Life Balances: Nutritional Supplementation For The Biochemical Individual

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Nutritional Supplementation For The Biochemical Individual

Consumers are being bombarded with advertising, medical studies and word-of-mouth wisdom about vitamin and mineral supplements. Almost every week a new scientific study proclaims the virtues of vitamin this or that.

Determining what to take and how much can be difficult. Adequate daily amounts of vitamins and minerals are based on the Recommended Dietary Allowances, or RDAs, the national guidelines on nutrition published by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

RDA's are also used to set standards in many programs, like public school lunches and Meals On Wheels. But many nutritional scientists consider them to be out of sync with the needs of many Americans. At least partly in response, the Food and Nutrition Board is currently working on RDA revisions. The RDA takes the stand of the mythical "average" that was created from a lot of scientific and mathematical "averages" computed from a group of people somewhere on the planet. Averages have become grossly oversimplified, where fixed but arbitrary set points have been established for a variety of factors.

So, many consumers today take vitamins and minerals in amounts that far exceed the recommended doses to prevent chronic illnesses, like heart disease, and they rarely have reliable sources for direction.

For years, groups like the American Medical Association and the American Dietetic Association have recommended getting nutrients from food, rather than from supplements. And until recently, few doctors took nutrition seriously. Medical authorities could get away with saying "There's no scientific evidence that X is so." What that really means is, "I haven't read the literature but I'm a doctor." Today the public is often better informed than their doctors.

The fact is food alone cannot supply some nutrients in amounts sufficient to prevent disease. For example, vitamin E at levels considerably higher than the current RDA has been linked by a number of researchers with the prevention of heart disease and improved immune function.

Calcium-fortified orange juice, Vitamin-enhanced waters, Fortified cereals and energy bars. Everywhere you turn, new products are showing up on supermarket shelves touting added vitamins and minerals.

If you already take a multi-vitamin and mineral tablet, add a calcium or vitamin E supplement on top of that, and eat a few fortified food products along with a fairly healthy diet, you are now out of balance with too many vitamins and minerals.

Americans tend to think that more is better, or that if it's natural, it can't harm you, and that is particularly true when it comes to vitamins and minerals. But that's not always the case. Some people habitually overdo it with vitamins and minerals and suffer the consequences.

Professional athletes frequently go beyond recommendations for vitamins and minerals in an effort to boost performance.

We add vitamins A and D to milk, B vitamins and folic acid to grain products. These are public health approaches that underwent a lot of scrutiny because people are quite simply not getting enough through their typical diet and because of that are at risk for deficiencies.

The National Academy of Sciences has determined upper limits for most vitamins and minerals. This is the maximum -- not the recommended -- amount people can safely take without ill side effects. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is the minimum amount of vitamins and minerals you should strive to get each day -- preferably through food but supplements as well, if needed. And research has shown that the RDA is not necessarily the optimal amount. Many researchers believe that the amounts for certain vitamins and minerals -- such as the antioxidant vitamins C and E should be higher to help prevent disease.

Most people think if they take too many water soluble vitamins (like B vitamins and vitamin C) they will just get washed out in the urine, this is true, but it can put extra stress on the kidneys and liver. A more serious problem with water soluble vitamin B6, is that, over time, it can cause nerve damage if taken in excessive amounts.

Vitamin C is another that people tend to take in large quantities, mainly in the form of supplements, and often in an attempt to stave off colds and illness. But at 2,000 milligrams or greater, it can cause digestive upset, and people don't typically associate stomach upset with the fact that they are taking vitamin C. Vitamin C enhances iron absorption and research has shown excess amounts may increase the risk of liver cancer and heart disease in people with iron overload.

Everyone understands and agrees that over consumption of vitamin A is the most dangerous. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to do by eating foods but easily accomplished if taking excessive amounts of supplements. The window of safety for vitamin A is the most narrow of all the vitamins. Some research suggest that consuming just two to three times the RDA may be dangerous. And that in high amounts, beta carotene (a precursor to vitamin A) has shown to promote incidence of lung cancer and fatal heart disease in smokers; in pregnant women, excess consumption carries a risk of fetal malformations.

Because vitamin A and its precursors are found in different forms -- retinol, provitamin A carotenoids like beta carotene among them -- consumers may not be aware of their consumption levels. Some supplements will list the form of vitamin A, so it helps to read the label to know how much you are getting.

Then there is solving the when and what to eat riddle surrounding eating and exercise involves knowing how fast or slow your body processes food. Each biochemical individual digests and processes food at a different rate.

