Yes, you do because you are malnourished. Malnutrition is a disparity between the amount of food and other nutrients that the body needs and the amount that it is receiving.
So, how do you know if you’re malnourished? Well, if you have joint pains, back aches, digestive problems, gas, tired/low energy/fatigue, high cholesterol and/or blood pressure, cysts, tumors, growths, headaches, sleepless nights, bad moods, depression, dermatitis or eczema, bad blood sugar, colds, flues,sinus problems, PMS, weight problems, sugar or carb cravings, etc., chances are you are malnourished because you wouldn’t have those things if the body had all the nutrients it needed. All physical problems, unless you have had outside force applied to your body, can be a result of malnutrition. And until you handle that, these things are not going to just magically go away on their own. In fact, the chances that you will only get worse and will end up on medication are pretty high, if you don’t address the malnutrition when it manifests itself in all these aliments. Or better yet, address it before it manifests in any of these ways.
Pub Med says –
“Malnutrition is the condition that occurs when your body does not get enough nutrients.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
There are a number of causes of malnutrition. It may result from:
• Inadequate or unbalanced diet
• Problems with digestion or absorption
• Certain medical conditions
You may develop malnutrition if you lack of a single vitamin in the diet.
In some cases, malnutrition is very mild and causes no symptoms. However, sometimes it can be so severe that the damage done to the body is permanent, even though you survive.”
Yes, malnutrition can occur if you do not eat enough food, but it can also occur when you eat too much food – the wrong types of food. Can you guess at what types of food that might be? Pasta, bread, pizza, sugar, cake, candy, bagels, crackers, chips, ice cream, cereal, trans fat, alcohol, etc.
Symptoms of a vitamin or mineral deficiency take months or even years to develop. By the time you notice them, your immune system has been compromised and body processes have begun to break down. The sequence goes something like this: First, the nutrient reserves that are stored in the tissue are used up. Next, the body can’t perform all the activities with the cells at the optimal level because the body’s enzymes (activators) don’t have enough vitamins and minerals to make it all possible. As deficiency increases, symptoms develop and immune function worsens. When this continues to occur it can result in the observable diseases commonly caused by the vitamin and mineral deficiency.
As you can see from the sequence above, optimum function is lost well before symptoms actually surface. Continuously taking optimal amounts of nutrients is more beneficial than suddenly reaching for a multivitamin supplement when you don’t feel well. Vitamins and minerals are not like drugs and they don’t work overnight. When we first start taking supplements, the immune system will start improving after approximately two weeks, with the effects felt after about three months.
Common physical problems associated with aging are an accumulation of poor diet, not enough exercise, and toxins in our foods and in our environment. Most people’s bodies have tolerated and lived with decades of abuse. This is why you feel like you are suddenly falling apart at 40 or 50. Some toxins and abuse could have been controlled and some couldn’t (air and water pollution).
So can you eat your way back to health and happiness? Yes, and No. You can start eating correctly and prevent the further decay of your health and reverse it somewhat, but really, in most cases, you would have to eat wheel barrels full of food to give you body the amount of nutrients it needs to repair itself. Because of this, at this point diet alone is probably not enough and it is my opinion that your body needs the extra help repairing itself through organic, whole food supplements. Did I say chemical, fractionated supplements made in a lab? No, I didn’t. I said organic, whole food supplements made from real food.
It never ceases to amaze me that people will be so flaky and whiny about taking supplements, but yet so willing to be sick and to take drugs, though the ailment or disease they are attempting to handle is actually caused by a vitamin or mineral deficiency, not a drug deficiency. Don’t you be like that!
These recommendations are for the reduction of stress only. They are not intended as treatment or prescription for any disease, or as a substitute for regular medical care.