What are the most important nutrients to consume on a daily basis?
Question: What’s the next great nutrient to consume on a daily basis, second to omega 3?
Answer: Thank you so much for your question. If you’re not getting enough of a certain nutrient each day, a supplement may be necessary. When it comes to supplements, remember that their purpose is just that: to supplement what you can’t get on a typical day, to fill in the gap between what you do eat and what you should be eating to get the recommended amount of nutrients. Besides omega-3 supplements, there are three other ones you need to get into your body. I will vote for this one to be “second to omega 3”: Do you eat at least ten fistfuls of vegetables and fruits every day? If you don’t, you need a daily fruit and vegetable supplement.
Fruit and Vegetable Supplements
When you are looking for a fruit and vegetable supplement, there are two things you need to determine. Is the material in the capsule bioavailable? The only way to know it to draw blood from study subjects after they’ve taken the supplement to show that the nutrients in adequate quantities actually get into the bloodstream. And the other thing to determine? Is it effective – are there studies showing the supplement effects changes to the health of the study subjects? Reliable fruit and vegetable supplements will have information on its website showing where these studies were done. Look for scientific studies done by university researchers that prove both the bioavailability and the efficacy of the product.
Vitamin D and a Daily Probiotic
If you are wondering what the other two supplements are that run a close second to omega 3, they are vitamin D and a daily probiotic. Do you live in an area of the country where you can get at least fifteen minutes of “bikini-clad” sun exposure daily, without sunblock for those exposure minutes? And do you have a healthy vitamin D blood level? Many healthcare providers are now routinely checking vitamin D levels regardless of where you live and how much sun exposure you get. And finally, a daily probiotic will improve your intestinal health, especially if you have been eating a lot of processed, fiberless foods before this. “Probiotic” means “for life”, and refers to supplements that contain certain beneficial bacteria necessary to create an optimal microbiome in your gut.
See our website www.askdrsears.com for more on supplements.
Martha Sears, RN