Fast processors digest their food at a world record pace. They can eat a large meal and be hungry within 1 to 3 hours. These biochemical individuals have difficulty sustaining normal blood sugar levels, similar to individuals with hypoglycemia.

When a fast processor becomes hungry, their personality will rapidly change from Jeckyl to Hyde. It's important that they eat soon or shakiness, anger, frustration, confusion and severe sugar craving occur.

Medium processors, can eat a large meal and be ready to eat again within 3 to 4 hours. They don't undergo such a dramatic personality shift as the fast processors, and eating quickly recharges their energy level and mood.

Fast and medium processors need to eat every 3 to 4 hours to keep their blood sugar levels from dropping. They should avoid exercising on an empty stomach.

It is important that they eat a meal within 3 hours or a snack within 2 hours before exercising. Carbohydrates such as bread, cereal, pasta, potato and fruit do not sustain their blood sugar levels long enough to survive most exercise sessions. Meals or snacks should contain a carbohydrate, protein and healthful fat source for sustained energy levels.

Examples of appropriate snacks for the above individuals: one ounce of cheese and a piece of fruit, or one handful of nuts and a small handful of crackers; half a bagel and one to two tablespoons of peanut butter; a cup of grapes and one or two ounces of lean meat; a cup of baby carrots and a quarter cup hummus; a hard boiled egg and a handful of crackers; half a cup cottage cheese and half a cup fruit; or a high protein energy bar.

Slow processors are genetically geared to survive for long stretches of time without food. Eating a meal or snack before exercise is not imperative for these individuals. They can follow a low-fat eating plan and feel satisfied most of the time. A slow processor doesn't require the combination of a carbohydrate with a protein and/or fat.

To prevent slow processors from overeating at night, they need to eat a breakfast, lunch and dinner. This speeds up their metabolism and decreases their need for a large dinner.

By continuing to follow established dietary patterns, an individual or an entire family soon develops long term deficiencies and excesses. Most people repeat basically the same diet over months and years, often extending to generations.

The balanced diet one size fits all is a myth. There is only biochemical individual balanced diets. So we are back to genetics. Our genes determine the chromosomes, and the latter are responsible for the presence and efficiency of the body's enzyme systems. If the enzymes do not function, one will develop a diagnosable disease, usually one that is lurking in the family background. If we could discover the weak enzyme then we could be more specific in the application of the appropriate vitamin or mineral to make that enzyme function more efficiently.

The olfactory or smelling sense helps to indicate deficiencies or excesses. John L. Kitkoski spent considerable time and effort to find the key to a spectrum for dietary supplementation selection system and a methodology following human olfactory (smell). When you open a bottle of smell sensitive dietary supplement, what you smell is what is on the label. What you smell is what you get. Many people like the smell of a particular vitamin or mineral and yet they have no symptoms suggesting a deficiency. It suggests, however, that some problem is on its way.

As biochemical individuals there is no "one symptom means one deficiency" method. Illness is not a particular vitamin or mineral deficiency but a complex relationship between ratios.

Each human individual has quantitatively a distinctive pattern of nutritional needs from individual to individual, specific needs may vary several fold. The need is dependent upon the metabolism of the individual. Vitamins and minerals are not stored to any great extent, so they need to be replaced almost daily.

John L. Kitkoski developed a methodology for biochemical individuality whereas, an order for dietary supplementation is based on a selection system by following individual olfactory (smell) protocol. This system will aid a person in taking dietary supplements based on their biochemical individuality. The methodology comprises of smell sensitive dietary supplements set out in an order following human olfactory (smell) and human body absorption rates. The basic component of the methodology consist of a self administered approach to correcting vitamin and mineral deficiencies, dependencies, or imbalances.

Numerical indica smell table is used for each person to score each smell sensitive dietary supplement, with a score of one through five take one smell sensitive dietary supplement or a score of five through ten do not take said smell sensitive dietary supplement. Numerical indicia score is used to indicate how often a person is to go through the system: with a score of said smell sensitive dietary supplements of one's an individual is to go through the entire system three times a day. Score smell sensitive dietary supplements a two but no scores of one, individual goes through the entire system twice a day. Score smell sensitive dietary supplements three, individual can go through the system once a day. With all scores of four's and five's a person can go through the system three times a week and with score's of six through ten the person goes through the system one time a week.

Life Balances is the only self directed health program in America today. The program is built in and around the biochemical individual.

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