Garden of Life’s A-B-Cs of Foundational Nutrition

The following nutritional article provides valuable information on essential nutrients, whole-food nutritional supplementation, the power of the Poten-Zyme probiotic fermentation process, and foods and supplements to help maintain a healthy weight.

Was one of your resolutions this year to get healthier? Reaching that goal can be made easier when you follow something we all learned before we even started school: your A-B-Cs. It’s a lesson we should all heed, and it starts with good nutrition.

Nutrition: A Primer - There are about 40 nutrients the human body needs to consume on a regular basis to survive. These nutrients are divided into five classes: protein, fat, carbohydrates (all macronutrients for energy); vitamins, and minerals (micronutrients).

Protein: The body requires a precise amount of protein daily to maintain and repair tissues and to provide growth for infants, youth and pregnant women. The average needed is about 53 grams per day for a woman and about 63 grams for men. If you eat more, it is burned as energy or stored as fat. As for sources, many have thought that animal protein was superior to plant protein. The truth, however, is that with a varied and balanced diet, complete protein can be obtained from plant sources alone. Nutrition science verifies that plant protein is actually healthier than animal protein since animal protein may lead to increases in heart disease and even some cancers. Plant protein tends to be protective and preventive of such diseases.

Fat: Fats are either saturated or unsaturated, a chemical distinction referring to stability. Saturates are stable; un-saturates are unstable. Fats that start out unsaturated can be saturated through a process of hydrogenation that creates unhealthy trans fatty acids. On a daily basis, we need less than one teaspoon of polyunsaturated fat, found in omega-3 essential fatty acids from fish oils, flaxseed and, in small amounts, canola oil, soy oil and walnut oil. Omega-3s may help prevent heart arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, the cause of half of all heart disease deaths. That’s why the American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of seafood weekly or supplementing with a good omega-3 capsule.

Fats are very calorie-dense. As long as we manage our caloric intake to maintain healthy weight, we can include good fats necessary for taste and to ensure that we eat the necessary vegetables, legumes and other nutrient-dense foods that often accompany them.

Carbohydrates: All carbohydrates ultimately convert to glucose in the body. They come in two varieties: complex (starches), or simple (sugars). The nutritional difference is that starchy foods provide other nutrients such as vitamins and minerals and are rich sources of dietary fiber. Sugars, except for those in fruits, are usually empty calories. Only plant foods supply carbohydrates, with the exception of lactose, a sugar in milk. Unrefined plant foods have fibers, and only plant foods bring antioxidants into the diet.

Vitamins and Minerals: If one eats a balanced diet, full of the appropriate amounts of protein; good fats, primarily monounsaturated and omega-3s; and whole grains, legumes, and adequate vegetables and fruits, it is almost impossible not to obtain adequate micronutrients. However, if you’re not eating a balanced diet, you might try a “whole-food” multivitamin.

A = A Good Multivitamin

According to a 2002 review conducted by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the use of multivitamin and mineral supplements by the elderly could improve immune function, reduce the risk of infectious disease and cut the number of days spent sick. If women of child-bearing age took a multivitamin containing folic acid, the incidence of neural tube birth defects could be reduced by as much as 70 percent. And the amount of money spent yearly on health care costs could be substantially reduced as well.

A good multivitamin will help your body in any number of ways by providing a supplemental source for the vitamins we can’t produce internally, and by giving us a potent blend of antioxidant-rich ingredients from naturally grown and organic fruits, vegetables, tonic mushrooms, sea vegetables and other botanicals. A better multivitamin can also be made with living nutrients that help the body to better absorb and use amino acids, probiotics and prebiotics.

A good one to try: Living Multi from Garden of Life. It contains just about everything you could possibly need in a multivitamin. It’s a broad-based, whole food vitamin and mineral supplement containing 7 fruits, 20 vegetables, 11 tonic mushrooms, 8 sea vegetables, 9 botanicals and ionic trace minerals. It’s also available in a men’s formula with bee pollen and more for prostate health, and in a women’s formula with folic acid and iron.

B = Basic Digestion for Good Health

Nutritional supplements have come a long way since vitamins and minerals were first identified at the beginning of the twentieth century. Since then, industrial chemistry has stepped in to create new, more powerful generations of vitamins that are hundreds of times more potent than what the body can get from food. But these are often artificially produced. Garden of Life has created a probiotic fermentation process using living probiotic organisms and their enzymes to transform nutrients into bioactive forms that your body can easily assimilate. They call it Poten-Zyme™, and it’s a potent way to give your body what it needs, in the most natural way possible: through fermentation, which is also a natural part of the digestive process. In fact, a healthy body contains more probiotic microorganisms in the digestive tract than total cells in the body. The Poten-Zyme process brings you the benefits of fermentation and it does so in two phases.

In phase one, probiotic microorganisms are introduced into a base vitamin and mineral blend where they break down the cell walls of nutrients, making them easier to absorb and digest. In phase two, probiotic cultures like Lactobacillus plantarum are introduced, producing lactic acid and acting as chelating agents to complete the assimilation of nutrients into food form. The result: predigested living foods or nutrients that are much more body-friendly and thus more body-healthy.

C = Complements Not Condiments

Your health plan should also include foods to help you maintain a healthy weight.

Perfect Meal is a high-protein and high-fiber drink (available in creamy vanilla and milk chocolate) designed to be used as a meal supplement. It provides a multifaceted approach to healthy weight management with the proprietary Fibertrol™ along with Native Whey to help you consume fewer calories between meals. Each glass also includes a Glycemic Balance Blend, slowing the digestion of carbohydrates while helping to maintain already healthy blood sugar metabolism and glycemic response for balanced energy. It even contains a probiotic blend to support your digestive system.

“More and more consumers realize that a good diet is essential to good health,” explains Dr. Joseph Brasco, a board-certified physician in gastroenterology and internal medicine. “However, most consumers are still new to the idea of probiotics. The one thing they need to know is that as the health of the GI tract goes, so goes the rest of the body.”

Also look to Garden of Life for their wonderful Olde Icelandic cod liver oil (deliciously lemon flavored); certified organic virgin coconut oil; super green food Perfect Food; probiotic Primal Defense; and their certified organic green tea.

With these kinds of complements to your diet, you’ll soon be hearing “wow, you look great!” kinds of compliments, too.

Now you know your A-B-Cs of better health!

Resources

Garden of Life has quickly become a leading supplier of organic probiotic whole food nutritional products including: coconut oil, honey, Icelandic cod liver oil—and Primal Defense and Perfect Food continue to dominate their categories for probiotics and green foods. This is a company that is completely wind powered and printing all of its catalogs on completely recycled paper with soy inks. Their CEO Greg Horn is a leading green advocate and author of Living Green: A Guide to Simple Sustainability - (click here for book review).

Garden of Life natural products and supplements combine the best of nature and science and offer a proven path to healthier living. Supported by education and constant innovations, the more than 40 products offered assist each individual in taking control of their own health with lifestyle changes and advanced nutrition. For more product information, Click Here.

Note: Statements in this article have not been evaluated by the FDA. This information is for informational and educational purposes only. We make no medical or curative claims. If you are dealing with any health condition, it is advised to see your health care practitioner.