Optimum health is a lofty goal indeed, but it can be easier than most people think. The biggest challenges standing in our way to achieving good health are stress, lack of sleep and the biggest of all, diet. Unfortunately, these three things really sum up the average American lifestyle, and it’s one that is hard to break. The good news is through supplementation, we can promote optimum health without completely changing how we live…though eliminating some of our unhealthy habits is always best.
This guide covers seven key dietary supplements that we here at Swanson Vitamins have discovered over the last forty years can be beneficial to nearly every BODY, regardless of age, gender or current health.
1) Multivitamin and mineral complexr
A firm foundation for good health depends on vitamins and minerals, which we can get from our diet or from dietary supplements. However, the typical American diet is devoid of many vital nutrients. In their place are fried foods, processed snacks and diet soda. Food is vastly different today than it was 100 or even 50 years ago. The soil in which much of our food is grown is depleted of minerals, and the feed given to livestock raised on factory farms is a far cry from the nutrient-rich grass and grains they consumed in the past. Even fruits, vegetables, and legumes are assaulted with chemical pesticides and herbicides, and this raw food is further stripped of its nutrient content by high heat and other production methods used during the manufacturing process.
Bottom Line: Unless you’re in the tiny minority that actually maintains a healthy diet rich in natural foods, fruits and vegetables, your body is likely craving the essential nutrients you’ll get with a high quality multivitamin. Now the big question is which one to choose.
Check out this guide for help choosing.
2) Calcium & Magnesiumr
These two essentials should probably be included in your multivitamin, but the recommended daily intake (RDI) for these two is too high to be fully covered by a one-a-day multi formula. So, we recommend finding a supplement that provides closer to the 1000 mg of calcium and 400 mg of magnesium your body needs. Why? Calcium and Magnesium contribute to your health in many ways. From supporting calm moods, strong bones and healthy teeth, there isn’t one part of your body that doesn’t require calcium and magnesium. They even play a role in deep, uninterrupted sleep.
The Bottom Line: Calcium and Magnesium support optimum health throughout your entire body, so why not make sure you’re getting enough with the help of a good supplement.
Click here to see all of our Calcium & Magnesium supplements.
3) Fiber
I bet you didn’t expect this one. Fiber is overlooked and underrated by many of us, but that’s a mistake. The colon is the spot where food collects as waste material after nutrients have been extracted and sent to the bloodstream. Fiber is one of the best “housekeeping nutrients” there is for cleaning up the colon. It’s been estimated that when we regularly keep the colon clean, we’re 90% of the way to good health. As if that contribution weren’t enough, fiber also helps support already healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Bottom Line: The National Academy of Sciences recommends 25 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams per day for men. Unless you eat lots and lots of fruits and vegetables plus plenty of beans and whole grains, it’s hard to get that much fiber from food because the refinement process often removes it. One caution with fiber supplements, do NOT take them with other supplements or medications, as fiber can lessen their strength and effectiveness.
Click here to see all of our fiber supplements.
4) Omega-3 Essential Fatty-Acidsr
Not all fat is created equal, just like healthy cholesterol versus unhealthy cholesterol, and by now everybody should know that. Some fat is essential to proper body functions. Omega-3 essential fatty-acids (EFAs), the healthy fat we all need, are found in cold water fish, flaxseeds and walnuts, among other sources. What Omega-3s accomplish in terms of your health truly is priceless. When you visit
http://www.supplementinfo.org, which is the official website of the Dietary Supplement Information Bureau (DSIB), and “Browse Dietary Supplements,” you will find that only vitamins C and E address a greater number of health conditions tha
Omega-3 Fatty Acids.
Bottom Line: Perhaps the most important health contributions of Omega-3 EFAs relate to cognitive function, mood stability, and cardiovascular health.
Click here to check out a variety of EFA supplements.
5) Chlorellar
You may have never heard of chlorella, and if you have, you probably didn’t pay it much attention. Chlorella, which is also known as blue-green algae, is a microscopic plant that grows in fresh water, and it is classed as a food. In fact, Chlorella might be the most nutritionally dense food there is, and many health experts believe that it contains every nutrient required by the human body, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, nucleic acids, chlorophyll and a full spectrum of phytochemicals.
Bottom Line: Most of us aren’t choosing particularly healthy foods, so chlorella is a great way to pump up the nutritional volume of our meals. Chlorella offers super strong support to the immune system, it provides sustained energy that you really notice, and it helps cleanse the body of all kinds of toxins.
Check out chlorella supplements now.
6) Probiotics
It’s true. We are what we eat. Many health experts believe that all health issues are related in some way to digestion. Inside our digestive system, or GI tract, there are billions of bacteria. Like fat and cholesterol, some of the bacteria are helpful, while others are not. The key is maintaining a healthy balance, and probiotic supplements (the “friendly” bacteria) can help.
Bottom Line: Make friends with “friendly” probiotics to help keep your intestinal tract strong for optimal assimilation of food and promote colon health. Probiotics also assist your body’s enzymes like protease, amylase and lipase to break down food, insuring greater levels of digestion and absorption.
Probiotics help keep the digestive system running smoothly .
7) CoQ10
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a natural, fat-soluble nutrient present in all cells, and it has emerged over the last ten years as a leading supplement for cardiovascular health. Heart health remains the #1 medical conce
for both men and women, and when it comes to keeping your heart healthy and maintaining normal blood pressure levels, many doctors educated about dietary supplements believe CoQ10 is one of the most important nutrients for overall health. Since CoQ10 is required for energy production within all cells, it isn’t surprising that it has an effect on all systems within the body. The more researchers study it, the more they discover just how crucial it is to neurological health, to the immune system, to blood sugar health, and even to dental health.
Bottom Line: CoQ10 has so much to offer your body, and because it peaks in our twenties, most of us can benefit from CoQ10 supplements. And the older we get, the more we notice the good effects of CoQ10 supplementation.
Click here to see the wide variety of CoQ10 supplements available today.
Good Health Is a Blessingr
Please remember that this guide is only a suggestion. When it comes to your health, you have to take every precaution to protect it. Therefore, we at Swanson Health Products always recommend that you consult with your primary healthcare provider or doctor before beginning any new dietary supplement regimen. If you have more questions, please visit the Swanson Blog to find some answers or post a question.
Cheers to Good Health!