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An Overview of Nutritional Supplementation
Summary Nutritional supplementation is often integrated into conventional medical treatment for some conditions. Pregnant women, for instance, are prescribed supplements with vitamin B and folates to help prevent neural tube defects in their unborn children. In many conditions where one of the symptoms is a deficiency of a particular nutrient, treatment includes supplementation of that nutrient. Many practitioners, however, believe that all people need to take nutritional supplements for optimum health. They maintain that it's impossible to consume a diet that provides all the necessary nutrients because of soil depletion, pollution, environmental contaminants and modern processing methods. In addition, there are many claims made for super supplementation as a treatment for some illnesses. These include recommendations of megadoses of antioxidant vitamins and minerals for prevention of cancer, treatment of diabetes or asthma or other chronic conditions. The Evidence In Favor None of this should come as a surprise. Our bodies depend on our intake of nutrients to create new cells and repair old ones. When we don’t provide enough of a needed nutrient, the result is substandard functioning. Nutritionists suggest that many of the diseases that are on the U.S. top killers list are simply the result of poor nutrition. The Criticism In an area as wide as this one, there is some truth to both criticisms. Unscrupulous advertisers make wild claims for some nutritional supplements with an eye on the consumer’s wallet rather than his health chart. Since nutritional supplements are considered to be ‘food’ rather than medicine, there is little oversight or testing required unless a product proves to be unsafe AFTER it is released. For this reason, it’s important that consumers do their research. Some nutritional supplements have a great deal of research to support their effectiveness. Others show no positive results at all. Likewise, some manufacturers scrupulously follow their own testing and packaging procedures to ensure that their product is effective, safe and uncontaminated. It’s only by doing your own research that you’ll know which is which. In addition, since many nutritional supplements can interfere with medications and treatments for illnesses and infections, it’s very important to discuss everything that you’re taking with your doctor.
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Acupuncture
Alternative Medicine Resources
Did You Know? HerbMed is a must visit website! It catalogues the efficiency of herbal treatments and shows you scientific research results where relevant as well as traditional uses for the herb. St John wort for example is historically used against depression but they have also found that it has in one test helped fight off specific viral infections. So if you want to try a herbal remedy of any kind, you can look it up here and see what the science says!
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Acupuncture
Alternative Medicine Resources
Did You Know?
Muscle Energy Techniques With CD-ROM Book Description |
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