Most Important Supplements for Health and Well-Being

Health supplements are abundant in today's world. It is incredible that so many people now have access to essential vitamins and minerals that they may not be getting from their diet. Unfortunately, the quality of supplements on the market today varies tremendously. Furthermore, there is so much conflicting information about health supplements that many people are confused and overwhelmed about what supplements to take. Therefore, we want to clear the air on this topic and share what we know to be the five most essential supplements for overall health and well-being.

 

There are many different uses for health supplements, and what supplement is best for you depends primarily on your circumstances and individual health goals. Everyone needs certain essential nutrients, and many people tend to be deficient.

 

Supplementing these nutrients can ensure that your body meets its nutritional needs each day, allowing it to operate at its best. The difference one feels in their health and well-being when getting everything they need is significant. In our experience and research, the following nutrients are the most beneficial nutrients to supplement with:

 

1. Trace Minerals

 

 

For many reasons, a high-quality trace mineral supplement tops our list as the most important nutritional supplement to take. In the context of nutrition, a mineral is defined as a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life. There are over 90 elements that make up the earth, and every one of them is a constituent of the body. These minerals, metals, and trace elements are broken down and used by the body for many chemical processes. They are also inorganic materials that help build muscle, nerve, brain, connective tissue, bone, cartilage, hair, etc. 

 

In other words, almost every body cell is dependent on minerals. Therefore, we must constantly be replacing minerals to maintain the body's homeostasis or balance. To do this, we must continuously ingest minerals in forms that the body can access and utilize. 

 

Not only are minerals needed for many vital functions in the body, but many people are deficient in trace minerals today due to the degradation of soil health. In the past, we received many of our minerals from the food we consumed, as the soil it grew in was rich and healthy. Nowadays, much of the soil has been depleted through pesticides, overtilling, and other poor agricultural practices, and the nutritional quality of food has also decreased. 

 

A geologist named David Thomas analyzed data from McCance and Widdowson's epic work "The Composition of Foods," a reference manual republished and updated by government biochemists every few years. During 51 years, potatoes appeared to have lost 47 percent of their copper, 45 percent of their iron, and 35 percent of their calcium, while carrots showed even more significant declines. Broccoli, a food rich in micronutrients and antioxidants, suffered an 80 percent drop in copper. At the same time, calcium content was a quarter of what it had been in 1940, a pattern repeated in tomatoes. 

 

As Thomas pointed out, "you would need to eat ten tomatoes in 1991 to have obtained the same copper intake as from one tomato in 1940." This was a statement based on Thomas's research over thirty years ago. Unfortunately, since that time, the soil quality of many large agricultural farms and producers has continued to decline, along with the mineral and nutrient content of the food. 

 

For this reason, we recommend supplementing with trace minerals to ensure you receive an adequate amount in your diet. Our Fulvic Acid & Trace Ocean Minerals tonic is a powerful mineral formula extracted from deep ocean soil that is free of contamination. We combine our trace minerals with fulvic acid, which helps to enhance the absorption of minerals into cells and has a range of health benefits on its own. This formula is packed with 70+ trace minerals. It can be added to purified or distilled drinking water to provide the body with essential minerals. 

 

2. Amino Acids

 

 

Amino acids are also a very beneficial nutritional supplement—but only if they are produced correctly. Unfortunately, most amino acids on the market today are cheaply made. As a result, they are difficult to absorb and utilize by the body.

 

There is much misunderstanding today about what proteins are. But, people know they need to get enough protein in their diet. Moreover, that protein plays a crucial role in muscle development, which is usually the extent of common knowledge around proteins. 

 

Proteins are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body. They do most of the work in cells and are required to structure, function, and regulate the body's tissues and organs.

 

When we eat meat, chicken, fish, lentils, beans, and wheat germ, we are not eating protein but complete or incomplete proteins from which the body has to extract amino acids. Only when the individual amino acids have entered the bloodstream and arrived in the liver through the small intestine can the liver produce the body's proteins. Complete proteins mean that the food contains all the essential amino acids the body must ingest before making its protein. 

 

There are nine essential amino acids, including: 

• L-lysine
• L-leucine
• L-isoleucine
• L-methionine
• L-phenylalanine
• L-threonine
• L-tryptophan
• L-valine
• L-histidine

 

Incomplete proteins are foods that lack all the essential amino acids. Once the liver has the essential amino acids available, it can produce the nonessential amino acids, which include: 

• L-alanine
• L-arginine
• L-asparagine
• aspartic acid
• L-cysteine
• glutamic acid
• L-glutamine
• L-glycine
• L-proline
• L-serine
• L-tyrosine

 

Next to water, protein comprises the largest part of the body's weight and substance. It is the nucleus of all cell structures, including those that build our bones, muscles, tendons, internal organs, nails, hair, glandular function, enzymes, etc. Almost every conceivable structure and function of the body requires these fundamental building blocks known as amino acids. Amino acids are the body's fundamental biochemical structures for cell growth, hormones, enzymes, and the immune system. 

