Man's Health Greatest Threat - Nutritional Deficiency and Excess
Author: Olowole Jetro
In the last decade, there has been a lot of debate on what poses the greatest health threat to man. Statistics have favoured many deadly diseases and epidemics. However, little has been mentioned about nutritional deficiency and excess as the greatest threat to man's health. Many people think that nutritional deficiencies are only found in the third world countries where children are starving. The reality is that we are an overfed and undernourished society. In this article, we will focus on the problems, the cause and possible solution to nutritional deficiency and excess.
Why Nutritional Deficiency and Excess Is Man's Greatest Health Threat The nutrient deficiencies created by our "modern" diet cause the body to be more prone to: Viruses diseases, infections, obesity, allergies, headaches, stress, stroke, fatigue, ulcers, bowel/ colon problems, tumors/ cancer, weak immune system, heart/ BP problems, kidney problems, growth & circulation problem. Today's "modern" diet does not provide enough of the nutrients we need. Only 9%
of the population consumes the recommended five servings of fruits & vegetables daily. World health Report stated that our modern diet is too high in fat, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat and does not provide enough vitamins, minerals or fiber to meet our nutritional needs.
Depleted soils, pesticides and refining processes lower nutrient content in food. Processing, transporting and storing foods reduces nutrient content even further.
With today's polluted environment and high-stress lifestyles, there are more reasons than ever for giving attention to nutrition. Inadequate chemical disposal and environmental waste
increase health stress. Chemically treated food can lead to disease and premature aging. Increase electromagnetic fields (e.g. microwaves, cellular phones, computers, etc.) can weaken the immune system. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that there are
3,000 different carcinogenic chemicals found in our food. These chemicals enter your body and begin to attack the tissues.
During last 8 years we have heard a lot about free radicals and antioxidants and for this there is a good reason. Our bodies do not make enough antioxidants to combat the damaging
effects of today's world. If we do not neutralized the free radicals in our systems, they will run randomly in our bodies. Free radicals can damage our bodies at the cellular level. This damage at the cellular level caused by free radicals could lead to acceleration of the aging process. In its turn aging process could be caused in heard diseases, osteoporosis or cancer. Diets along cannot supply the needed quantity of antioxidants to fight with this process.
In 1987, WHO estimated that vitamin A deficiency was endemic in 39 countries based on the ocular manifestations of xerophthalmia or deficient serum (plasma) retinol concentrations (<0.35 µmol/l). In 1995, WHO updated these estimates and reported that vitamin A deficiency was of public health significance in 60 countries, and was likely to be a problem in an additional 13 countries. The current estimates reflect the time period between 1995 and 2005, and indicate that 45 and 122 countries have vitamin A deficiency of public health significance based on the prevalence of night blindness and biochemical vitamin A deficiency (serum retinol concentration <0.70 µmol/l), respectively, in preschool-age children. Possible solution insight!
As part of implementing the outcomes and recommendations of the WHO Nutrition Programme Review undertaken in 2008, the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD) is establishing the WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG) guided by the WHO Steering Committee for Nutrition Guidelines Development including representatives from all Departments in WHO with an interest in the provision of recommendations in nutrition. The outcome of these projects is schedule for the latter part of 2010.
Pending the outcome of the WHO recommendation, there is but an effective solution to nutritional deficiency and excess. The most commonly asked nutrition question is "Do I really need to use a supplement?" The answer is conclusively YES. Below are some six reasons why you should consider using nutritional supplement from today.
1. Less riskful: The health risk of supplements is absolutely minimal when compared to the
risks of prescription drugs. In the last 50 years, there has been one recorded death 9 a massive overdose due to nutritional supplements. In contrast, approximately 125,000 people die every year from prescription drugs. Prescription drugs, are of course, often necessary to help prevent those same diseases from attacking.
2. Supplementation Helps to Correct Nutrient Deficiencies by overcoming the negative effects
of poor eating habit.
3. Supplementation Helps to Replenish What's Missing in Food Supplementation with high quality plant enzymes, whole food vitamins and chelated minerals can help to replace the vital nutrients your body needs.
4. Supplementation Helps to Combat Environmental Stress Supplementing with antioxidants gives your body the ammunition it needs to fight back against free radicals, repair damaged cells and tissues, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, increase immune function and decrease infection.
5. Supplementation Can Help Meet the Higher Nutritional Needs of Today's Lifestyle. Supplementation can help to overcome nutrients depletion from lifestyles stress. The rigors of stress compromise bodily function and can deplete vital nutrients. Stress creates a higher demand for specific vitamins and minerals. Unless these nutrients are replenished, host of stress related symptoms and diseases can arise. The use of oral contraceptives, heavy exercise, alcohol consumption, certain drugs, pregnancy and lactation, and other activities in today's busy lifestyles increase the level of stress.
6. Supplementation Helps to Decrease Risk of Disease and Reduce Health Costs. Coronary Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in the USA. Strokes (sudden blood clots in arteries), Hypertension, Cancer causes, Diabetes, Osteoporosis (symptoms of broken bones cause by weak and brittle bones), Obesity - is a significant factor of cardiovascular disease and associated with higher mortality rate. Economist estimates that by increasing our intake of vitamins and minerals, we would reduce health cost by 25% for cardiovascular disease, 16-30% for a variety of cancers and 50% for cataracts. The simplest and most effective way to increase nutrient intake and reduce health care cost is through supplementation. This fact is strongly supported by scientific research studies.
Not all nutritional supplements woks equally - some of them work at cell level and some of
them work at other levels. You have to make sure that your nutritional supplements are working at cell level. For nutritional supplements it is necessary to contain minerals, vitamins and antioxidants to supplement daily diet. Combining proper diet with the nutritional supplements and regular exercises will provide you with the basics to generating energy for your bodies. Taking some nutritional supplements and exercises will give you more energy. As well nutritional supplements could slow the aging process on your body.
Diets alone cannot supply the needed quantity of antioxidants to fight with this process. It is one of the main reasons why your nutritional supplements have to contain antioxidants. And I would also say that nowadays people have quite wide possibilities to find different information on a great deal of products and services and to choose what they want for the best price on the market. And all this is due to development of Internet technologies. Strange, but most of the people don't use this opportunity. In real life it means that you should use all the tools of today to get the information that you need.
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