Supplements

Do You Need Nutritional Supplements?        

In a perfect world, no one would need supplements. But given the poor quality of our food supply, and the high load of toxins, most of us fall short of essential nutrients and enzymes for the biochemistry to run our bodies.

Most people think if you ate “enriched food” that has a few vitamins added back in, vitamin supplementation is a waste of time.

What you don’t realize is the real reason our food supply must be “enriched” is that it is has been so processed that it is “impoverished” to start with.

Today, even with our “enriched food,” over 92 percent of Americans are deficient in one or more vitamins. That means they receive less than the MINIMUM amount necessary to prevent deficiency diseases.

The foods you eat no longer contain the nutrient levels you require for optimal health for many reasons. Crops are raised in the soil where nutrients have been depleted. Plants are treated with pesticides and other chemicals so they no longer have to fight to live, which further diminishes their nutrient levels and their phytonutrient content.  Animals are cooped up in pens or giant feedlots instead of roaming free eating the nutrient-rich wild grains and grasses they once consumed.

To complicate this further all of us are exposed to hazardous toxins and chemicals that poison our bodies, we live with too much stress, we don’t sleep enough, we don’t exercise enough, and we are inflamed making the nutritional demands on our bodies even heavier.

What’s really aging skin? Is it possible there’s one root cause responsible for skin aging, diseases, and other challenges? Much of the available research says yes—pointing to inflammation as the common denominator.

So it makes sense that the health of your gut is fundamental to having glowing, clear skin!

Our skin and hair are usually the first places in which we notice changes. This is because when nutrients are in short supply, the body drives nutrients towards essential organs like the heart, brain, and liver.

Frequently researched antioxidants such as carotenoids, tocopherols, and flavonoids, as well as vitamins (A, C, D, and E), essential omega-3-fatty acids, some proteins, and lactobacilli have been referred to as agents capable of promoting skin health and beauty.

Beautiful Skin Nutrients

1. Zinc: This essential trace mineral is important for healing skin from acne, so it also makes sense that even non-sufferers should eat plenty of zinc to maintain youthful skin.

Zinc controls oil production in our skin, and certain hormones responsible for producing acne. It’s also needed to strengthen our immune system, which helps to fight off the bacteria that can cause spots and infections.

Did you know that zinc is needed for our taste buds to work properly too? Maintaining healthy and normal taste, vision and smell are another responsibility for this magical micro mineral!  The food sources of zinc I love are pumpkin seeds, ginger, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, and oats.

2. Selenium: This is another essential trace mineral, needed for maintaining the elasticity and suppleness of our skin.

It’s important as an antioxidant, protecting our cells from damage by toxic free radicals and it can also help to prevent skin cancer by protecting our skin from damage caused by too much exposure to UV light.

The very best source of selenium is raw Brazil nuts, with just two a day providing sufficient amounts. I love to chop them into my salads and porridge. Other good sources include garlic and brown rice.

3. Silica: This a trace mineral important for strengthening our body’s connective tissues. These include muscles, tendons, hair, ligaments, nails, bone, and cartilage, making it essential for healthy skin too.

If deficient in silica, our body will also struggle to heal wounds and skin will be less smooth and supple. Silica is so effective in keeping our connective tissues healthy due to its help in creating glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which are an integral part of structural tissue.

You may have heard of hyaluronic acid, and you may even own a face cream containing this well-known GAG! This is because it has been proven to support the regeneration of skin cells and to increase the levels of skin-hydrating retinoic acid.

A diet containing plenty of silica can therefore be really effective for halting the signs of aging skin. My favorite food sources of silica include leeks, strawberries, mango, celery, asparagus, cucumber, and green beans

4.Omega-3 Fats: As essential fats, we don’t produce them in our body, so they must come from our diet every day. I have worked with so many clients, whose dry, inflamed, or spotty skin was hugely improved by increasing their intake of omega-3 fats and decreasing their consumption of vegetable oils and animal fats.Omega-3 fats are needed for the repair of our skin, to maintain healthy moisture content, for general flexibility and they’re important for the structure of each and every cell wall in our body to keep them fluid and supple. The typical Western diet tends to be rich in omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, from eating grains, baked snacks, meat, and vegetable oils regularly, but low in omega-3 fats. This can really affect the health of our skin, but simply balancing out our intake of omega-3 fats to omega-6 fats can dramatically improve our skin’s health and result in smoother and younger-looking skin.

These products are not intended to diagnose,treat or cure any disease. If you are under medical supervision for any allergy, disease, taking prescription medications, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, contact your medical provider before adding any new supplements to your daily regimen.