The basic question many people face when choosing a supplement is whether or not to choose a whole food product over one that is comprised of purely isolated or synthetic nutrients. Is it worth paying the extra for a bottle of tablets that contain concentrated whole food rather than simply chemical isolated vitamins and minerals?
The underlying premise of alternative health practitioners and the health food industry is that only by treating the whole person can we support optimal health - hence the term Holistic Health. Those of us who are looking to live a natural and healthy life have recognized that there is an interweaving of elements within life, within nature and within the human body that is indescribably complex. All of these elements need to be functioning harmoniously together in order for the whole to operate smoothly.
When we isolate nutrients from whole food we are immediately taking a step away from life - away from the whole. We are saying for example, that ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is important but the hundreds of other amazing compounds that are naturally found within a Vitamin C rich food, such as an orange, have no significance. This is truly absurd! On Dr Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database you can easily look up the phytochemicals found in an orange. On this wonderful web site you will discover for yourself that there are almost 300 micronutrients in an orange that have been identified to date. In addition, if you look at the activities of these phytochemical compounds, you will see that many of them have extreme health supportive benefits.
Just for a moment consider the possibility that these 300 different compounds work together in some way - just like the different organs of the body work together. Then compare the complexity that this represents to the single fraction which is isolated ascorbic acid. I don't know about you but I have to conclude that if you take out the Vitamin C and discard the orange you have pretty much just kept the bath water and thrown the baby out! When I follow this simple line of reasoning I have to conclude that taking a supplement that delivers nutrients in a concentrated whole food is an exponentially better choice and is certainly worth a fraction more.
Amritakripa Watts is a nutritional consultant for MegaFood whole food supplement company. Her blogs on alternative health can be read at http://www.megafood.com/ She is a spiritual practitioner who uses life's experiences for the purpose of self transformation. Her interests include vedic astrology, yoga, dance and music - she is a recording artist who has produced two devotional music CD's, both of which can be found on http://www.cdbaby.com/ She has also recorded with her husband's band Tribe After Tribe. Amritakripa's spiritual path has taken her to India on a number of occasions where she has spent time with renowned teacher and humanitarian, Mata Amritanandamayi.
By Amritakripa Watts
The underlying premise of alternative health practitioners and the health food industry is that only by treating the whole person can we support optimal health - hence the term Holistic Health. Those of us who are looking to live a natural and healthy life have recognized that there is an interweaving of elements within life, within nature and within the human body that is indescribably complex. All of these elements need to be functioning harmoniously together in order for the whole to operate smoothly.
When we isolate nutrients from whole food we are immediately taking a step away from life - away from the whole. We are saying for example, that ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is important but the hundreds of other amazing compounds that are naturally found within a Vitamin C rich food, such as an orange, have no significance. This is truly absurd! On Dr Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database you can easily look up the phytochemicals found in an orange. On this wonderful web site you will discover for yourself that there are almost 300 micronutrients in an orange that have been identified to date. In addition, if you look at the activities of these phytochemical compounds, you will see that many of them have extreme health supportive benefits.
Just for a moment consider the possibility that these 300 different compounds work together in some way - just like the different organs of the body work together. Then compare the complexity that this represents to the single fraction which is isolated ascorbic acid. I don't know about you but I have to conclude that if you take out the Vitamin C and discard the orange you have pretty much just kept the bath water and thrown the baby out! When I follow this simple line of reasoning I have to conclude that taking a supplement that delivers nutrients in a concentrated whole food is an exponentially better choice and is certainly worth a fraction more.
Amritakripa Watts is a nutritional consultant for MegaFood whole food supplement company. Her blogs on alternative health can be read at http://www.megafood.com/ She is a spiritual practitioner who uses life's experiences for the purpose of self transformation. Her interests include vedic astrology, yoga, dance and music - she is a recording artist who has produced two devotional music CD's, both of which can be found on http://www.cdbaby.com/ She has also recorded with her husband's band Tribe After Tribe. Amritakripa's spiritual path has taken her to India on a number of occasions where she has spent time with renowned teacher and humanitarian, Mata Amritanandamayi.
By Amritakripa Watts
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