eating food for vitamins and minerals
I am writing this as it has come up else where in Buddyslim land.
All I will say is that like all vitamins and minerals, they are best attained from the diet. Supplements are a form of medicine and should be treated as so.
Specificly Zinc has come up. :) Yah, hip hip horray for Zinc!
Great zinc sources are meat, fish and oysters. But vegetarian souces include pumpkin seeds (awesome source!), peanuts, nuts, other seeds like sunflower, beans, whole grains, wholegrain cereals, brown rice, whole wheat bread and potatoes. Some fruits and veggies, yogurt and egg yolks contain a little too. I think vegetarians have to be most aware of their unique zinc requirements. Accesive zinc from supplements is not good either!!!
What is important for me to remember is that low levels of zinc can occur and has occured for me in the past when I eat a very high fiber diet. SO I just remember to balance the fiber from fruits, veggies, legumes and grains and some good zinc sources. Mother Nature does provide where as big food processing companies so often just take and take…take our money and take our health! Oops…. I mean we are giving it to them. My bad. 
Zinc is necessary for a variety of functions with in the body and is too easily depleted. The following can lead to low levels of zinc… YAH, a little review: a diet high in phylates, poor zinc levels in soil, exercise due to sweat loss, aging, pregnancy, growth periods, the pill, PMS, increased copper intake, fasting or starvation, enzyme functions, serious illness of injury, intravenous therapy with out zinc supplementation, stress, any wound that requires healing, alcoholism, diuretic therapy, psoriasis, parasites, malabsorption, cirrhosis, renal disease, chronic diseases, cadmium toxicity. (Staying Healthy with Nutrition, by Elson M. Haas, M.D.)
Good good.
Hope everyone in BuddyslimLand is doing excellent.
I try to get everything I need from my diet and supplements, thanks for this info!
I just saw your before and after photos– you look great! Keep up the awesome work! And as for the entry, I used to take a multivitamin but I felt like crap no matter how much food I ate it with and felt like I peed it all out because they are all like 600% of your daily value, etc.. so now I am trying to just eat a variety of foods so I can get them naturally. But I do take a fish oil daily because I am at risk for heart problems because of my genetics and Cholesterol levels. (I don’t eat fish) Do you take supplements?
I do take certain supplements including a multivitamin and my Omega 3. I personally do not feel it is possible to diet and get all that is needed to be healthy. That being said, I would hate for someone to go out and buy supplements because I agreed with a comment about zinc being very important for libido. Hehe…. I know, people are smart enough to do their own research, still I felt a bit responsible for my words.
Thanks Jenn! I know nothing about Zinc; thanks to you and Darci I will look into it. I eat alot of lean protein and nuts each day. I hope that helps.
I’m waiting for my boss to come back from a business trip and get more info from him. He’s a raw food enthusiast and has the right stuff here in the office for me. Hence, he’s the one who buys gogi berries for us every week.
Researching and talking to professionals is helpful because it is OUR bodies after all.
WOW, your boss buys you gogi berries every week? I want your boss!
This is just my opinion, but as much as my mind detests it, I feel better when I eat meat. I am certain it is because of the availability of nutrients like protein and zinc.
Hey, thanks for this blog, it was interesting!
I don’t take any supplements at all and wonder sometimes if I should because sometimes I feel quite tired. But have exercised every day this week and managed to get 10 hours sleep a night (not usually possible with work!!) and I have so much more energy, so maybe I am someone who just needs more than 7/8 hours per night!
I think I have a balanced diet: I don’t eat meat but do eat lots of fish, beans and chick peas. I eat lots of veg, trying to eat more fruit and I have milk and yogurts every day. For carbs I mainly just have rice or noodles, don’t eat bread: just pitta breads, crackers and rice cakes.
I might look at vitamin info more and see if theres anything i’m lacking.
Thanks for the info!
Maria that is exactly how I eat and enjoy eating. But 2-4 ounces 2x a week of meat and I am feeling pretty good. I just go with how I feel. I had bison the other day and I thought I was in heaven. It does not even have to be a lot to enjoy. Small is even better. At least small is what I am thinking and things are really working out well, finally…