Bikini bottom supplements?

• Author: Carmichael, Chris
• Position: NUTRITIONAL KNOW-HOW

THE ADS SCREAM about miraculous transformations, dozens of pounds lost, and renewed energy; many even feature the obligatory babe in a bikini or the guy with the rippling muscles as a preview of how their product will make you look. Yet, when it comes to health, weight loss, and performance, the food on your plate has more of an impact than anything you find in a supplement bottle.

Food supplies nutrients the way your body prefers to accept them: small to moderate amounts of a wide range of vitamins and minerals each time you eat. This works so well because each of these important compounds needs help getting into the body, and each relies on its own set of helpers. You know how the shuttle busses line up at the airport, each taking passengers to a different location? When 100 people arrive at the same time, the shuttle system works most efficiently if small groups gather at each bus. There are no delays; everybody gets a seat, and off you go. Supplements can cause the equivalent of a traveler's nightmare: 100 people trying to cram onto one shuttle bus while all the rest sit empty and waiting.

So, who cares if there is a bottleneck? The important thing is that the supplement gets into the body eventually, right? Well, that can be a problem, too. A sudden influx of one nutrient can upset the balance the body works so hard to maintain. Phosphorous is a good example. The body seeks a stable ratio between phosphorous and calcium and, if you overload on phosphorous, calcium is leeched from the bones to maintain the ratio.

Of course, the reason people are drown to supplements is that they feel like they simply are not getting enough good nutrition from food, or that supplements can make up for poor dietary habits. However, it is easy to get powerful nutrition from what we eat. Moreover, supplements cannot make up for poor habits. The following foods--as part of a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins--have been shown to provide more comprehensive benefits than the supplements that claim to mimic them.

Salmon. Populations that regularly eat salmon and other cold-water fish (cod, halibut, tuna) have lower rates of heart attacks and strokes, partly because these fish are rich in heart-healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. You also can get fish oil capsules as a supplement, but then you would miss out on the high-quality protein, zinc, and iron these fish also deliver. While omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids...