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You Are What You Absorb

Over the last twenty years, the concept of disease prevention really grew up. In the late 1970's people who took vitamins and ate organically grown foods were often referred to as "health nuts". But all that is changing. In 1993 a startling fact regarding alternative medicine emerged. For the first time ever, Americans made more visits to alternative health practitioners than to "traditional" physicians (medical doctors and osteopaths).

Leading the charge for alternative medicine was the idea of consuming nutritional supplements. The American diet consists of very little fresh fruits and vegetables. We find convenient foods-microwaved, frozen, pasteurized, and canned items don't contain the necessary nutrients to help us lead vibrant, healthy lives. That is why vitamins and minerals are no longer taboo. In fact, the best selling pill in 1997 was not aspirin, Prozac, or the stimulant Ritalin. Centrum and Theragran M vitamin pills were the LEADERS and have contributed significantly to the multibillion dollar nutritional supplement industry. Now for the bad news. The problem with these pills is that they are poorly absorbed into the body.

Undigested vitamin/mineral pills don't help us to receive the intended benefit-to fuel the body toward health, and may create other snags. Each month in Tacoma, Washington 165 thousand pounds of undigested vitamin and mineral pills are pulled out of the sewers. The filters in Salt Lake City, Utah are clogged with over 150 gallons of these pills each month. The reason: metal based minerals (like oyster shells), and essentially mini "rocks" are in the pills, and our bodies can't digest them efficiently. According to the Physician's Desk Reference, only about 10-20 percent of pills are absorbed. What does that mean to you, the consumer? If you spend $50 dollars a month on vitamin/mineral pills, then $40-$45 of it is may end up in your septic system!

So now that we know that the vitamin pills are not well absorbed by the body, what do we do? Our bodies are able to absorb 98 percent of liquid nutritional supplements! Folks with digestive disorders like ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel, diverticulitis, and hernias can tolerate the liquids because they are easily absorbed and don't irritate the digestive tract.

The best sources are derived from sea vegetation that is organic-no pesticides or toxins should be used on them. Our bodies contain water that is very similar to sea water. The sodium, calcium, potassium, and sulfur contents of sea water is very easily recognized and absorbed by our systems. Our money is much better spent on those products that get into our blood streams to help us lead healthy, productive lives. The old saying "you are what you eat" is becoming outmoded. "You are what you absorb" seems to be more accurate.