Friday 28 October 2011

Some questions for interest: 

 Mineral and Vitamin deficiencies
How do I know if I have a mineral and vitamin deficiency and what are the side effects? What are the the long term side effects?

Mineral and vitamin deficiencies start with minor symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, confusion, mood swings, muscles weakness and others. 

In the long term, these deficiencies manifest themselves into more chronic disorders such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Can I get all my nutrients from food, or do I need supplements?

Food these days are harvested before they are ripe and are grown in soils that are depleted of some nutrients. Then there are pesticides and herbicide residues, chemical additives and preservatives, storage, distribution , transport and cooking, which all add to the depletion of essential nutrients. A study has found that in 1950, spinach contained 150 mg of vitamin C. Today is contains around 0.13 mg. 

These depletion of nutrients in food is serious. It means you cannot always get all your nutrients from the food you eat. Supplementation is necessary, to combine with  healthy eating. Supplementation cannot replace unhealthy diets.

how much water should I drink a day?

The specific water consumption  depends on many factors, including your diet, how active you are , where you live, if you pregnant and other factors.

There is one approach that believes in replacement. On average, we lose about 2.5 liters (about 10 cups) through urine, sweating and bowel movements. We consume about 20 % of our fluid intake through food. So on average we should drink about 2 liters through food, water and other beverages (about 8 cups) to balance the lose vs intake.

The dietary approach advises men to have about 3 liters (13 cups) and women (about 9 cups) a day of beverages.

Another approach is 8 glasses a day of an 8 ounce cup.

I think if you drink about 8 glasses a day specifically of water, that should be sufficient.  If you rarely thirsty and you produce colorless or slightly yellow urine a day, your fluid intake is probably adequate. 

I am wanting to know if organic food is really better than non organic?
There is a huge controversy around this topic. The debate revolves around how the food is actually farmed.

With organic farming, they only use naturally occurring chemicals and traditional remedies to control pests and disease. This is better for our health as the non organic farming uses pesticides, non-organic fertilizers, antibiotics and hormones which are  detrimental to our health. Even though there may be minimal amounts of toxic substances on the non-organic , they is some evidence it can affect our health negatively.

There is little evidence with regards to the nutritional content difference between the two. There is evidence that animals fed organically are healthier than animals who are not.

A benefit which has long term consequences is that organically grown food is also a lot better for the environment

I would personally overall recommend eating organic food even though it may be a little more expensive. But you must be careful when buying food with regards to the actual labeling. It should say 100% organic. Labels such as organic or made with organic ingredients, may not be fully grown organically. If you unsure, ask at your supermarket or health store

1 comment:

  1. Add to this then that we gather physical sensations from both these sources, from what we sense of the external world and from what we sense only in our minds. Thus, while we obviously can focus, for instance, on the sensations we feel from sitting in a seat, we can also, through imagining, create alternate physical sensations which simultaneously get added to what we externally sense.

    Ilchi Lee Books

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