 

Unfortunately, many people are not getting these essential amino acids in their diet. Furthermore, many people have diets that cause inflammation in the gut, poorly combined foods, and consume processed or devitalized foods that interfere with digestion and absorption of nutrients. As a result, amino acid deficiency has become increasingly common. 

 

The body must be given ample time to digest and break down proteins; otherwise, the food putrefies and can toxify the body. Our Zuma Nutrition team has created a special formula, our Complete Amino Acid Complex, that features the correct combination of amino acids in the correct form so that your body can absorb them instantaneously, not requiring digestion. Many amino acid complexes are manufactured overseas and feature the wrong forms of aromatic and sulfur-based amino acids. Our team developed this formula with one goal, to create the highest quality amino acid complex on the US market. 

 

3. Vitamin B & C Blend

 

 

B vitamins are a group of eight essential nutrients that play critical roles in many organs and bodily systems. Vitamin C is another essential nutrient that acts as an immune-boosting antioxidant and is needed for many cellular processes in the body. Aside from being essential nutrients, B vitamins and vitamin C have something else in common—they are water-soluble nutrients.

 

Water soluble nutrients are not stored in the body like fat-soluble nutrients are. Instead, the body uses what it can from these nutrients when we consume them, eliminating them. There is no reserve of these nutrients in the body, so we must continually get them from food daily.

 

Furthermore, vitamin C is an essential antioxidant that fights free radicals and protects our cells from oxidative damage. If we are exposed to many free radicals—from cigarette smoke, burnt food, exhaust fumes, and other forms of pollution—our vitamin C supply quickly gets used up. This means we need to consume even more of it to stay protected.

 

Most people are not getting enough B vitamins or vitamin C in their diet. By supplementing with a Vitamin B and C Blend, you can ensure you get the amount of these nutrients you need each day.

 

 

4. Zinc from a Whole Food Source

 

 

Zinc is an essential mineral that is vital for immune system function. It helps your body fight off invading pathogens and plays a vital role in making proteins and DNA, the genetic material inside all your cells. As an antioxidant, zinc is essential for healthy aging. It supports the body's ability to repair everyday "wear and tear" on DNA caused by environmental factors such as harmful toxins, free radicals, poor diet, alcohol, and stress. 

 

 Due to the rise of industrial agriculture, many soils are now depleted of essential minerals like zinc. This makes it harder to get zinc from our diet. Zinc is also found mainly in animal foods, so people following a plant-based diet are at a much greater risk of zinc deficiency.

 

While supplementing with zinc can be highly beneficial, it is essential to use a supplement that contains a whole food source of zinc. In addition, manufactured zinc supplements are often complex for the body to recognize and adequately utilize—not to mention that many are poorly made and often more toxic than healthy.

 

Our Liposomal Guava Leaf Zinc tonic is a unique supplement that offers a plant-derived source of zinc in the most bioavailable form the body can receive. Zinc from a whole food source like guava leaf is much better for the body than an inorganic zinc extract. 

 

5. Magnesium

 

 

Magnesium is an essential mineral involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions. For example, it is critical for muscle function. It helps the heart beat rhythmically by allowing it to relax between beats and all other muscles. Magnesium also assists in calcium's bone production, regulates the production of energy, body protein, and muscle contractions, and is involved in many other essential body functions.

 

Like the other nutrients mentioned in this article, magnesium is a mineral in which many people are also deficient. Magnesium deficiency can result in fatigue, weakness, muscle spasms, sleepiness, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains, and many other symptoms.

 

Supplementing with magnesium is a great way to ensure that you are meeting your daily magnesium needs and can provide you with more energy, better sleep, better digestion, and a range of other health benefits.

 

Different forms of magnesium differ in their absorbability and specific uses. The best overall magnesium supplement to take for preventing deficiencies is a triple magnesium supplement consisting of three forms of magnesium—citrate, glycinate, and malate. The most common magnesium supplements are magnesium citrate, magnesium oxide, and magnesium glycinate.

 

Summary

 

Our body depends on many different nutrients to function correctly. Not getting these nutrients daily interferes with our body's function and can lead to poor health and disease. On the other hand, when we give our body the nutrients it needs, we can feel the difference and often have enhanced energy levels, mood, and overall well-being.

 

While getting all of our essential nutrients from food is possible, it can be difficult. We need to supply our body with the nutrients it needs daily. Unfortunately, this is not always possible or practical for some people. Nutritional supplements can be a great solution that allows us to quickly and efficiently meet our nutritional needs each day.

 

The nutrients that most people are commonly deficient in are:

 

• Trace minerals
• Amino acids
• B vitamins
• Vitamin C
• Zinc
• Magnesium

 

For this reason, we recommend these as the most important supplements for overall health and well-being. Of course, ensuring that you get these nutrients from quality sources is essential. Additionally, we always encourage people to get as many nutrients as they can from whole organic foods. Supplements are best used with a nutritious diet, not as a replacement for healthy foods. 

 

Many people underestimate the value of meeting their nutritional needs each day. When you give your body everything it needs to function correctly, you can experience excellent health, vitality, and well-being. 

 

 

 

 

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6893782/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218735/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/026010600301700201

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557845/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31644020/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499877/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK547698/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519036/