Unfortunately, a "well balanced" diet is a myth for most Australians, despite the abundance of fresh food available to us. Added to that, our knowledge of nutrition is a melding of folklore and science, generating many half truths and misconceptions.

Our government and much of the medical community insist supplementation is unnecessary, if we follow the Food Pyramid and get the RDI’s of basic nutrients. It is important to realise that the RDI’s are set to prevent nutritional deficiencies, not create optimal health, slow down the onset of age-related diseases or help us perform at our athletic best.

We are by no means eating ourselves to a life full of energy and well being! The National Nutrition Survey in 1995 discovered some very sobering facts. Over half of males aged 12 - 44 years old and one third of children aged 4 - 11 years had not eaten fruit the day prior to the interview. Calcium intake in women for most age groups was lower than the RDI. And another broader study in the US (their diets are similar to ours here in Australia) found that, in the 21, 000 people questioned, not one received 100% of the recommended daily allowance for just 10 basic nutrients!

Research is showing us that we require vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and phytonutrients in amounts that cannot be provided by diet alone. Here are some reasons why-

1. Nutrient content of our food is greatly diminished from decades ago, due to mineral depleted soils, mass produced methods of ripening, storing , cooking, freezing, pasteurisation and many other practices of modern food processing. For example, stored grapes lose up to 30% of their vitamin B content and tangerines stored for 8 weeks can lose almost half of their vitamin C. Anytime you eat an apple and it turns brown within a few minutes, remember that the apple has oxidised and lost some of its vitamins during storage.
2. Poor food selections, lack of variety and calorie restrictions go hand-in-hand with vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
3. Smoking and drinking alcohol deplete the body’s nutritional stores.
4. Many drugs and over the counter medications interfere with absorption of nutrients.
5. Stress affects body chemistry and increases the need for various nutrients
6. Pesticides and antibiotics are overused in our meat and agricultural industries. All these put an added burden on our body and require extra nutrients to deal with their elimination and detoxification.

It is also important to realise that nutrients work only by interacting with other nutrients, and in amounts that balance each other. It is these multiple interactions that create an optimal response. Thus, supplementing with single nutrients is grossly inefficient. A daily supplement containing a scientifically balanced formulation of vitamins, minerals, broad spectrum anti-oxidants and phytonutrients is advised.

For the athlete, additional vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants are required for extra energy production, as well as to counteract the deluge of free radicals produced that can hinder performance and slow down recovery time.

So how do you now choose the right supplement for your needs knowing that health food stores today present an array of products all claiming to be the best? How do you know which are potent, which are made from the most absorbable forms and is formulated in accordance to scientific data? By asking questions! Don’t just accept some smart advertising jargon as a guarantee of quality.