SAD Diets Need Supplementation

By Dr. Erin Denil

The American Diet is considered a SAD diet (Standard American Diet), and it is indeed a very sad diet in terms of nutrition.  It isn’t hard for American’s to look around and see the population becoming more and more obese, and seeing people with high risk factors for early death, or at least the quality of life decreasing at early ages.  Healthier diets would be ideal for the majority of the population.  

The unfortunate reality is that because of the low quality of the food chain, most people require supplements to make up for deficiencies in the diet.  According to JAMA, and article by Fletcher and Fairfield, entitled Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: Clinical Applications states that it is “prudent” for all adults to take vitamins.  

The process of choosing the right vitamins can be overwhelming because there are so many brands and so many combinations of vitamins/minerals herbs etc.  The principle of keeping things simple may help in the section process. 

List of Daily Recommendations For Life

  1. Multivitamin
  2. Multimineral
  3. Essential Fatty Acid
  4. Probiotic
  5. Vitamin D3 
  6. Vitamin K2
  7. Digestive enzyme 
  8. Nitric oxide support (arginine or an optic-nitric supplement)
  9. Whole Vitamin C

All of these supplements are conveniently located in an Optimal Health Kit (bundle) from Optimal Health Systems, which is a whole food supplement company.  There is debate on whether or not whole food supplements are better, or if a more medical approach to supplements is better.  The supplements that absorb the best into the body are he best supplements.  People were designed to eat food.  This particular company uses digestive enzymes in their products to help all individuals optimize their absorption of the nutrients.  Could their be a better company, or better supplements- sure. Nothing in life is ever perfect.  

Multivitamins and mineral supplementation allows for a baseline of needed micronutrients to allow the body to function at an optimal level.  Essential fatty acids are crucial for brain health, and cell membrane health.  The better building blocks cells have to work with, the higher quality of body structures (tissues and organs) that are able to be created.  Probiotics are necessary for proper gut functioning, as well as food breakdown to get the most vitamin and mineral content out of the food that has been consumed.  Vitamin D3 acts more like a hormone and is necessary in biological reactions throughout the whole body.  People make vitamin D with sun exposure, but not every culture or climate allow for enough sun exposure to have the body produce the needed amount of vitamin D.  Vitamin K helps to synthesize proteins for bone health and blood clotting factors.  Digestive enzymes help breakdown food so the body can absorb more from the food that has been ingested.  The SAD diets require some extra help, as well as the chronic disease processes from food sensitivities, leaky gut etc.  Nitric Oxide (N.O.) support is crucial for dilation and constriction of blood vessels, it is a gas that the body produces from naturally occurring nitrates and nitrites in vegetables and some fruits, and it starts decreasing in people at the age of 40.  Vitamin C is crucial in collagen formation and helps many of the structures in the body as well as beneficial in heart health and the immune system.  

Supporting the overall body’s need to function optimally should be the goal of supplements.  When the body works as close to optimally as possible, the more health a person should experience.  The nine supplements above assist the body in everyday needs, so taking these everyday for life is optimal.  

Fletcher RH and Fairfield KM. Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: Clinical Applications. JAMA, June 19, 2002; 287:3127-129.