Supplements and the The Nutrition Pyramid

The key to effective supplementation is in understanding how the body works and what supplements are most effective for you. The best way to understand proper supplement to use is to conceive of a nutrition pyramid. If we were to have such a pyramid, it would explain why some supplements seem to work for some people while they do not work for others.

At the base of the food supplement pyramid, we have multi-vitamins, multi-minerals, and essential fatty acids. Any person who takes a supplement without first ensuring that their diet is full of these essentials will receive little benefit from their nutrition plan. These are the absolute building blocks of your body. You have minimal sources of these three groups in your diet and they are absolutely essential to an energetic, healthy lifestyle.

VITAMINS

Vitamins are essential to every biochemical reaction in your body. They are the building blocks of your skin, bone, and cartilage.

MINERALS

Minerals are the matrix that make your skeletal system strong. They are also the key ingredients in many vascular components, and are essential to proper metabolic function.

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS

Essential fatty acids are the key source of many basic, metabolic processes. They are also widely known to reduce inflammation, or, rather, their absence is known to be a source of inflammation and pain in joints.

Without these essentials, it is impossible to heal a disease with more specific supplementation because it is impossible to heal a disease when the underlying functions behind human life are not properly supported.

Next up on the nutrition pyramid we have supplements for the aged and supplements for energy and stress.

ANTI-AGING

Supplements for the aged are any supplement that would be considered to counter the effects of aging, or, more appropriately, allow the body to age properly. Ginseng, gingko-biloba, tribulis terresetris, DHEA, and many other herbs and supplements fit easily into this category. These supplements are generally appropriate after the age of thirty-five, and are well worth the investment if you understand what the effects of each of these might be. Research information about these anti-aging supplements, and their known effects.

ENERGY AND STRESS

Supplements for energy and stress can be appropriate at any age, It is well known that the body consumes higher levels of the B vitamins, of calcium, magnesium and iron, and of vitamin C when it is under duress. These vitamins and mineral should be taken in higher levels when you are under more stress. They will counteract the immediate symptoms of stress, such as burn out, fatigue and irritability. They will also counteract the long term effects of stress. The long term effects of stress include chronic muscular cramping and aches, adrenal gland burn-out, other hormonal and glandular imbalances, hair loss, skin conditions, crohns, blood pressure, heart problems, and the list goes on. Many supplement manufacturers will offer a stress formula that contains exactly these vitamins and minerals, Others will provide the magnesium and calcium in a separate package. Either way, these are excellent supplements to have around the house to help you deal with your stress and increase your energy.

Next on the nutrition pyramid, symptom specific supplements are a very tricky field to discuss. Often, these supplements will help some users and not others. Often, they will help for a while and become ineffective. The trick to these supplements is to follow the rules of the pyramid. You must first ensure that you have had at least a month of excellent multi-vitamin and mineral supplementation. You must also ensure that you first rule out and stress, or age combating supplements as being a superior supplementation process to the 'symptom-specific' supplement. Finally, you must rule out any physical source to your pain. It is helpful to take glucosamine or chondroitin sulphate, for example, for knee pain or arthritis. But if the musculature surrounding the knee is stiff and tight, unbeknownst to you, this is likely the cause of the degeneration of cartilage in your joints.