Quote (dro94 @ 24 Sep 2016 16:07)
ah, so it's not conclusive which is objectively 'better'? interesting study
I think it is -- and it isn't. Supplement bioavailability varies massively. See the point above on turmeric. On the flip side, there is the possibility of "overvitaminosis" via supplements, but that's mostly a myth.
There are three key points on the side of getting vitamins and minerals from food sources:
1. If it's raw and natural (by source), it reduces the chances that your body will actually interpret supplements as an enemy and boil up into inflammation. This is actually more important when considering raw vs. cooked
food. So, if anything, the lesson is that you want your supplements to be as unprocessed as possible. Silica is considered mostly hamrless and potentially beneficial, but it's still "safer' to err on the side of caution.
2. If you can get your "supplements" from good, why would you other spending extra money fruitlessly on supplements? -- huge DUH factor right there. The argument against this is that most diets don't contain enough nutrition. Well then.
3. This is more important. There are claims being made that artificial supplementation (btw this goes for meds, too) are mostly acidic. This doesn't literally cause any acidosis in your blood because your body is pretty good at buffering against acidity. But the extra work the body needs to do to keep you in a balanced PH state is the real concern. I've read studies on this and I'll just say that results vary. So if you want to err on the side of caution, go for it. Medication is going to do a heck of a lot more harm on other scores than on the point of acidity, so that is not your key worry if you've been locked into a few prescriptions. It would be so much better to be active and eat a healthy diet than actually get a disease state and then need to be medicated. Again, a DUH is warranted.
Let's flip the switch. Probably the two key points in favour of supplementation are:
1. Why eat so much extra stuff you don't like when you can just take a tablet or capsule. Boom, convenience.
2. Eating a healthy diet is difficult and most people don't like thinking much. You can skip the learning curve and "learn" how to get your vitamins and minerals via supplements.
I'm going to go off the grid and say why I think it is probably better to avoid supplements when you're in decent general health. It's about just enjoying your food, engaging your body in the way it wants to be engaged, chewing, normal digestion, etc., and not having lazy habits. It's just too easy for people to want everything done super-fast, without thought, etc.. It's too easy to spend money on stupid crap we don't need. Annnnnnnd a big caveat here: I do take some supplements, including turmeric. I eat probably 75% vegetarian, 75% raw. But I'm not a holy man and I still eat meat and drink my protein shakes. My point is that it's better to educate yourself about food and nutrition than to hand those duties off to doctors and supplement companies. It is better to be in charge of your own health. This last point should be especially appealing to people who are already awesome enough to lift. All you need to know is really just the bottom line for each major aspect of nutrition.