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Don't get me wrong, I still take supplements when I'm short on time or food, but it's merely a substitute. It won't hurt people to take normal protein supplements for example, if they are workout junkies, or a multi-vitamin at the beginning of the day. But supplements are just that - supplementing a lack of vitamins and minerals that should already be included in everyone's diet.
Most Americans don't incorporate enough vegetables and fruits - or at least enough of a variety of them - into their diets.
With protein, at least people are probably already getting a lot of it if you are a regular meat eater.
In my case, I make egg whites for breakfast about every other day. Then I try to get a variety of fish whenever I can because they are high on the protein and lean on the fat.
A lot of multi-vitamins actually come with stuff that you already get plenty of. Multivitamins for kids and adults come with a 100 percent daily dose of iodine. If one were to pay attention to what most Americans eat, a lot of food - especially snacks - have heavy amounts of salt in them. I've read that most salted foods contain iodized salts, because it makes it easier for these foods to be preserved and or microwaved. The point is, the last thing we need is more iodine.
One reason people might take supplements instead of vitamin-enriched food is it cuts down on calories for certain people who concern themselves with a low-calorie diet.
A low-calorie diet really doesn't make sense. If the number of calories are cut down, the metabolism slows, and that doesn't help anyone feel healthier or lose weight.
But honestly, I can preach all I want about fruits and vegetables, but Americans don't eat veggies-mostly because they are raised to believe that they aren't fun to eat.
We have to suffer through salads to get to the fun main course. That's a bit of a skewed, backwards mentality, but it's the case for so many people.
Here's a great compromise for me - a way to get as many fruits and veggies into my diet without having to plan them in meals. The answer is green smoothies.
Green smoothies are made by grabbing an assortment of fruits, vegetables and other stuff to round out the taste and texture of the drink, throwing it all into a blender and drinking the product.
I'm not going to list a recipe for green smoothies, because it should be custom made according to someone's liking. The trick is finding a balance in tastes between the weird-tasting vegetable cocktail and the sweet fruits. Sometimes it will even out the taste if you add natural healthy sweeteners such as honey, cinnamon or ginger.
With green smoothies, I throw in all the leafy greens and vegetables I would have otherwise ignored because of the bland taste. Broccoli - even steamed broccoli - I hated it growing up, I guess like most kids. Now that I prepare my own meals, I never think to make it, so instead I make it a smoothie staple. So is spinach, certain types of lettuce, beats and carrots.
Personally, I like to add organic flax seeds from my local health food store into the mix. By themselves they probably taste awful, but ground up into a bunch of fruit and veggies makes it tolerable to put down, and it adds to the texture of the smoothie.
Graham Beckwith is The Lantern's Arts & Life Editor. For questions, comments or health suggestions, you can reach him at beckwith.29@osu.edu.
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