In our modern age, taking supplements is a fairly standard practice. Most of us decide to work them into our routines at one point or another. Sometimes doctors advise it. Other times we do our own research and realize that a certain supplement could help us to feel our best or solve a health problem. But while the choice to take supplements is generally a good and easy one, have you ever wondered why it is needed to begin with? Shouldn’t we be receiving those vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from our food? Today, we’re going to do the deep dive. We’ve touched on this topic before—after all, we formulate supplements, so it tends to be top of mind—but now we are going to explore the concepts in detail. Here is why supplements are necessary in the 21st century.
Why Supplements Are Necessary: A Summary
Before we dive into the details, let’s outline the center of this conversation. If our ancestors survived without taking the sophisticated nutritional supplements we have today, why should we even need them?
The complex answer to this question can be explained in three broad strokes:
- Lifestyle Changes
- Food Growth Practices
- Health Care Advantages
- Let’s investigate further …
The Pace of Modern Life
Many people have had the experience of supplementing because they simply cannot maintain a full and nutritious diet given their daily schedules. It’s easy to see why! Nowadays, most of us manage full-time work schedules while raising children, caring for aging parents, or both. That’s not even to mention the goal of spending time with friends and pursuing other personal goals. Add in the fact that because most households no longer contain a person who doesn’t work full-time, the regular chores of life—pointedly the planning, cooking, and cleaning associated with producing balanced meals—often fall off the edge of daily to-do lists. When so many things demand our time and attention each day, it is natural that convenience will win out when it comes to food. Certainly, we should try not to give in to this entirely, but sometimes it will be inevitable. When we talk about the question of why supplements are necessary, this is a core factor.
Supplements offer a quick, simple way to boost nutritional intake when you can’t find the time to eat a vibrant, diversified meal.
Lack of Nutrient-Dense Foods
Enter, another major element in this conversation. Unfortunately, this one hinges on our fast-paced living as well. Gone are the days of a local farmer everyone in town knows personally taking great pride in a strong annual crop—at least, in the majority case. As our society has become more sophisticated, so have our food production needs. More food is needed and there is a demand for consistency that puts pressure on our farmers. Think about it: why is almost every type of produce available year-round, regardless of its natural season? Because of modern farming standards, which don’t tend to benefit nutrient content. Donald Davis, a researcher who published findings of a landmark study on the topic in the Journal of American College of Nutrition in 2004, describes the situation aptly.
“Efforts to breed new varieties of crops that provide greater yield, pest resistance and climate adaptability have allowed crops to grow bigger and more rapidly, but their ability to manufacture or uptake nutrients has not kept pace with their rapid growth.” Davis and his team go on to note within the study that the agricultural practices centered on everything but nutrition also result in a lack of nutrient-rich soil, furthering the issue every time a crop is grown. Because of the demand on farmers, alternating fields as our ancestors did is now a somewhat rare approach. This means that any given patch of soil is utilized repeatedly without giving it a chance to replenish.
Shopping with your local farmers and choosing organic produce options can help you to access more nutrient-dense food. This has the added benefit of supporting farmers who are putting a lot of effort and sacrifice into reforming their industry!
That said, this is another reason many health experts agree that supplements only continue to gain relevance in our modern lives.
Health Care Advantages
That brings us to the final of our three primary answers to the question of why supplements are necessary. In the past several decades, medicine has advanced leaps and bounds. If we think back to the 1990s, which seem like yesterday, the relative lack of understanding we had in relation to so many chronic conditions, risk factors, and more is astounding. Medicine has moved at an incredible rate during this age of technology. Our ability to prevent and manage disease by giving the body what it needs and craves is greater—more informed—than ever.
An example of this lies in our very own DeeplyRooted supplement. Read through the reviews and you’ll see the possibilities firsthand. Many of our customers have seen their hair loss conditions resolved while using our formula. This isn’t some miracle (although we know it feels that way and we’re so glad)! It’s because our formulas are clinically studied and crafted with the latest research at hand. The ingredients in DeeplyRooted are ones that have been linked to a reduction in hair loss, both generally and for those with conditions like androgenic alopecia, in studies published throughout the past few decades.
The more overarching conclusion here is clear: knowledge is power, and supplements are one of the best ways we can harness it.
While some of the information we’ve shared today might make you feel a sense of doom and gloom, we encourage you to see the bright side! As a collective, we have invested in systems that strive to find new ways of making people feel and live better. Supplements are one of those. In the meantime, many of us are striving to find better work-life balance and support responsible food growth, too.
How beautiful is it that we can have an egg in each basket? You can prioritize your health with supplementation while pursuing a future that might not demand so much of it. If you ask us, that is a wonderfully well-rounded perspective.