Why Supplement Your Diet?


"There is a compelling body of evidence that suggests that free-radical damage pathology is associated with many of the chronic diseases, e.g. cancer, heart disease, and degenerative eye disorders, such as cataracts and macular degeneration. The evidence that antioxidants may play a therapeutic role in promoting health and reducing the risk of several chronic diseases has been accumulating for over 30 years… Everyone should be taking antioxidants!"  Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg; professor of nutrition and Chief of the Antioxidant Research Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Boston

"Until quite recently, it was taught that everyone in this country gets enough vitamins from food, and that taking supplements just creates expensive urine. I think we now have proof that this is not true"
  Dr. Walter Willett; professor and expert in nutrition at Harvard University

"So what is a body to do? Yes, the good news is that we do not need to be at the mercy of the free radicals. We can get antioxidants in our diets of fruits and vegetables – at least 5 servings of each per day. RIGHT! How many of us actually get five servings of each every day? Not many, and even if you did, there is no way you would get enough of the antioxidants needed." "Supplementation is the answer but researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that "regular" multiple vitamin supplements do not contain enough antioxidant vitamins to confer a beneficial effect. You need to supplement your nutrition with the best antioxidants available that give the broadest spectrum of free radical protection."  Dr. John MacDonald, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist, USANA, Inc. A Very Small Sampling of Current Nutritional Research

Researchers at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom found that 2002 patients with advanced coronary disease were able to cut their risk of dying from heart attacks in half if the supplemented with 400 - 800 IU of vitamin E per day. Lancet, 1996;347:781-786

Researchers at the Cancer Bureau in Ottawa, Ontario, studied a group of 5,056 people over 15 years, and found that low blood levels of folic acid increased a person’s risk of dying from heart disease by 69%. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1996;275:1893-1896.

According to researchers at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, people with the highest consumption of bioflavonoids had a 69% decrease in heart disease, and a 50% reduction in death from heart disease, compared with those with the lowest intakes. British Medical Journal, 1996; 312-478

In a study involving 20,921 men, the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection in the Netherlands reported a reduction of blood pressure in those who consumed increased levels of calcium and magnesium. International Journal of Epidemiology, 1996; 24:1117-1123

Researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver reported that a combination of antioxidants worked better in suppressing tumor growth than any single antioxidant alone. Individual vitamins, such as vitamins E, C, A, and beta-carotene, each suppressed growth of cancer cells, especially beta-carotene. However, the best suppression occurred with a combination of all antioxidants. Nutrition and Cancer 1996; 26:11-19

Oxygen free radicals have been implicated as mediators of tissue disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It is possible that several micronutrients acting as free radical scavengers provide protection against rheumatoid arthritis. The results of the present study are in line with the hypothesis that a low antioxidant level is a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatoid Diseases, 1994; 53:51-53