 |
 |
> >Like, Ok, I agree, we should all just stop eating, and just take > >pills instead, eh? Every expert I hear from says that the > >nutrients in the food are better then the nutrients in the > >pills. I forever read in Australian magazines and newspapers that there is no need to take vitamin/mineral supplements here, as our food is so good, and a properly balanced diet will supply all you need. Oh yeah? > > This is the problem, these highly processed foods are not nutritious, > neither are the fruits and vegetables, unless they are vine ripened, and > cooked lightly. ...Check your labels, > you will see where many foods have vitamins added, yes! vitamin pills. An example is bread made with bleached (yup, the stuff that makes your clothes whiter than white) flour. Bleached flour lasts longer in storage and is less prone to pests than is unbleached flour. Only thing is, bleaching destroys just about everything except the starch content, so essential vitamins have to be re-introduced before baking. (BTW, my CG only buys bread with unbleached flour.) > The main problem with taking the pills is the chance of > >getting too much of a good thing, that is, it is just too easy to > >overdose. Especially with the fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin E, which, if excess to requirements, are stored in body tissues, and can cause illness and even death. The water soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, are not stored, and so need to be restored every day. If the natural product is not readily available in food, supplements must be taken. Vitamin C is easily destroyed by heat, and is leached from vegetables and fruits by cooking water. This usually means that sometimes the cooking water is better for you than the vegetable. (Only joking.) What are the chances of, say, a single parent, working to support one or more children and maintain some sort of a home, low wage, etc., getting "all the vitamins they need from natural foods." And just what is a natural food now, anyway. Even apples are frequently coated in wax. So many if not most of us in the modern, global-economic, market-driven, fast-food world of today need some help from pills, etc. On the subject of mega-vitamin therapy, however, I will bite my tongue. Jim