Monday, April 5, 2010

Body Detoxification Process after taking Vitamins/Minerals

Many of us have had detox symptoms after starting USANA minerals and vitamins supplements. So why do we have it and what are the most common symptoms?

Your detoxification reaction will depend on a few things - 1) Your lifestyle and Diet, 2) Your sensitivity to the detox process and 3) The potency of the supplements you are taking.

So let us first understand why is there a detoxification process? Toxins enters our body through our lifestyle (eg: Smoking, drinking), environment (eg: smog, etc) and food and are accumulated throughout the years. Once the body gets better, either through lifestyle changes or any type of health improvement, it will start to get rid of the toxins. This process is called Detoxification. Eg: A smoker stops smoking, an alcoholic stops drinking or even a red meat eater turns vegetarian.

Taking minerals and vitamins supplements provide nutrients to your body. It will improve your health and consequently, your body may go through the detox process.

According to Dr. Ray Strand (http://www.raystrand.com/), the USANA supplements are extremely potent and it provides "optimal levels of nurtrients" to your body that it never had before and hence your body will start to get rid of the accumulated toxins.

Dr. Ray Strand states that the most common reactions of detox are
1. Muscle aches / Mild Headaches
2. Skin rash
3. Diarrhea

In the article "Detoxification and Possible Symptoms", Dr. John Mory suggested that when the body rids of its toxins, "before finding an exit, the toxins are released into the bloodstream, and are carried through the circulatory system". The elimination and exit of these toxins may result in the symptoms above described by Dr. Ray Strand.

These symptoms may not always start immediately after taking your first supplemental pill, instead, it may start a few days later or may be a week later. These symtpoms will usually go away after a few weeks after the body has cleanse itself.

If your reaction to the detox process is severe, Dr. Ray's suggestion is to reduce the dose of the supplements until you feel better and adding the supplements to the recommended doses gradually.

Please do consult your family doctor if you have any concerns. This blog is purely for informational purposes only. USANA nutritional products are highly potent and effective, so you should definitely clear it with your doctor first before taking them, if you have any existing health issues.

If you are interested in USANA's products, please visit http://jennylim.usana.com/.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Why do we need vitamins and other supplements

Why do we need to supplement our bodies with vitamin and other nutritionals. If we need food to maintain and grow, then the food we take daily should be sufficient in providing us with all we need. That may not be true, read on.

According to Nutrition Today, a USDA survey of 16,000 Americans found NOT one person obtained 100 percent of essential nutrients such as Magnesium, Vitamin E and Zinc. The USDA Nutrition Assistance Program Report series further states that children also did not obtain enough essentials nutrients such as folate, Vitamin C and Calcium.

The report implies that even with a balanced diet, we still may not get enough nutrients for our body. USANA has reported that "To get the recommended 400 International Units (IU) of Vitamin E every day..." You may need to consume 2.3 lbs of Almonds (dried and without salt), or 28.8 lbs of Spinach, etc. I can't imagine eating 28.8lbs of spinach a day just to get enough Vitamin E!

It may be that we are not eating right or not eating enough of what's needed, but based on the report above, how can anyone consume enough food to get what they need? Hence, supplements! They can provide you with what you need with a smaller dose. As USANA states, for your daily Vitamin E needs, you only require ONE dose of USANA Essentials supplement daily.

Food alone may not be able to give us what we need, but it is still important to make sure that we take a healthy amount of everything, including fruits and vegetables. The environment and our stress level living in an affluent society further strains the body, and we need to ensure our body gets what it needs to enable to continue doing what we have to do every day. Supplementation is one of the options available that will help you achieve that.

Always look for supplements that are manufactured with the highest quality and that will give you what you need. To learn more about USANA and it's product, please visit http://jennylim.usana.com or email me if you have any comments/questions at jennylim.usana@gmail.com