Core Supplements Launch You Into Vibrant Health
Are you experiencing vibrant health?
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the mere absence of disease means you are experiencing vibrant health. Vibrant health means you wake up feeling refreshed and energetic, not tired or sluggish. It means you feel the urge to be active; to run, jump, play and laugh every day. It means you should feel happy and lively, not stressed and overwhelmed. You should be able to remember names and places and be free of brain fog.
Vibrant health is achievable. All you need is a healthy and balanced diet with the right supplements. When it comes to supplements, three apply to everyone — a quality multivitamin, vitamin D and fish oil.
Eating a healthy diet is the first step toward achieving vibrant health. It provides our bodies with essential vitamins and minerals and forms the backbone of a healthy lifestyle. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of Americans are deficient in some vitamin or mineral. The reason for this is clear: food simply isn’t as nutritious as it used to be.
The industrialized food system is partly to blame. For example, food is commonly grown in soils that have been depleted of essential nutrients after years of over-farming. Farmers rely on chemical fertilizers and herbicides, which further deplete the nutrient content of food. A quality multivitamin fills in any nutritional gaps.
Vitamin D is the only vitamin made in the skin from exposure to sunlight. Our ancestors spent a lot of time in the sun, producing upwards of 20,000 IU of vitamin D daily. As a result, our bodies developed based on this need for high levels of vitamin D. We have vitamin D receptors located in every tissue and cell, however, most Americans don’t get enough. Vitamin D deficiency has far-reaching health implications it supports everything from cardiovascular health to brain function, even healthy blood sugar levels.
A fish oil supplement provides the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA, which influence nearly every cell, tissue and organ in the body and play a major role in supporting a healthy inflammatory response. This supports heart, brain and joint health. Most of us don’t eat enough cold water, fatty fish (the main food source of EPA and DHA) to obtain optimal levels and a fish oil supplement is an easy way to get your daily dose of these vital nutrients.
Helena Linzy is the Nutritional Health Coach for Natural Grocers in Temple. One of Natural Grocers’ five founding principles is commitment to providing free nutrition education. All of its stores have full-time nutritional health coaches who provide free cooking demonstrations, nutrition classes and free health coaching sessions for the community.
