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By. Dr. Michael Miles
I thought this would be a good follow-up to the recent article about vitamins. This article contains a list of supplements that I feel are worth considering for optimal health given the condition of our world today.
A good multiple vitamin as described in the previous article is important when considering that our food supply has deteriorated significantly over the past century. The most sensitive components of food, and therefore the first to be destroyed, are the vitamins. They are the keys that turn on all of our biological processes and they need to be present in order for us to work well. You should become aware of how important the multiple vitamins are to you personally within one week of starting to supplement with them. If you don’t notice a significant energy increase, then perhaps you are getting enough vitamins from your food or perhaps you have an illness that masks your shortfall in vitamins.
Another fundamental supplement that I would recommend considering is Vitamin C. It is a strong anti-oxidant and therefore protects us against all the degenerative processes in our bodies like cancer, hardening of the arteries, glaucoma, and aging itself. It also pulls out toxins that we are exposed to and is a strong support for all of the connective tissue in our bodies that hold everything in place.
There are some biological trends in humans that make me especially recommend a few supplements after the age of 50. Our production of CoEnzyme Q10 drops off dramatically after fifty. This enzyme is used to transport sugar (fuel) from the blood vessels (highways of our bodies on which are trucked essential nutrients like fuel) to the inside of the cells (through a door that is unlocked with an insulin “key”) where it is shoveled into the mitochondria (furnace) and is transformed into energy that is used to operate that cell. For example, a muscle cell will contract, a brain cell will think, a liver cell will detoxify, etc. Because heart muscles are constantly contracting they need more energy than other cells in the body and therefore more furnaces (mitochondria) and therefore more Q10. This is why many people refer to Q10 as a “heart pill.”
Vitamin B12 often drops off after the age of 50 as well. It has a very complex route of entry into the body which requires good operating stomach cells. This is why when supplementing B12 it is a good idea to dissolve it under the tongue or take it as a shot. This will bypass the stomach and enter directly into the body. B12 is important for red blood cell production.
The next supplement that I would recommend considering is N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). This is an amino acid (building blocks of our bodies). This particular amino acid is useful in many different ways. Number one is that it converts into glutathione inside each cell. Glutathione is one of the strongest anti-oxidants known. NAC also contributes to neurotransmitters that help the brain to work. And, cysteine is an amino acid with a sulfur atom in it that attracts toxic metals to it and flushes them out of the body. This is of great interest because of our ever increasing exposure to toxins as our industrialized world closes in on us.
Another nutrient that I consider important is omega 3. These are the oils found in fish. They get incorporated into every cell in the body and help them communicate with each other. Unfortunately farmed fish often lose their omega 3 oils because they are fed grain and essentially become cows. On the flip side, wild fish often accumulate large quantities of mercury, a known neurotoxin. This is where supplementing with NAC comes in handy as it will attach (or “chelate”) to the mercury and wash it out of our bodies.
I hope you find value in some of these suggestions and that your life is enhanced by them.
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