Why Is it Important to Take Vitamins?

According to Nutrition Business Journal, in 2008, the U.S. dietary supplement industry reached gross sales of $23.7 billion. You may wonder why people are spending so much money on nutritional supplements--and if supplements are necessary in order to maintain good health. Many experts agree that they are necessary. Nutritional deficiencies depress immune function, making the body vulnerable to illness and disease. It is a fact that modern foods lack nutrients. There are several reasons why this is the case.

Modern Farming

• A 1992 Earth Summit report estimated that 85 percent of the nutrients were removed from North American crop soils during the 20th century. The corporations that run America's food supply share one common goal: to increase their profits. Their practices, such as using genetically-modified seeds and plants and using pesticides and fertilizers, have de-mineralized our soils and lowered the nutrient content of the crops. As a result, nutritional supplements are a logical means of obtaining the essential nutrients lacking in the food supply.

Processed Foods

• According to nutrition expert Joel Wallach, there are 91 nutrients which are essential to human health--60 minerals, 16 vitamins, 12 amino acids and three essential fatty acids. Common food-processing methods significantly reduce the nutrient value. An example is the refining of whole wheat to make white flour, which removes 95 percent of the fiber, 84 percent iron, 82 percent manganese, 80 percent vitamin B3, 81 percent vitamin B2, and 95 percent vitamin E.

  To make it seem as though the nutrients have been replaced, food manufacturers use labels such as "enriched" (which indicates that after wheat has been stripped of nutrients, synthetic nutrients were added as replacements.) The problem with this is that the human body was not built for synthetic nutrients. The molecules may be similar to the real thing, but the nutritional value and usability and function of the nutrients does not compare. However, taking vitamins can help make up for these depleted nutrients.

Deficient Diet

• Even nutritious foods are nearly void in some nutrients by the time they make it to the dinner plate. The food you're eating probably doesn't provide the nutrients it should (unless it is raw, organic food). Most common cooking methods destroy vitamins. As much as 72 percent of biotin (a B vitamin) and 65 percent of niacin is destroyed when meat is cooked. Vegetables can lose nearly 60 percent of their inositol and nearly all of their folic acid when cooked. High-pressure cooking causes rapid destruction of vitamins, as does prolonged cooking. In addition to destructive cooking, some vitamins, such as vitamin B2, are destroyed when exposed to light. The body needs vitamins and other nutrients in order to function properly and remain healthy. If these nutrients are not obtained from food, they need to be obtained from supplements.

Electromagnetic Stress

• Electromagnetic stress has now been confirmed as a threat to human health, even in small amounts. Sources of this type of stress are all around you (computer monitors, TVs, cell phones, appliances and power lines). Our bodies are constantly being bombarded by invisible ionizing rays, which are capable of altering the body's DNA, which accelerates aging and causes cancer. Supplementing with antioxidant vitamins protects the body from this type of damage and repairs the damage already inflicted.

Dangerous Living

• The modern world, in itself, is a hazard to a person's health. This is another reason why vitamin supplements are important--to help repair and protect the body from the harmful effects of a toxic way of life. The body is constantly under attack by free radicals created by air pollution (industrial emissions, tobacco smoking, toxic building materials, automobile exhaust, food, and pesticides). All of these things damage the body, accelerate aging and make the body more vulnerable to illness and disease. All of this, along with emotional and physical stress, create a real need for vitamin supplements.