Supplementing Your Paleo Diet
A lot of people always seem to think that a good quality multivitamin is a reliable insurance of sustaining good health no matter what you eat or what your fitness level may be. This is of course not the case. First of all multivitamins are not easily absorbed by the body, which means you are inadvertently washing money down the drain.
There is also the fact that there are a great number of multivitamins that can irritate the intestinal tract. Choosing to take specific vitamins to treat certain deficiency is also not always ideal since nutrients interact with one another. For instance, taking calcium supplements can result to reduced absorption of magnesium in the body. In addition, choosing to take calcium supplements, while lacking vitamins A, D and K2 will prevent the natural absorption of calcium in the bones and teeth, causing calcification in the arteries. This is one of the reasons why many people, despite regular intake of calcium suffer from osteoporosis and arthritis.
There is also the fact that choosing to buy poorly manufactured vitamins or those that are in synthetic form can be poorly absorbed by the body. And while free radicals are widely celebrated, too often, it has been found to have some detrimental effect on the body. This is because the human body has its own ways of eliminating free radicals.
Meeting The Recommended Daily Allowance
Calculating RDA can be tiresome and not practical. While following the Paleo diet is the best way to address our body's nutritional needs, it is always a good idea to take time and know the nutrient profile of foods you consume. You can easily find such data online and from the USDA food database. It is also important to take into consideration that the supplements available in the market today are formulated based on the eating standard of the Western diet. For instance, if you follow a low carbohydrate diet, you will need lesser amount of Vitamin C since both carbohydrates and Vitamin C complete for absorption.
As you already know, Paleo diet discourages the consumption of grains for many reasons. One of the most interesting facts is that grains are know to reduce the body's absorption of minerals. For this reason, instead of focusing your attention on multivitamins that are marketed today, focus on choosing premium quality food and those high density varieties such as egg yolks.
Vitamin D
Unless you consume a lot of wild caught fishes or else enjoy adequate sun exposure on a regular basis, it is a good ideal to supplement your Paleo diet with Vitamin D. Of course, getting it naturally from food and the sun is always the most idea option but you can also take in anywhere between 1, 000 to 4, 00 IU of Vitamin D.
Fish Oil
A lot of people seem to think that they need to have high quantities of fish oil or omega-3 in the body. However, what is actually more important is maintaining a good balance off omega-3 and omega-6 than having large quantities. Paleo diet enthusiasts who don't get to eat wild caught fishes can benefit from to grams of oil fish.
Probiotics
Maintaining the balance in the gut is always an important component of good health. You can never have enough of high quality probiotics that include multiple strains of bifidobacterium and lactobacillus.
