wrote that because I don’t think anyone actually reads this stuff anyway?
