Nutritional deficiencies are a dime a dozen these days. More and more people are discovering that they are deficient in one or perhaps some of the essential nutrients that our bodies need to function properly. The reason: our diet. The food we eat today is not the same as it was 100 years ago. Today we go to a fast food chain and have a cheeseburger, fries and a coke whereas in the old days the farmer had to slaughter the cow to get the meat for the wife to cook, the wife picked the vegetables from her garden and she would prepare a homemade meal with the warmth of her home. The nutritional value of food today is so inadequate that it causes symptoms of obesity, fatigue, and weakness, and leaves us at risk for various chronic and systemic diseases.

Although most people know that fast food, junk food, and restaurant food is unhealthy, they still eat there. If they didn’t, McDonalds wouldn’t be the number one fast food restaurant in the world. People love the taste of greasy, fried, sugar-filled foods. So if we can’t give up our forms of fast food, how are people going to get their essential nutrients?

Nutritional supplementation has been around for some time and has really started to catch on with the recent influx of obesity, chronic and health related diseases. Whether you choose not to change your diet or live in an area where you lack the resources for essential nutrients or need to increase your essential nutrients because they were lacking, nutritional and dietary supplementation has become a huge market around the world. There are thousands upon thousands of nutritional products on the market today.

In the United States, nutritional supplementation is regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), although under different guidelines than regular foods and drugs. A dietary supplement is defined by its ingredients, such as a vitamin, mineral, herb, botanical, amino acid, concentrate, metabolite, constituent, or extract. Additionally, the supplementation must be intended for ingestion in the form of a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid and be labeled as a dietary supplement. Nutritional supplements do not need prior approval from the FDA before entering the market, and as long as the manufacturer makes no claims about treating, preventing, or curing disease in their products, the FDA cannot exercise authority over the supplementation. That said, the quality of some dietary supplements is not what they say it is and false labeling is not uncommon. Therefore, it is recommended to purchase the nutritional supplements from your doctor to obtain the best and highest quality.

So what kind of supplements do you need and where can you get them? Without specific tests to detect nutritional deficiencies, there is no exact way to know what types of nutritional supplements you should take. However, due to the lack of nutritional value in the foods most people eat today, taking a multivitamin and fish oil is a smart choice. There are tons of different brands of multivitamins that come in a variety of pills, tablets, powders, and liquids. Always check the ingredient list before taking a multivitamin. Make sure the ingredients do not include additives or dyes. Also, finding a fish oil (omega 3, 6, 9) that doesn’t taste or smell fishy can be difficult. Check with your nutritionist, chiropractor, acupuncturist, herbalist, or doctor for brand recommendations. Other common deficiencies include vitamin B12 and B complex, which help regulate brain and nervous system function. Also, vitamin D has become a common deficiency due to lack of sun, because people work long hours and don’t go out.

The best nutritional supplements are easily absorbed into the body. They have no additives, flavors, colors, or dyes, and they have very few ingredients, primarily the vitamin, mineral, or supplement that you’re deficient in. Avoid supplements with a long list of ingredients you’ve never heard of. If you have questions about the ingredients, check with your doctor before purchasing the supplement.