There’s a lot of noise in the wellbeing market. It can feel like every time you open your phone, you’re being bombarded with the latest health miracle doing the rounds – that conveniently enough, you can purchase. This can become rather overwhelming and even off-putting, and you may end up overlooking quality supplements that have the power to support your health throughout your life.
Supplements can play an important role in promoting longevity, as modern diets can be nutrient-deficient. Nicholas Weiler wrote in an article published by the online research centre of the University of California, San Francisco that, “A detailed new review of nutritional science argues that most American diets are deficient in a key class of vitamins and minerals that play previously unrecognised roles in promoting longevity and in staving off chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and, potentially, neurodegeneration.”
Weiler points to the review undertaken by Dr Bruce Ames, one of the few hundred most-cited scientists in all fields, that highlights how these vitamins and minerals are necessary for metabolism to function properly, and how optimal levels of them can support healthy ageing.
Weller writes, “Ames concludes that healthy aging can be extended by ingesting optimal levels of 30 known vitamins and essential minerals, and he suggests that these, along with 11 additional substances not currently classified as vitamins, should be recognised as essential ‘longevity vitamins’ because of their potential to extend a healthy life.”
You’ll be interested to know that our potentiated bee pollen contains more than 20 of the vitamins and minerals on Dr Ames’ longevity list.
These vitamins and minerals are:
- Vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D, E, K
- Folic acid
- Calcium, copper
- Iron, iodine
- Magnesium, manganese
- Potassium, phosphorous
- Sulphur, sodium
- Zinc
In an article for National Geographic, award-winning health writer Stacey Colino explained that “as you gaze across the rows of brightly coloured fruits and vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store, you may not be aware that the quantity of nutrients in these crops has been declining over the past 70 years. Mounting evidence from multiple scientific studies shows that many fruits, vegetables, and grains grown today carry less protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin, and vitamin C than those that were grown decades ago.”
This is where the natural, all-round goodness of bee pollen can support a balanced, nutrient-dense diet, and help to compensate for the growing body of evidence to suggest our modern-day food production processes are yielding produce with, in some cases, less nutritional value than in earlier times.
However, not all supplements are made equal. Far from it! You shouldn’t need a pill divider to keep up with them either. The best way to successfully support your health and longevity is by keeping it simple. This can reduce your spending and your chances of falling off the wagon. Supplements simply won’t work sitting in the bottle, so there’s no point getting overwhelmed and not taking them regularly. Here are a few tips that can serve as a guide to make sure you’re not just paying for ‘expensive pee.’
Tip #1: Don’t buy supplements stuffed with fillers. Are binders, fillers, colourants and flow agents on Dr Ames’ longevity list? They sure aren’t. Most of those pills and capsules you see on the supermarket and store shelves are bulked out with these. Not only do these make for expensive pee, but they may also be harmful.
Tip #2: Don’t buy supplements which have been exposed to high heat. Many vitamins and other supplements can degrade very quickly and lose effectiveness when exposed to excessive heat, light, air, or humidity.
Tip #3: Don’t buy synthetic supplements. The best source of nutrition is always the fresh, healthy food that nature has created. However, sometimes your body needs a little boost, which is why we turn to supplements. Whole food supplements are the next best thing to eating the actual food. Synthetic, or man-made, supplements don’t come close.
One of the oldest natural whole food supplements in the world is bee pollen. Since the dawn of time, bee pollen has been used as a tonic, healer and energy enhancer. The superfood carries an extensive range of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, co-enzymes, trace elements and beneficial fats – a powerful addition to your diet if you want to support your overall health and longevity.
It can sometimes feel like the Wild West in the world of supplements, but it’s important to remember that quality additions can enable us to keep healthy for longer. With the research and pointers in mind, here’s to long and healthy lives!
Sources: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2018/10/412016/adequate-consumption-longevity-vitamins-could-prolong-healthy-aging-nutrition
Ames BN. Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Oct 23;115(43):10836-10844. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1809045115. Epub 2018 Oct 15. PMID: 30322941; PMCID: PMC6205492. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conservation/2022/05/fruits-and-vegetables-are-less-nutritious-than-they-used-to-be#:~:text=Mounting%20evidence%20from%20multiple%20scientific,that%20were%20grown%20decades%20ago.
