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Supplementation: Is it Healthy or Harmful?

More and more people are using supplements to improve their health. This is a massive move with the global supplement market expected to reach $60 billion by 2020. This is a doubling from 2010.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the most commonly reported reasons for using supplements were to “improve” or “maintain” overall health. For instance, over one-third of women use calcium for bolstering bone health.

Suggested reasons for this increase are greater health awareness, rising medical costs and the increase in chronic conditions. Geographic issues are a part of the picture, too. In the U.S., rising medical costs are a major factor. In Asia, there is a growing geriatric population and Europe is experiencing an increase in chronic disease.

Other interesting statistics show that there is increased usage based upon education; the more educated the greater the use. Also, the greater the income, the higher the use of supplements.

50% of Americans take vitamins regularly. Some of this is blind belief, for there is evidence that many vitamin supplements are not properly absorbed by the body, so the value of the supplement is reduced or lost.

Your goal should be to make sure your supplements provide the nutritional value you are paying for. This is not an easy question to answer, for all supplements are not created equal. The mere ingestion of vitamins and minerals is not enough. The body must recognize and absorb the nutrients.

One American company has developed a patented process that allows the supplements to mimic nutrients found in nature. For instance, when plants absorb nutrients from soil, the vitamins and minerals are naturally integrated into the plant. This allows your body to naturally absorb the ingredients. Without this, many ‘pills’ are not absorbed and, in fact, create a build-up of unabsorbed material in the intestinal tract.

In the final analysis, supplement usage is increasing, and everyone should consider it as food supplies are processed and altered – no longer delivering the nutrition they once did. But, make sure your supplements are working to give you the benefit you need and not just passing through your body, not being properly absorbed.

Seek supplements that are proven to be effective and body-friendly.

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The Real Consequences of Sugar

Did you know you have about 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar in your 6 quarts of blood? If you drink a sweetened soda or juice with about 8 teaspoons of sugar and all that sugar went into your bloodstream, you could go into shock, a coma, and possibly die.

Fortunately, your body has protection devices. Your pancreas injects insulin into your blood to counteract the sugar. If it only happened occasionally it would be no big deal. However, with the diets that most of us now consume, our insulin levels are generally elevated.

Today’s diet is overloaded in both salt and sugar. We are addicted to sugar. In fact, the gut develops microbes that crave sugar and makes the urges to consume it even greater.

Insulin lets cells take in the sugar, but with too much sugar the excess gets converted to fat. The increased insulin levels also lead to higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure and a thickening of your arteries. This is what is called “fat-storage mode.” As blood sugar rises, the insulin tells your body to store fat, instead of using it. Hence, losing weight is even more difficult.

Also, your pancreas was not meant to produce this constant high level of insulin. It can wear out with heavy use and cannot make insulin fast enough to handle all the sugar. And when the sugar stays in the blood for too long it can bind with cell proteins and damage them.

In the final analysis, sugar increases insulin production which contributes to both obesity and diabetes.

Of course, the goal is to remain in “fat-reduction mode.” By keeping your blood sugar levels balanced, you promote a healthy insulin response. As a result, your body uses up fat rather than storing it. Any efforts to lose weight are optimized and easier to achieve.

Great. Now, how do you do it?

The answers are simple, but not necessarily easy, since sugar is an addiction. Besides the obvious reduction of sugar intake, there is a remarkable product that helps to regulate blood sugar. That product, made by an American green manufacturing company, is called GC Control. The “GC” is short for glucose. This outstanding formulation provides natural blood sugar support, by helping your body remain in an optimal calorie-burning range by controlling carb and sugar cravings.