Can Supplements Replace Food?

(mark19). Submitted on Thu, 18 Aug 2011

There is probably no one who believes that swallowing pills will ever replace eating meals. But there is an overwhelming number of people who believe that eating meals is the only way to get any real nutrition. As they say it, "Supplements are a waste of money." This position is common among those in the medical community.



On the other hand, most people who are into fitness generally believe in supplements. The late Jack Lalanne when asked about these responded, "Are you kidding? I take forty to fifty of these a day from A to Z." Sylvester Stallone reportedly takes heavy does of B-complex and presumably a number of others. Clearly, there are a lot of people who follow suit, but how vocal can they be about it?

It is generally difficult to talk about supplements. That is because of the medical establishment's disbelief in their efficacy. When the topic is brought up, there is an uneasy silence, suggesting that no one wants to admit using them. One of the reasons is the belief that "doctor always knows best," meaning he or she would never encourage taking them--something difficult to understand as MDs almost never use, or ever have used, supplements in the past.

The MD aversion is not the only problem. Another is the fact that supplements are available without a prescription to virtually anyone. That means we are able to be our own care-givers, which is looked on with suspicion.  On the surface, this should be OK as we live in a pill culture with some new product becoming FDA-approved at least quarterly.Yet, there have been a few isolated examples of people being incapacitated by supplements, though these are extremely rare in relation to the tens of thousands of prescription drug examples resulting in side effects, permanent disfigurement and death.

Nevertheless, trusting supplements while fearing the MD's prescribed pills is thought of as being unreasonable, or phobic. This attitude is supposedly found only in "health nuts"-- supplement-takers, who try to stay away from needing any of the MDs' real pills for anything. This is one of their main reasons for taking supplements. Another is to restore the body's natural immunity and recuperative processes, In short, "health nuts"  take supplements to promote healthiness or as they would say, fitness. How can that not be respectable to the medical community?

The difficulty is that MDs do not think like this These professionals are all about correcting problems as opposed to preventing them from occurring in the first place. In essence, they preach, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Too, they are, for the most part, anti-fitness in general, This is largely because there are no conclusive studies proving that  fitness will actually increase life span, ward off disease or prevent microscopic cancer cells from blossoming  into ones which need to be eradicated.

For them this is most emphatic when it comes to supplements. This is why MDs generally say they are "a waste of money." To be sure, there is at least one very fine book written by the medical community's CNC Phyllis Balch (first edition with her MD husband some years ago), which sets out mega-dose cures for common problems from A to Z. It is a "must read" for anyone who is mildly open to supplementation for whatever reason. But Ms.Balch is an exception. to the rule. The medical community by in large does not believe in any of this. Only fitness enthusiasts do, and their success stories are all thought of as being "anecdotal."

Of course, even the most hard core "health nuts"  would never say that they could live on pills alone. Food is important for energy, muscle repair and recovery from daily workouts. In addition, like everyone else, they love to eat. But they would also say that far less food is needed when there is a daily supplement routine going along with a good diet. Supplements augment meals, fueling our bodies to ramp up for and recover from daily workouts. In other words, they enable us to get what we need without having to consume as much.This is important as studies are currently showing that life extension and the prevention of various diseases are positively impacted by reduced calorie consumption.

Supplements work. The most dramatic proof come when we stop taking them for a few days. This causes a change in the quality of our workouts. Unless we believe that this is "all in our heads" as the skeptics used to say, we should simply accept the fact that these are an important part of any fitness lifestyle. And they do chase away the common cold. Perhaps MDs should not do such good job of knocking supplements until they have done a better one of trying them.

For further thought on the use of supplements within a fitness lifestyle order my e-book "Think and Grow Fit."

 

About the Author

Obese 48 years ago; state champion power lifter 1978; in better shape today at 62 than when on swim team in high school

http://blog.foreverfitness.info (subscribe for weekly fitness updates)

Author of "Think and Grow Fit" the no hype guide to getting fit and staying that way forever

http://www.foreverfitness.info  (6.00 ebook or 15.95 softcover from publisher I_Universe, Amazon or Barnes and Noble)

YouTube - mcfitnessguru19

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