By David Blyweiss, M.D.

Day in and day out, patients come through my office with a variety of complaints. But even though the ailments are different—fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, heart disease, diabetes—I’ve noticed one common denominator. These patients aren’t getting the nutrition they need from the foods they eat.

Studies have repeatedly shown that the typical Western diet corresponds to higher risks of heart disease, cancer and other chronic conditions such as diabetes. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveys, only 11 percent of Americans meet the USDA’s guidelines for eating five to nine servings of fresh fruit and vegetables daily. The nutrient shortfalls are dramatic. According to data gathered from 1999 to 2002 and compiled by the CDC, 93 percent of Americans don’t get enough vitamin E, 56 percent don’t get enough magnesium, 31 percent don’t get enough vitamin C and 12 percent don’t get enough zinc. Another CDC survey indicated many people are low on vitamin K, calcium and potassium, and many seniors lack the B vitamins.  And, according to a new analysis conducted by researchers from Cornell University and presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Society, fully one in seven U.S. teenagers are deficient in vitamin D.

The first step to fixing these nutrient shortfalls is to improve your diet. The 40 to 60 isolated micronutrients that scientists study are only a fraction of the array of organic compounds found in food. When you get vitamin C from a piece of fruit, for example, it comes with a lot of other compounds—fiber, antioxidants and trace minerals—that work in concert to benefit the body.

Unfortunately, most people don’t eat these whole, unprocessed foods. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is based on what tastes good, not what’s good for you. But if you were to list the most important factors that contribute to the rise in cancer, heart disease, stroke or intestinal disorders, the typical American diet has them all. It’s high in animal and manmade (trans) fats, as well as processed foods. At the same time, it’s low in fiber, complex carbohydrates, and fruits and vegetables.

Even those who strive to eat a healthy diet can miss out on these critical nutrients simply because of the way our food is grown and processed. Few farms today practice crop rotation which allows the soil to build up the proper nutrients for another season’s harvest. This means that the soil is missing many critical nutrients, including chromium, zinc, magnesium and selenium to name a few, necessary for hundreds of the body’s biochemical reactions for good health. The use of agricultural chemicals also reduces vitamin and mineral levels. One study found that application of pesticides to peaches and pears decreased vitamin C levels. Other research shows that organic produce contains significantly more nutrients than conventionally grown produce.

Our food also loses nutrients during the time it’s traveling from farm to table—on average more than a thousand miles. Most of the fresh fruits and vegetables in our supermarkets are usually picked before they are ripe. The intention is for them to ripen during transport. However, this does not allow for natural sun-ripening—and that results in reduced nutrients and flavor.

Processing also affects nutrient levels. While bread might have the reputation as the staff of life, don’t try living on bread made with modern technology. To make that lovely loaf of white bread, millers use a high-heat process to remove the fibrous bran and germ from whole grains. Unfortunately, this fibrous material contains most of the plant’s nutrition, including dietary fiber, B vitamins and minerals like magnesium and zinc. Canned foods lose their vitamin and mineral potency primarily from cooking and sterilization processes. Pasteurization is another potent destroyer of nutrients.

Bottom line: Even if you buy all of your food from the health food store and keep junk food out of your kitchen, you aren’t getting the nutrition you need. When you’re short on these nutrients, there can be a great deal of hidden damage going on inside your body that may not show up for years to come.

Because of this widespread nutrient deficit, I strongly recommend supplements. But simply taking a little extra vitamin C along with your multivitamin won’t give you what you need. Instead, you need a super multi like EnerGex Complete. This novel supplement provides an incredible 198 nutrients from whole food sources, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Not only does EnerGex give you the basic nutrients needed to sustain overall health, it also contains targeted nutrients to boost the health of your heart, joints, digestive tract and vision. EnerGex also supports healthy detoxification with herbs and antioxidants that bolster the health of your kidneys, bladder, liver and thyroid.

Unlike your typical multi, EnerGex is quickly and easily absorbed by your body. You can pack every nutrient known to man into a supplement, but if the body can’t use it, it’s worthless! But EnerGex is a delicious drink—not a handful of tablets—that is rapidly incorporated into your bloodstream where it then travels to the organs and tissues that can benefit most from its nutritional support.

Optimal intakes of key nutrients, in amounts sufficient to enhance health, can be difficult to obtain from food alone. But when you combine a healthy, whole foods diet with just one ounce of EnerGex Complete each day, you’ll be giving your body the armor it needs to protect against disease and stay vital and energetic at every age.

References:

Carbonaro M, Mattera M, Nicoli S, Bergamo P, Cappelloni M. Modulation of antioxidant compounds in organic vs conventional fruit (peach, Prunus persica L., and pear, Pyrus communis L.). Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. 2002;50:5458-5462.

Diet and Disease. USDA. Available at usda.gov

Ismail, A. and Fun, CS. Determination of vitamin C, β-carotene and iboflavin contents in five green vegetables organically and conventionally grown. Malaysian Journal of Nutrition. 2003;9:31-39.

Saintonge S, et al. Implications of a new definition of vitamin D deficiency in a multiracial us adolescent population: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. Pediatrics. 2009;123:797-803