Lost in the Vitamin Aisle
Vitamin aisles in natural food stores now have entire sections devoted to natural nutrition under the general heading of Green Foods. Words such as wheatgrass, barleygrass, spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae, and kamut are becoming a part of the American (and global) dietary vocabulary. Treated as whole food supplements, these superfoods are filling the nutritional holes that are often left by busy schedules.
Remember as a child when your parents used to tell you to eat your veggies? You knew “veggies” were good for you, but spinach, broccoli, and cabbage never seemed to reach number one on your culinary hit parade. Then, as you grew, vegetables slowly did become more palatable. You began to look to them as an important source of nutrition. Somewhere, however, their place as a nutritional staple got lost amid hectic schedules and fast food offerings. You started taking multivitamins as a quick way to get the nutrients you knew you needed. But, in the back of your mind, you always had the feeling that there should be an easier, natural way to get vitamins, minerals, and fiber as part of your daily food intake.
Recently, studies have shown just how important vegetable-derived nutrition is to the daily diet. The U.S.D.A. now recommends eating 3-5 servings of vegetables a day. 92% of Americans, however, do not meet that goal. And today, it is difficult to find time to eat a well-balanced meal. Two income families, single parents, and single people often juggle different work, social, and recreational schedules. With so much to accomplish in the course of a day, it is no wonder that something has to give — and too frequently, a healthy diet is one of the first of these casualties to time. Gaining proper nutrition can be a struggle of self discipline.
For the past couple of decades, however, many companies in the natural foods industry have turned their attentions to supplying consumers with whole food nutrition. Vitamin aisles in natural food stores now have entire sections devoted to natural nutrition under the general heading of Green Foods. Words such as wheatgrass, barleygrass, spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae, and kamut are becoming a part of the American (and global) dietary vocabulary. Treated as whole food supplements, these superfoods are filling the nutritional holes that are often left by busy schedules.
The American Cancer Society calls food the best source of vitamins and minerals in that it provides potential cancer-protection benefits not offered by synthetic and isolated supplements(1). Many (if not all) of the vitamins and minerals found in other vegetables also appear in Green Foods.
And consumers have a wide variety from which to choose. To avoid the common problem of getting lost in the vitamin aisle, it may be necessary to do a bit of research. The small amount of time invested in this pursuit will certainly lead to a better understanding of good nutrition, and easy and effective ways to maintain it. The industry spends a large amount of its advertising dollars on consumer education. Sometimes simply calling the companies with questions and requesting product brochures and catalogs can be the surest means of obtaining up-to-date, reliable information. Many print sources also cover the industry with great care.
There are few excuses today for a person not to get the nutrition he or she requires. All that is necessary is the determination to make a healthy change, and a willingness to do a bit of research. With time constraints eliminated, there is nothing to lose and a healthy lifestyle to gain. Your parents would be proud.
(1) Eating Smart, p.13, c 1995, The American Cancer Society
AS SEEN IN World Health News, Summer 1997 / Written by Allen Levine
