Title: Nutritional Supplements: Are They Really Essential For Good Health Word Count: 537 Summary: Why should I take nutritional supplements? Can't I just eat healthy, exercise, drink plenty of water, etc.? A fair question. After all, quality nutritional supplements are not cheap. Let's look at the arguments for taking nutritional supplements in addition to a healthy lifestyle. Argument #1: Our foods no longer contain the nutrition they should Due to modern processing and farming methods, foods that should be high in certain nutrients no longer are. For example, the ... Keywords: nutritional supplements, nutrition, supplements, vitamins Article Body: Why should I take nutritional supplements? Can't I just eat healthy, exercise, drink plenty of water, etc.? A fair question. After all, quality nutritional supplements are not cheap. Let's look at the arguments for taking nutritional supplements in addition to a healthy lifestyle. Argument #1: Our foods no longer contain the nutrition they should Due to modern processing and farming methods, foods that should be high in certain nutrients no longer are. For example, the tomato is an excellent source of phytonutrients, specifically, lycopene. But when you buy a tomato from the grocery store, there is little to no lycopene or other nutrients left in it. The tomato was likely grown on nutrient depleted soil, fertilized and sprayed with toxic chemicals, picked green, then gassed to turn it red. Little wonder it has no nutrition value left! Another culprit in the nutrition depletion of foods is our food cooking and preparation. Even if you could by some magic acquire a nutrient rich tomato, cooking or storing the tomato will destroy most of the nutrients. For example, studies have shown that phytonutrients begin breaking down less than 24 hours after the vegetable was picked! Of course, there are many other factors contributing to the poor nutrient content of our foods: breeding, GMOs, storage, etc, etc. Once you consider all of the factors causing the poor nutrient content in our food, it becomes quite logical to take supplements to replace these nutrients. Argument #2: We no longer eat the right foods If you eat a 100% organic, fresh diet, you're a long ways ahead of the rest of us. Of course, the foods you're eating are still nutrient depleted, as we saw above. But for the rest of us, we need to supplement our diets also because we're just not eating the foods we should. Currently, french fries are the most consumed vegetable in the United States. We're just not getting the nutrients we need! Argument #3: Environmental stress necessitates nutritional supplements The Los Angeles Times ran an article last year revealing a startling finding: scientists announced that by the time a child born in LA was 2 weeks old, he had already been exposed to more toxins than would be acceptable for his entire life! While we don't all live in Los Angeles, we're all subject to environmental stress that puts extra burden on our immune systems. Even our drinking water has chemicals and toxins in it. The best way to counter the stress on your body's health caused by all of these toxins and such is to support your body with proper nutrition. Since our foods are nutrient depleted, the only way to properly support your health is through nutritional supplements. Argument #4: Nutritional supplements allow us to benefit from nutrient rich foods around the world. Even if our foods weren't nutrient depleted and our environment wasn't toxic, nutritional supplements would still have benefit. They allow us to benefit from plants and nutrient rich foods found around the world that otherwise we would be unable to benefit from. Good examples would be the goji berry from China, the Australian bush plum, and many others. Do you want optimal health? The only way to properly support your body's health is to take quality nutritional supplements.