Staying Healthy @ Work – Supplements
24 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
There is an inverse ratio between how far removed we are from the natural world and the quality and enjoyment of the foods that we experience. Where we live in the California Wine Country many of the foods served in the high end restaurant come from within twenty miles from the kitchen. The typical lunch you pick up at a deli market is fresh and delicious.
When we travel around the country, or even in the more urbanized sections of California, I immediately notice the difference in quality. Consider airline food; there is nothing about flying in an airliner that connects to our normal sense of nature, and that explains the food. Let’s take it one step higher; the meals astronauts consume bears little resemblance to what you put on your dining room table. The farther from nature, the farther from vitality and flavor!
The modern work place is a synthetic construct, electrified, plasticized and sealed. At the same time, modern work often requires repetitive motions and physical positions that restrict the human design, which is capable of an amazingly wide variety of motions. Billions have been spent getting robots to do just a small percentage of actions that the body does effortlessly.
If you are going to force your body into a specialized set of actions within a constrained environment, you need to replace those nutrients that consumes at a high rate of speed. This is like any professional athlete. Shooting a basket well requires a repetitive action on a clearly defined environment that stresses the body in unique ways. Professional athletes take large amounts of nutritional supplements, on top of eating a carefully planned diet. If you want to perform at your best in your work environment you need to do the same.
Luckily, a computer isn’t as demanding as a basket hoop, unless you strap yourself to it all day, and then it demands more of certain nutrients than even a full court press. The key is to know what your work demands and then supplement with that. For anyone who works with computers the number one supplement is Magnesium, the relaxing mineral.
Electromagnetic fields make muscles tighten, so the body pours reserve Magnesium into the blood stream to insure an unobstructed flow. Historically humans have never been so continually exposed to electromagnetic fields, so our diet doesn’t provide enough of this important alkaline mineral. Between 500 to 1000 milligrams of Magnesium daily is a great way to reduce headaches, neck pain, constipation and even stress induced heart murmurs.
It will make you less grouchy too. Remember, we get back what we put out, so when you are in a better mood people are nicer to you. If your work place is very stressful, or you sit in what we call an ‘antagonistic position’ that challenges your body, then you need to feed your adrenals. Those little cone shaped glands sitting on top of your kidneys are gluttons for Vitamin C, one of the important immunity nutrients. That’s why stressful work situations suffer from higher than average sick days. But, before you start guzzling orange juice and popping citrus based tablets, let me tell you a secret.
Many people’s ‘arthritis’ symptoms are made worse by orange juice. It is too acidic, and those chewable tables are hard on the teeth and gums. The best source of vitamin C is an herb that you are very familiar with, every time you see a rose bush. Because a rose is not just a pretty face, it has talents too. The red hip that forms after the flowering is a wonderful source of Vitamin C and Vitamin A, in a buffered form that won’t upset your tummy or add to the acid load on your joints. A couple of capsules daily will feed your adrenals, fortify your body, and put a sparkle back in your eyes.
Very important, make sure you use very high quality supplements; otherwise it’s a waste of money and time. On our site we have links to our favorite company, Nature’s Sunshine. Of course, there are other supplements that help fortify our bodies in the work place, but these two, Magnesium and Rose Hips, are a great place to start.
I’m Dr. Ralph de Amicis, signing off in Sonoma.
