Why Supplements Are Necessary -- And Introducing the Optimum Daily Allowances

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I hear it all the time from my patients: "Dr. Smith, I'm eating just like you told me to -- lots of grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables, nothing fatty or sugary. Now you're recommending supplements, too? Taking so many pills just doesn't seem natural. If Mother Nature felt I needed extra nutrients, wouldn't she have put them in my food?"

It's a perfectly valid question, and one which you may have wondered about at one time or another. I'll tell you exactly what I tell my patients: If you want to fight disease and achieve maximum life span, you can't do it with diet alone. You need the extra nutritional boost that only supplements can provide.

Lots of folks take supplements nowadays. For as many as 40 percent of American adults -- about 100 million of us -- these pills have become nutritional staples. They're also the backbone of a thriving, $10-billion-per-year industry.

In many ways, supplements are to humans what fertilizer is to plants. Give a plant adequate amounts of sunlight and water, and it will survive. Add some nutrient-rich fertilizer (organic, of course), and the plant will thrive.

For us humans, the same principle applies. A healthful, balanced diet supplies the body with sufficient nutrients to carry out routine tasks. Supplements such as vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, phytochemicals, and more enrich the body's internal environment to fortify cellular protection, repair, and regeneration and support the Renewal process.

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