We hear it all the time: “Dr. Daniel, I'm eating all the foods you told me to eat — lots of fruits and vegetables, nothing with trans fats or too much sugar and lean/clean meats. Now you're recommending supplements, too? Taking supplements doesn't seem natural. Isn't there enough vitamins and minerals in my food?”

While this is a perfectly valid question, and one that many people end up never really answering, the truth is; If you want to fight disease and achieve a maximum life span, you can't do it with diet alone. You need the extra nutritional boost that only supplements can provide in today's nutritionally depleted environment.

Millions of people take supplements. Unfortunately, millions of people are taking the wrong supplements or supplements that are really just junk.

Supplements are to humans like fertilizer is to plants. Give a plant enough sunlight and water, and it will survive. Add some nutrient-rich fertilizer (organic, of course), and the plant will thrive.

This same principle applies to human health. A well balanced diet supplies the body with sufficient nutrients to carry out routine tasks. Supplements such as vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, phytochemicals, and more enrich the body's internal environment to fortify cellular protection, repair, and regeneration and support the Renewal process.

Causes of Nutritional Deficiencies

• Diet is not the sole force behind the national plague of nutrient deficiencies. But other factors include the following:
• Alcohol consumption (depletes B vitamins, vitamin C, most minerals, and antioxidants)
• Allergies and infections (deplete vitamins A and C and zinc, among other nutrients)
• Exposure to air pollutants and other toxins (depletes antioxidants)
• Smoking (depletes antioxidants)
• Stress (depletes all nutrients, especially B vitamins and vitamin C)

Some of us simply require more nutrients than others. Children and older adults tend to need a bit extra, as do pregnant women. Others with increased nutritional demands include those who diet and those who exercise strenuously.

Then, some foods that we think are healthy have actually been stripped of their nutrients before they even get to our plates. Even the soil that these and other plant-derived foods grow in is often nutrient-depleted.

Either way you look at it – Premium supplementation is a part of a healthy lifestyle!