Eat to Live 55foods (such as steamed vegetables) is the only way we can ensure
that we get a sufficient amount of these essential health-supporting
elements. Taking vitamin and mineral supplements or adding some
vitamins to processed foods will not prevent the diseases associated
with eating a diet containing a low percentage of calories from whole
natural foods.
Scientists cannot formulate into pills nutrients that have not yet
been discovered! If the pills did contain sufficient amounts of all the
phytonutrients and other essential substances, we would have to
swallow a soup bowl full of pills and powders. To date, researchers
have discovered more than ten thousand phytochemicals. No sup-
plement can contain a sufficient amount. Thankfully, you can get all
these nutrients today by eating a wide variety of plant-based foods.
Please bear in mind that I am not against nutritional supplements.
In fact, I recommend various supplements to many ol my patients
with various health problems, and a high-quality multivitamin/multi-
mineral to almost everyone.
I do not recommend that most people consume supplements con-
taining vitamin A, isolated beta-carotene, or iron, as there are risks
associated with excess consumption of these nutrients. The point to
be emphasized is that supplements alone cannot offer optimal pro-
tection against disease and that you cannot make an unhealthy diet
into a healthy one by consuming supplements.
You Cannot Buy Your Health in a Bottle - You Must Earn It!
When your nutrient intake is out of balance, health problems may
result. For example, beta-carotene has been touted as a powerful an-
tioxidant and anti-cancer vitamin. However, in recent years we have
discovered that beta-carotene is only one of about five hundred
carotenoids. Scientists are finding that taking beta-carotene supple-
ments is not without risk, and supplements are certainly a poor sub-
stitute for the real tiling — the assortment of various carotenoid
compounds found in plants.
The reason researchers believed beta-carotene had such a pow-
erful anti-cancer effect was that populations with high levels of beta-
carotene in their bloodstream had exceedingly low rates of cancer.
More recently we found out that these people were protected against
cancer because of hundreds of carotenoids and phytochemicals in the
fruits and vegetables they were consuming. It wasn't that beta-carotene