Subtraction first, addition second
A gym member approached me today and asked for some info about some supplements. We talked for a bit about dosages, types of supplements etc. This discussion got me to thinking about a common pattern I noticed among many people I meet in terms of how they approach their nutrition, eating habits, and workout program.
Initially I was talking to this member about some supplements that may help her with her joint pain. We discussed chondroitin, glucosamine, MSM, omega 3’s, and dosages. Now you’ve all heard me rant and rave about omega 3’s and their benefits, blah, blah, blah, so you know how I feel about it. I asked how much omega-3’s she was taking and, as usual, it was something like 1 or 2 grams. First of all, not enough. If you’re just taking it for general health and not specifically to combat anything, then 3 grams/day is probably fine. If you’re trying to combat inflammation, joint pain, depression, etc., I believe you need to take much more. I usually suggest starting at 6-9 grams/day. If you think that is alot, rethink it the next time you are eating a big mac and fries at McDonald’s. Most people won’t think twice about ingesting 55 grams of the worst quality fat on earth, 1400 mg of sodium, and 107 g of bad carbs, but that 10 grams of the worlds best quality fat is too much to supplement with. Come on!!!…………No really, come on!!! Anyway, that’s not what I’m really writing about so let me get back on track.
I started thinking about how she and others tend to think about supplements and other “improvements” they are making. Let me explain. Yes, I believe Omega 3’s are extremely important to take, but, in no way do I think that just taking mega doses of supplements is the way to go. First of all, one of the most important factors regarding free fatty acids is not only how much omega 3 you get in your system on a daily basis, but what is really important is the ratio of your Omega 6: Omega 3. The ideal ratio is 1:1 up to 3:1, but most of us are at 20 or 30:1. We tend to get our omega 6 from all the poor food choices, processed foods, cookies, crackers, vegetable oils, fast foods, poor quality meats, etc. Omega 6’s tend to be inflammatory. They have their purpose but for the sake of this article they are strictly inflammatory. This ratio idea is also applicable to other nutrients like vitamins, vitamin B’s fo example, and minerals, like sodium and potassium. There is a delicate balance of these nutrients that is required for your body to function optimally. If the ideal ratios get out of whack, things don’t work so well. Most tend to think there is always a deficiency and they need to “supplement” or “add” something to fix the problem, not always! These imbalance are a major cause of the many health issues we see in today’s world.
When I explain this to people, their first thought is “oh, I have to increase my intake of omega 3’s to get back in “balance” and I’ll be fine”. Well, yes and no. In this case, most should increase their Omega 3’s… but more importantly is to remove the majority of all the bad foods that are contributing to our high omega 6 levels. We need to first remove the negatives in our diet and get a grip on the amount of bad stuff we are putting in the system. We shouldn’t just blindly ingest tons of bad stuff and then try to balance the system by adding more stuff to it. Eliminate the bad, and increase the good (with modest supplementation) until your getting the results you want. In this example by removing the bad choices you not only reduce the omega 6’s but you will also reduce fat intake, calories, and other chemicals your body was not designed to thrive on. You have to get rid of the “well, I used to eat a whole bag of M&M’s everyday, and now I’m only eating 1/2 a bag a day!” mentality. Lose the whole bag! We have to stop living the “I’ll choose the lesser of two evils” life. If you used to drink 2 bottles of wine a day, and now “only” drink 1 bottle..well, that’s better, but it still isn’t good for you. You will not make yourself healthy by drinking “only” 1 bottle of wine a day.
We need to try to take in as many nutrients as possible in as little calories as possible. It’s just the opposite in todays world. No calories are being expended, and thousands of calories, nutritionally deficient calories, are being taken in. That does not lead to the balance that our bodies require to remain healthy.
If you really want to improve your health, you must focus first on removing the negatives; negative foods, negative actions, negative thoughts, negative exercises, etc. We can not get healthy by adding stuff to combat the problems that are caused by the bad stuff that you continually allow to be a part of you. Here’s another example of what I think is a little backwards. Someones cholesterol levels test high, more often than not they are first put on some type of medication. Something is added in order to fight the symptom but nothing is done to address the cause. Wouldn’t it make more sense to first analyze your diet, pinpoint some of the possible causes (foods), and then remove them to see if that would help lower your cholesterol first. It just seems like a better first option than adding more “junk” to the system. Again, I understand some people are predisposed to high cholesterol, but a majority of the population have high cholesterol because of stuff that is going in, not because they are deficient in statins.
This is also a common problem with people who may have some mechanical dysfunction causing joint pain. The first approach is to usually add some type of anti-inflammatory to the body, then some type of exercise. What is missing in this approach is the idea to remove the negative that is causing the problem. My low back problems are a perfect example. I can not tolerate flexion or loaded rotation. I ruptured a disc because of repeated flexion while laying down new wood floors. I had to have surgery to fix the disc. If I continued to flex my low back after surgery, I would still re-herniate my disc and have sciatica. The surgery wasn’t the cure. It helped with a symptom (sciatica). The “negative’ was repeated flexion. I had to remove exercises involving flexion and rotation to remedy the problem, not add exercises to address the symptom, or add meds because I was deficient in ibuprofen. Don’t treat the symptoms, eliminate the cause. You can take all the meds and supplements you want but if you continue to ignore the cause (i.e. faulty movements, muscle imbalances, unhealthy diet) the problem(s) will continue.
Remove the negative first. Sometimes it is that simple.