It’s essential to approach health and wellbeing from a holistic angle - adequate exercise, healthy alcohol consumption, adequate sleep, and low stress levels for example are all important for health and wellbeing,” says Jennifer McLennan from Advisory. So where do supplements fit into the equation and how important are they really to inner health? beautydirectory sat down with a number of nutritionists and supplement experts to discover whether supplements are behind the answer to having an A-grade health and wellbeing standard.
Why a need for supplements?
With it becoming increasingly difficult to obtain all the nutrients you need from diet alone, supplements help ‘fill in the gaps’ in your diet where there is inadequate nutrition. Food production on mass-scale and modern farming practices have both contributed to the depletion of nutrients from the soil, leading to Australian and New Zealand soil lacking in essential nutrients such as selenium and iodine. The plants, animals and micro-organisms that have maintained [the soil] in the past are stressed, mainly through the introduction of European plants, animals and farming techniques. The result is loss of organic matter and vital nutrients,” says in-house naturopath Jillian Foster. Add this to the way the product is transported (cold storage), and the small amount of nutrients that can be found in the food is being further depleted.
This is where supplements come in. Today's busy lifestyle combined with reduced nutrition from foods that are over-processed or grown on nutrient-poor soil increases the need to supplement for optimal health,” says MitoQ (NZ) chief executive officer Greg Macpherson. Supplements are an effective way of gaining nutrients that may be missing from your diet. Supplements help with our general health and wellbeing. They are like a top-up to ensure we are getting everything for optional health,” says brand manager Natalie Brill.
Another important thing to note with our diets is that not only have current farming and horticulture methods led to less nutrient-dense food, but modern diets are also including less nutrients. Our diets have changed towards more processed foods that can stress the body in their own right, i.e. those foods and drinks with high sugar content that place the body into chronic oxidative stress," says Macpherson.
Diet versus supplement
Nutrition experts have been contending for years that all the vitamins we need can be found in a routine diet. If you can access food and you have no other dietary or medical condition, you can easily meet all your nutritional requirements through all the food that we have,” reveals accredited practising dietician Julie Gilbert. However, even Gilbert agrees that while this may be the case, in reality, poor diets mean most Australians are not actually meeting these nutritional requirements.
Foster concurs with this sentiment: "If everyone followed the perfect diet, bought locally-grown food farmed in nutrient-rich soil and did not have any health conditions, then supplements may not be necessary. The truth is, the average western diet is void of nutrients and very high in inflammatory foods, hence the disease trends such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease we are currently seeing.” Instead, Foster stresses that supplements are not a replacement for a good diet or exercise, but rather should be used in conjunction with them.
It’s also important to note that there is a difference in achieving adequate nutrient levels from foods and obtaining therapeutic nutrient levels. Therapeutic amounts of nutrients have a specific role in health and wellbeing, according to McLennan. An example of this is fish oil, where 10-12 capsules/day is required for an anti-inflammatory effect, providing more nutrients than can be found in eating a serving of fish.
Benefits of supplements
Supplements bring with them a wide range of benefits, such as increased energy and stamina, improved mood, healthier hair, skin and nails, improved immunity, increased concentration, treatment of certain conditions such as cold and flu, addressing nutrient deficiencies, and meeting general basic nutrient requirements. We all have times in our lives when we need some sort of nutrition or assistance above what diet can provide. Whether it is the effects of ageing, the strains of being pregnant or breast feeding or simply protecting ourselves from possible future challenges, supplementation can help keep us in good health,” says sales and marketing manager Sue Millinchip.
So how popular are supplements, really?
The supplement industry clearly means big business, with the Australian vitamins and dietary supplements category worth $1.8 billion and growing. Australian consumers are now, more than ever, seeking to pre-emptively avoid falling ill, hence the use of supplements as health and well-being promoters,” says Brill. The growing popularity of supplements is also clearly highlighted by its large distribution seen throughout health food stores, pharmacies and supermarkets.
The state of Australia and New Zealand’s health
It seems there is a definite need for better diets, exercise programs and supplement intake in Australia and New Zealand, with both countries falling behind when it comes to our general wellbeing.
While over half of the Australian population consider themselves to be in good health, Foster points to statistics from the ABS this year that illustrate otherwise. The ABS statistics highlighted the biggest health issues in Australia, showing 4.6 per cent (1 million people) suffer from diabetes mellitus, 5.0 per cent have heart disease (1.1 million people), and 10.6 per cent have hypertensive disease (2.3 million people). Risk factors for these diseases include poor nutrition and exercise, obesity, and stress and anxiety. These diseases are preventable by following a healthy diet and lifestyle, which ensures adequate nutrition and exercise,” says Foster.
It’s a similar grim story in New Zealand. Sourcing key findings from the Ministry of Health’s The Health of New Zealand Adults 2011/12 report, Wilson Consumer Products Limited (NZ) health and beauty division and qualified nutritionist Anne Towns reveals the country’s bleak health status. "Shocking, to say the least. 28 per cent are obese and 1 in 10 is on medication for cholesterol. 16 per cent of adults have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder and/or bipolar disorder. All of this is preventable with a balanced diet, moderate exercise and supplementation," says Towns.
Nutritionist and award-winning author Karen Fischer from www.healthbeforebeauty.com believes that supplements are an easy first step for people needing to change bad ingrained habits. As they begin to look and feel younger or more energetic, it [supplements] can help them to put fork to salad and dust off their running shoes,” says Fischer. It’s time for some tough love and I’d like to use the F word and say we’re unfortunately getting fatter each year. According to the latest ABS statistics, 56 per cent of females and 70 per cent of male adults are now overweight or obese.”
See below for a list of all the supplement ranges on beautydirectory:
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