Thursday , March 28 2024

What’s the truth about Nutrition?

By Compton Chiropractic Care –
What’s the truth about NutritionFor years we have all witnessed fad diets come and go especially this time of year.  Yet most of these diets fail to answer key questions and therefore fail the individuals trying to diet. Questions such as: Should I use butter or margarine? Should I avoid salt or is it alright to use some? Do I need supplements? Why can’t I lose weight? These are questions we hear and answer daily in our office. It is difficult to know what is good for you when there are so many contradictory nutritional claims in the mass media. Well the fact is the government has very little control over our food and supplements. If that’s not bad enough they have actually contributed to the problem of misinformation, telling us years ago it is better to eat margarine than butter.
Luckily The Villages has a team of Doctors with years of nutritional education and clinical expertise to help answer these common questions. Dr. Brett Compton is a local chiropractor who practices with his son at their practice off County road 466. Dr. Compton holds a bachelor degree in human nutrition from The University of Florida as well has his medical degree from Palmer College. His son Dr. Brent joined the practice last year after first receiving a bachelor degree in Pre-professional Biology from the University of Central Florida and then his medical degree from Palmer College. Together father and son help Village residents with their healthcare and nutritional needs. They pride themselves on delivering a small town approach to healthcare where the patient is cared for like family.
Dr. Compton answers some common nutrition and diet questions:
Q: Should I use butter or margarine?
A: “Butter is better.” Butter has many healthy ingredients such as Vitamins A, D, E and K, selenium, Iodine, lecithin (anti-stiffness factor, keeps joints moving free), and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Margarine on the other hand is loaded with artificial ingredients including trans fats that are definitely bad for us and promote cellular aging. All oils should be consumed in moderation and fats should represent no more than 30 % of your calories per day.
Q: What about salt is it bad or not?
A: Table salt offers nothing nutritional other than iodine which is added to prevent thyroid disease. Sea salt is a better choice as it naturally contains necessary minerals and iodine. As there is already so much sodium in American food it is usually not recommended to consume more. I would like to clear up one misconception regarding salt: it has no long term effects on hypertension. While I was doing my undergraduate work at The University of Florida, we researched the DASH diet which is the diet currently recommended for hypertension that basically tries to eliminate the majority of sodium from the daily diet. The results of our research showed that there is a significant initial drop in blood pressure when starting the diet; however this effect equalizes after 90 days and BP returns to nearly the same level as prior to implementing the diet. What this means is salt has a temporary effect on hypertension. If you want to attempt to control hypertension without medication, further dietary changes are necessary. Some sodium is essential (less than 2400 mg per day) and like most things with the body, moderation is the key to health.
Q: Should I take supplements or not?
A: In short yes because it is becoming perpetually harder to receive proper vitamins and minerals from our grocery store vegetables. Because the FDA has no specific control over supplements, it is strongly recommended to consult with a doctor before use.
Your diet is the most important thing you can change to protect your health. We have a saying “If your diet is wrong no medications will work properly and if your diet is right no medications are usually needed”. With time most diseases can be influenced with dietary changes. There is no shortage of medical research and case histories of patients improving with dietary modifications. Many common disorders treated with nutrition are Heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, neuropathy, and most autoimmune diseases.
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