The diet of the modern humans is full of over-processed food, on average, at least in what is considered the civilized societies where food often comes in half-baked or fully prepared in supermarkets. Through processing, much of the natural properties of some foods like vegetables and fruits are lost or diminished significantly.
If we look at the top countries by life expectancy, we discover they are places close to the sea or ocean, potentially with mountains making their mark.
Top countries by life expectancy, as provided by ChatGPT based on information from World Health Organization and World Bank.
Of course, in many cases the level of development of the country or the wealth of people in that area influences the life expectancy, because they have access to better healthcare, besides eating healthier and maybe less food as a way of life. The "speed of life" and our focuses may influence how much people live - see Italy with "la dolce vita", a concept that in Spain takes the form of "siesta".
For most people in the world, at least in the Western hemisphere, the speed of life increased so much that they are happy with half-baked food from the supermarket or eating fast food, even though they are the worse choices for health.
Source - fast food, seems familiar?
Even if you cook your own meals, how nutritious are the ingredients you use these days, if you don't grow them yourself responsibly? My mother often complains that vegetables, meat, or even spices found in the supermarket don't make the food good enough, no matter how much of them you add. Sure, the solution is not to buy from the supermarket, if or when possible.
With that in mind, do we take what we need from our food? Other than to survive I mean. To not get ill, for example.
Food supplements is the rather... artificial way to supplement what you don't get enough from food (even when they are from natural sources). A better way is to eat the foods you need to bring you the necessary nutrients, vitamins, minerals, or amino-acids you have deficit of. I know people who probably use food supplements in excess. Some after careful analysis, others more like a habit, to always take something. Probably not a good idea to abuse them...
I began to use them more often too, especially as a way to boost my immunity during the colder season. They seem to work... In the past, if someone near me had a cold, only a brief contact was usually enough for me to get it too. Now my sister has been cold and coughing and I spent enough time close to her, and... thankfully, nothing happened. That's not the only example that made me conclude that my immunity is now more active in fighting at least the usual enemies.
What do you think about food supplements? Do you use them? What for?
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
I don't use food supplements but I know a lot of people who do. I think it's best to get it from the source but not everyone has the time or money to do so.
Yeah, it became an entire industry based on the fact people don't get all what they need from their food.
Hard to get quality foods anymore, but somehow the body adapts.
I agree. But sometimes it needs a little nudge because it might take too long to adapt or you keep feeding it stuff for which it needs to put extra effort and time to create/restore a balance.
True. I meant it can adapt to lower-quality whole-ingredient foods. If you feed it fast food every day you're on a clear road to destruction.
Yes, we adapt. But even in this case, we'd better be careful where they are from. Some are more dangerous than others (on average).
I've not used them yet. But I'm not sure if drinking herbs as tea will count as a food supplement, some herbs also help in boosting the immune system given the natural properties that they have.
Food nowadays has lost a lot of its essence. Sometimes, I eat without really feeling that I've eaten :)
I guess it can... I'm not sure where the line is drawn, lol. And yes, I also drink a tea that helps the immune system, when I feel the need to.
Totally agreed. Sometimes I wonder if some foods are made just to fill in the stomach, without any or much nutritional value.
Right, it's in some ways a supplement too. For me, it's more of a routine, a substitute for drinking common tea or coffee.
Yes, probably. I think it's intentional, the less filled our system is, the easier it is to be susceptible to their influences.
Very interesting post, @gadrian. To answer your question:
Yes. For improving basic health, as without your health, what are you doing instead? 🤷♂️Just common sense, although ... How "common" it is might be considered a worthy debate, if one just looks around here in America ... 😉
The fundamental question is what you touch on in your post - what is happening to the nutritional content of our food? Definitely on the decline here ... An excellent book on this topic? This one is highly recommended - "Good Energy"
With our recent election results, this topic (of your post) will be hotly debated here in America for some time to come. "Elections have consequences!" Yep. We'll see how it goes.
That's how I see it too. You see areas where you are lacking. You might be able to correct it by choosing the right foods, but nowadays, I have my doubts some foods are what they should be for our body, even when we talk about base ingredients.
That's where food supplements could help. Thanks for the book recommendation.
I'm assuming the two sides have opposite opinions about the use of food supplements. I don't have a problem with that. Tell the side which doesn't like them to make better food, and I'd be ok with that.
"Good Energy" does a brilliant (IMHO) job of highlighting the root causes of the chronic diseases which historically were all but unknown to mankind, e.g. heart disease, diabetes, etc.
So, the whole spectrum of our problems is covered, starting with regenerative farming practices to restore the nutritional content of our food to historic levels (where food supplements were / are unnecessary) to a complete overhaul of our medical services to focus more on what we might (overly?) simplistically refer to us "preventative maintenance," when there is so much corruption associated with maintaining the status quo ...
The disruptive, transformational character of the team of people Trump has selected for key positions all must first get past our Senate confirmation process. We don't have long to wait to find out how that goes and what forces are arrayed to prevent them from ever getting started on what has been proposed ...
Tying these two (above) points together, earlier this summer we witnessed a Senate hearing, chaired by Ron Johnson (Senator from Wisconsin) which featured people like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "Everyone" knows who he is. Is that who Senator Johnson credited with the inspiration behind his pulling the hearing together? No! He credited his reading of the book of Dr. Casey Means now brought to your (and anyone who reads this) attention - "Good Energy." She also was there and spoke briefly. If Kennedy survives his Senate confirmation process, Dr. Casey Means will almost certainly be a name which the American people will become far more familiar with in the not too distant feature.
An interesting time we live in, no doubt about it!!
Wow, I'm really behind from what's going on in America. We have our own tumults over here that captured my attention to some degree. The world is changing in various ways... Let's hope for the better, because we've seen it before and we'll probably see it again that not all changes are good just because they change something old. Thanks for the clarifications!
I try as best as possible not to eat too much, for example, I cook 98% of the food I eat and do so fast food and all that, including soda and co. We cannot avoid it, but we can surely limit it.
Being moderate is probably one of the best defenses against modern cuisine and lifestyle.
Indeed, there's only so much a person can do
I've heard about the nourishing properties of food supplements from a friend. If it's that effective it can help now that eating good food is becoming hard. It's not surprising that countries associated with natural and healthy food have high life expectancy. According to your article we can achieve same via food supplements. Thanks for writing. I will do further research on them and start partaking. Have a nice day.
I guess it depends from supplements to supplements. I am pretty sure not all of them are good, and probably not the same food supplements give the same results for different people.