In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrition we need from food alone. Unfortunately, myriad aspects of modern life dramatically increase our need for micronutrients including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fatty acids, and for most, diet alone simply doesn’t cut it. Factors that make taking a daily multi an essential part of optimum health include:
Declining food quality – sadly, today’s food supply is nowhere near as nutrient-dense as it was as little as 40 years ago. Modern agricultural practices emphasize quantity over quality, and deplete the soil in which fruits and vegetables grow of vital nutrients.
Keeping our “tanks” full – Most micro-nutrients have hundreds of roles in the body. When you have optimal amounts of a vitamin or mineral, the body will have enough for all its functions, maximizing health throughout the lifespan. If you are only getting the bare minimum, however, the body will devote a nutrient to short-term survival needs first—this may come at the expense of long-term health and vitality.
Transit time, food storage, and food preparation – We live in a world of grocery stores and canned and frozen foods—this means much of our food supply has traveled great distances and/or sat on shelves for long periods of time. Along with cooking methods that deplete food of nutrients, these modern conveniences can mean significant reductions in nutrient content by the time the food makes it to our plate.
Combatting the onslaught of modern life – Chronic stress, sub-optimal digestive function, sleep deprivation, jobs that keep us sitting all day long and keep us indoors, prolonged exposure to all the “screens” we use on a daily basis (e.g., smartphones, computers, televisions, etc.), and prescription medications are a short list of things that deplete our nutrient supplies and dramatically increase our nutritional needs. These things impact not only your bodily supply, but your ability to absorb nutrients from food—a multivitamin can help provide nutrients in forms that are ideal for absorption.
Bottom line – we need a diverse array of micro-nutrients on an ongoing basis if we want to have vibrant health throughout our lives. Taking a high-potency multivitamin made from high-quality ingredients helps maximize health by filling in the nutritional gaps in our diet, providing sufficient quantities of the full spectrum of essential nutrients, and providing them in the most bio-available forms possible.
If you aren’t sure where to go to get your high quality multi-vitamin, click here to visit our supplement store.