How many pills do you have to take every morning? Lots of multivitamins in there? For most people the answer is yes, considering there are more multivitamins sold than Prozac or Viagra!
I think my mom used to take at least five or six vitamins. I don’t know about you, but I think that sounds like a big hassle, and I don’t have time for it.
The thing is, vitamins and minerals are necessary. You can get most of your nutrients from eating a balanced diet which includes lots of fruits and vegetables, but you can’t get everything. That’s where vitamins come in.
You may be wondering, “Why do I actually need vitamins and minerals?” Let me tell you about the United States Senate Document #264 from way back in 1936.
The main point of the document is that the soil in developed countries, especially North America, has been nearly depleted of all important minerals. And this was in 1936! Thank about how bad it is now. We should be getting minerals from the foods we eat, but we aren’t. (Don’t worry, the end of the article has a solution.)
To quote directly from the document, “The alarming fact is that foods, fruits and vegetables and grains, now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contain enough of certain needed minerals, are starving us – no matter how much of them we eat!”
One mineral you’re probably familiar with is calcium. We need that for our bones. And since cycling is not a weight bearing sport, we need extra calcium. Calcium does more than build strong bones, however.
Read this interesting selection from the document for more detail:
“A cage full of normal rats will live in amity. Restrict their calcium and they will become irritable and draw apart from one another. Then they will begin to fight. Restore their calcium balance and they will grow more friendly; in time they will begin to sleep in a pile as before.”
Now we come to another important question: Do you have a dangerous mineral deficiency? For example, if you are deficient in selenium, you could experience an irregular heart beat, infertility, or muscular dystrophy. A deficiency in tin could lead to male pattern baldness. And a lack of lithium could cause reproductive failure. Yikes!
Hopefully you now realize the importance of vitamins and minerals in your diet. But you probably know how annoying it is to take pills. Well, what about liquid vitamins?
First off, let’s talk about absorption rates. In pill form, only 10-20% of the vitamins are absorbed. However, in liquid form, 98% are absorbed. (Think of taking pills as flushing 80-90% of your money down the toilet!) (1996 Physicians Desk Reference, p. 1542)
Along with actually working, liquid vitamins are easy to use. Just take a few sips, swish it around in your mouth, and swallow. That’s it.
Personally, I hate swallowing pills. I know some people who couldn’t swallow a pill to save their life. And I know people who pass pills through their system without breaking them down at all. However, everyone I know can swallow a liquid.
Not too long ago, Centrum actually came out with a liquid multivitamin because they could see the potential in this market. However, it is simply a multivitamin in liquid form. Wait… isn’t that what we wanted? Well, yes. But there is something even better.
Remember how I said it would be a good idea to get your nutrients from actual whole food? Now there’s a way to do that, but with a liquid.
What you want to look for is a “liquid whole food supplement.” It’s like a multivitamin, but with more capability to help you improve your health.
There are many options out there, so head to your favorite health store and pick one up!
This article was written by Levi Bloom in 2004 and originally appeared in the health and fitness articles on his site.
