Health Food Supplements – Consumer Guide
Health food supplements are one of the hottest selling products in the market these days. Their total consumption values billions of dollars in the U.S. alone. Recent surveys show that more than half of the adults in the U.S. consume health food supplements in different forms, such as tablets, capsules, powders, soft gels, gel caps and liquids.
The increased consumption of health food supplements can be attributed to public awareness of health issues and improved standard of living in our society. Many studies have shown that there is a close correlation between health and nutrition. Insufficient supply of nutrients can weaken our body defense mechanism, causing medical problems from common ailments to more severe illnesses in the long term.
There are different types of health food supplements, including macronutrients (amino acids, proteins, essential fatty acids), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), enzymes (digestive enzymes and antioxidant enzymes), probiotics (beneficial bacteria in the gut), and herbal supplements. These supplements have unique functions in our body. They are either essential for life and good health, modulate our immune system or help with liver detoxification, digestion, mental clarity, etc.
Many people argue that there is no need to consume health food supplements as long as you have a healthy lifestyle and eat a balanced diet. While this may be true, the fact is maintaining a healthy lifestyle and proper diet is difficult to achieve by many people.
Over the past few decades, the green revolution has changed the farming practices over the world. We use more chemical fertilizers, more pesticides to grow the food produce in order to increase harvest and shorten the growth period. As a result, soil nutrients and the population of beneficial soil bacteria are depleted rapidly, and the produce we grow today contain less micronutrient than before.
A stressful lifestyle, improper eating habits, imbalanced diet and increased exposure to chemicals such as environmental pollutants (air, water) and pesticides, drugs, hormones, heavy metals in foods also weaken our body gradually.
Although health food supplements can be beneficial to our health, consumers should still choose the products carefully. Currently, there is little regulation on the quality of health food supplements. Composition of some health food products may not match the label claims and the quality of raw materials and finished products is not guaranteed. Therefore, consumers should only buy from reputable health food manufacturers, read the labels carefully and read more related literatures.
Here are some general rules for buying health food supplements:
1) Supplements made from whole foods, natural sources are better than the synthetic ones. They are more bioactive, can be absorbed readily, and less likely to be contaminated by chemicals such as coal tars used in chemical synthesis.
2) Protein-bonded vitamins and minerals (vitamins and minerals in organic form, binding to amino acids) are more bioactive than the inorganic forms.
3) Buy supplements using safe extraction methods, such as cold pressed extraction or supercritical extraction. This can avoid the harmful residue from chemical extraction.
4) Herbal concentrate and extract are usually more effective than the raw herbs.
5) Organically grown or wild crafted herbs are less likely to be contaminated by heavy metals, pesticides and other chemicals.
6) Read the labels, do not consume more than the recommended dose.
7) Be careful when consuming certain herbal supplements, such as Ma Huang / ephedra, Kava Kava, comfrey, etc. Some studies have shown that these herbs may cause severe side effects to some people. Stop use if unusual signs appear after consumption.
Some health food supplements may interact with drugs, either by decreasing or increasing their effects. Consult your doctor if you are currently taking medications.
9) Pregnant and nursing women, people with specific medical conditions such consult the doctors when consuming health food supplements.
10) If in doubt, contact the supplement manufacturers or distributors for more information of their products.
11) Health food supplements are available in many places, such as grocery stores, health food stores, drug stores, pharmacies, supermarkets, department stores, online stores, etc. Be a smart consumer, compare the price and service before purchase.
Health Food and Health Drinks: Change Is Scary – How to Gradually Improve Your Lifestyle
Selecting health food and health drinks, exercising, and stopping bad habits are all things we know we should do, but we put them off like a to-do list we don’t want to deal with. If it were simple to change bad behaviors quickly, people would do it all the time. Health food would be more popular than fast-food, and everyone would have a gym membership that they actually use. One of the biggest obstacles to making the wisest choices is the thought that we have to make only the wisest choices, all the time. It’s too overwhelming to think about, so we hold on to the bad habits, steering away from health food and promising to start exercising, “soon.”
What if we take a different approach to lifestyle changes? What if we only alter one thing at a time, making it a comfortable part of the daily routine prior to moving on to the next element? Making a small alteration in one’s daily activity doesn’t seem nearly as difficult as trying to undo every bad habit all at once.
Make it Easy With Health Drinks and Healthy Snacks
A sure way to lower sugar and carbohydrate intake is to change your beverages. Instead of replacing meals with vitamin “shakes”, try just switching out a daily soda for anti-oxidant rich green tea. Don’t get led into buying “vitamin enhanced” waters, though, as they often include high levels of sweeteners and artificial ingredients. Instead, look for natural health drinks that include nutrients like complex carbohydrates, chlorophyll, and live enzymes from whole food ingredients.
Snacking is a challenge for many when it comes to dealing with weight and health issues. While it may seem obvious to cut out snacking entirely, another option is to replace those snacks with “health food”. You still get the satisfaction of snacking on something flavorful, while putting less junk and more beneficial nutrients into your body. As time goes on, you can gradually replace all of your snacks and drinks with healthier options. Again, it’s not about changing everything at once but rather making a few small, realistic changes that have a cumulative effect.
Add Health Food to Existing Meals
Another easy change that can make a big difference is to replace one side dish with a health food option. If you would normally serve up some frozen potatoes with your evening meal, for example, start by replacing it with some steamed vegetables. Over time, you may find that you’re ready to completely replace an entire meal a week with something far healthier. Try steaming instead of frying or microwaving, veggies instead of frozen side dishes, and alkaline foods instead of acidic ones. Enhance the experience further by serving your health food with anti-oxidant rich health drinks. You may find that you actually start looking forward to this healthy meal and will want to create healthier options more than once a week.
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