Tamara Grapek
Proprietor

Ask Tamara
14 South Street
Warwick, NY 10990
Ph: 845-544-2390
www.asktamara.info

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February 2010 Ask Tamara Email Bulletins

Avoiding Nutritional Deficiencies for less than a Dollar a Day

Strategy for getting essential nutrients

All of us like a good value, even in the best of economic times. I?d like to show you a strategy to get all the essential nutrients you need to stay healthy in a recession for less than a dollar a day. The word essential in nutrition terminology means ?a substance required for life on a daily basis, it cannot be made within the body but must be obtained from outside the body.? We need about 40 essential nutrients to thrive, to have the energy to do the things we want, a properly burning metabolism for ideal weight maintenance, and the tools our body needs to heal from injury or illness. This includes nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. Americans typically suffer from multiple deficiencies due to poor eating habits and stresses that use up nutrients rapidly. Adele Davis predicted truly in 1960 that obesity and diabetes in America would skyrocket. Obesity is a disease of malnutrition, according to Ms. Davis. The body overcompensates for a lack of nutrition by overeating as the metabolism goes into ?starvation mode? and slows down to try to hang onto the little real nourishment it is getting.

Value of Supplements

People tell me I look very young for my age, and ask me what the secret is to staying young and slim. I think all of us are born to stay young and slim with the right nutrition. Since I was a young adult, I have taken supplements religiously and I believe that has a lot to do with how I look and feel today. Many of my customers who take supplements also verify that it is a good way to keep young and healthy longer. I try to educate all my customers to get on a basic supplementation program that provides essential nutrients in sufficient quantities to thrive:

1. A good quality multivitamin once or twice a day

2. An Omega 3 supplement that provides at least 500 mg of the essential fatty acids DHA and EPA per day.

3. A balanced calcium and magnesium supplement that provides about 500 mg calcium and about 200 mg magnesium per day.

4. Vitamin D daily totaling 2,000 units for an adult and 1,000 units for a child. The cost of all of these per person can be as little as $20 per month or about 70 cents a day. The prices are based on good quality brands you?ll find in a health food store. Brands like Schiff, Centrum and One a Day contain poor quality ingredients such as dl-alpha tocopherol, a synthetic vitamin E that is formed from petroleum. (The type of E used is a good marker for the quality of a multivitamin.)

Foods to Avoid

Food quality is also essential to your health. Eating organic can be very beneficial but is often too expensive for many people. You can still protect your health and eat food that is not all organic. Try to avoid these especially damaging ingredients:
a. High fructose corn syrup: a ?super sugar? that the liver has to work very hard to break down.

b. Hydrogenated oils or trans fats: likewise very hard on the liver.

c. Food colorings: these are actually made from petroleum and are toxic to brain cells, hence many ADD/ADHD sufferers are made much worse by them.

d . Alphabet preservatives: BHT, BHA. EDTA, etc. Many of these have been banned by other nations for health reasons.

e. Artificial sweeteners: saccharin (bladder cancer), aspartame (breaks down into methane and formaldehyde, nerve toxins) and sucralose (chlorinated sugar.)

f. In general, try to select items that have fewer ingredients that you cannot pronounce. I use a strategy of avoiding junky convenience foods, which saves enough money to get some organic produce. The fresh produce in your shopping cart does more to keep your family healthy than the cereal, milk or meat you buy.

Conclusion

If you can do the simple things outlined above, you cannot help but reap good health for you and your family members. You won?t need the latest pricey supplement gimmick to lose weight and look younger and have more energy. Wishing you success in your quest for lifelong good health.

Tamara

You may also contact me at asktamara@warwick.net.