If your body doesn't get the nutrition it needs it goes on the defensive, this may sound weird, but true. Dieting and cutting calories drastically doesn't work. If you truly want to lose weight you have to give your body the nutrients it needs to survive. If you do not, it thinks it is "starving" and every ounce of fat you have will be retained "for the famine ahead."
What you eat is more important than how much you eat. On my journey to lose 85 lbs., I never once counted calories, checked for carb grams, or tallied points. It was a change of mindset that warranted my success. Now, I did not count calories, but DID read labels. I watched for chemicals that retain fat on the body - such as glutamates (MSG), saccharin, aspartame; and those that spiked insulin production thereby storing fat - sugars, simple carbs, high fructose corn syrup.
It was important to detox my liver with an alkaline based detox derived from sea algae - as a dysfunctioning liver does not properly digest and utilize food, and can be a blame for weight gain. (This is a topic in itself.)
Today, I want to share the importance of taking a QUALITY multi-vitamin. Now, I do have friends who don't believe in vitamins - they claim to get all they need from whole foods. Interestingly enough, all the doctors whose health publications I read are pro-vitamin people. Dr. Russel Blaylock and Dr. Mercola state that U.S. soils are so depleted of nutrients that the whole foods, the spinach, greens, vegetables and fruits we depend on for beneficial nutrients, do not have the same nutrition-packed power as produce of the early 1900s. Dr. Peter Matravers states one would need to consume 5500 calories per day to get all the needed nutrients. Now, I know I could personally not consume that much - I am not physical enough to eat 5500 calories without becoming obese. One of my friends that is all about whole foods - is a daily "power athlete", as I would describe her ...and she can burn all that.
I want to share a post by Dr. Mark Hyman, whose blog you may want to subscribe to. He states, "Overwhelming basic science and experimental data support the use of nutritional supplements for the prevention of disease and the support of optimal health." Supplementation SAVES you money when you spend less on co-pays to the doctors office, Rx, OTC drugs - and health alone is worth its weight in gold, which many of us never realize until it is gone.
He provoides great insight, AND links to studies to back up his article, on the importance of quality vitamins, check it out.
Note that he stresses QUALITY vitamins, as I have in past posts. ORAC value is important. Dr. Peter Matravers says, “it’s not how much you eat but how much you absorb”.
ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity and is an indicator of a substance's ability to absorb (stabilize) radical oxygen molecules in the body that are responsible for many different types of cellular damage.
The vitamins my husband and I use have an ORAC value of 10,000 - which makes them a potent anti-oxidant part of our nutritional plan.
Often I am asked how much my vitamin has of this or that. Let's take calcium as an example. My vitamin brand has 600 mg of calcium citrate.
When someone makes a comment that they need to take 800 mg of calcium a day I ask what the ORAC value is of the supplement they are currently using. If they do not know I ask them to inquire, and explain: For any supplement to be labeled standard process it has to have a minimum ORAC value of 4000. What this means, is that non standardized supplements available from over the counter department store brands have an ORAC value less than 4000. Which supplement would you absorb more calcium from? 600 mgs of calcium citrate at an ORAC value of 10,000, OR 800 mgs of calcium with an ORAC value of 2000, or 400, or even 150, which is not uncommon in inexpensive supplements.
Make sense? You truly get what you pay for, and often people are flushing their hard earned dollars with inexpensive brands. Since we have been taking our essential vitamins daily, we have become a healthy family. Because our family nutrition includes multi-vitamins, vegan Omega 3s and other individually geared supplements, our metabolism is healthier, which results in healthier poeple.
2011 has been a great year for us. Our garden did well, and we may expand it this coming year. We expect to feel even more great in 2012 as we continue to explore whole food nutrition, cook creatively without convenience of malnourishing processed foods, and shop more from local farmers. We are fortunate to have several within a few short miles from our home that sell direct. CSAs are becoming more abundant, be sure to look one up in your area!
Lastly, I am booking into January for "New Year, New You" classes. Are you already considering a 2012 weight loss resolution? Are you confused by calorie counting, carbs, point systems, and label reading? This is my passion and I would be happy to share how I successfully lost 85 lbs. by doing only one of those things...label reading. Contact me to book your class for January, or jump start yet this December by booking a class the evenings of December 27, 28 or 30th!
To your health,
Rita S.
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