[Kim Jaeho's Life Story]<251> Taking Tonics and Supplements Wrongly Can Backfire on You

In our society, there are quite a few people who have vague expectations that taking health tonics might help when their physical condition is not good, such as when their stamina drops or they feel tired, even if they are not suffering from any particular disease. On the other hand, it has become very common for people to take various supplements, including vitamins, and even doctors who tend to reject folk remedies sometimes recommend supplements.

Encyclopedias define health tonics as foods or medicines that restore the normal state when all organs, tissues, and systems of the human body are deteriorated or when there is a deficiency of nutrients. Many people expect health tonics to be beneficial to their health, and the world has become one where far more people take various supplements with the belief that these supplements compensate for lacking nutrients than those who do not.

But how much can health tonics or supplements actually help our health?

With the advancement of science, people have acquired various knowledge that was not well understood in the past, one of which is how our body works. Our body digests the food we eat, absorbs all the necessary nutrients, then uses these nutrients to produce the energy needed for activities, and uses these nutrients as raw materials to create the substances necessary for life.

An important fact to note here is that no component in food directly performs any important function inside the body; they are only used as raw materials. The entity that uses these raw materials to perform necessary functions inside our body is the body itself. When this function does not work properly, we lose health and get sick, and when this function recovers, the disease heals.

Therefore, the causes of deteriorating health or disease can be considered in two cases: either the food supplying the necessary nutrients is inadequate, or there is a problem in the body that utilizes the nutrients contained in the food.

First, from the perspective of food supplying nutrients, it is very important to supply all necessary nutrients in appropriate amounts. In terms of nutrient intake, no nutrient should be deficient, but excessive amounts can also cause problems. Excess nutrients must be expelled from the body, which requires considerable effort, and if they accumulate inside the body because they are difficult to expel, side effects may occur.

Regarding the method of nutrient intake, nutritionists commonly agree that it is best to consume nutrients through daily regular meals. However, no single food contains all the necessary nutrients in appropriate amounts, so it is necessary to eat a healthy diet by properly mixing various foods. A healthy diet involves eating a variety of plant-based foods, including grains, fruits, and vegetables, in their whole form and in sufficient quantities.

The reason for eating enough plant-based foods is to avoid deficiency of nutrients found only in plant foods, such as dietary fiber and antioxidants. Even plant-based foods that are highly processed or refined are not good. Foods such as sugar, saturated fats and trans fats, salt, and alcohol, when consumed excessively, cause waste to accumulate in blood vessels, increasing the risk of vascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, as well as obesity and diabetes.

If you eat a particular food that is rumored to be especially good in large amounts, it can lead to unbalanced nutrition due to selective eating, so you should not pay special attention to foods that are said to be especially good. Processed or refined foods, health tonics, or supplements are more likely to cause an excess or deficiency of specific nutrients, so it is better not to consume them excessively.

For example, if a person with poor liver health eats a food or health tonic rumored to be good for the liver, and if that food or tonic contains toxic substances, the weakened liver may be further damaged during the detoxification process. Even vitamin C supplements, which many people take, can cause side effects such as osmotic diarrhea, gastrointestinal disturbances, nausea, vomiting, and kidney stones if taken excessively. Calcium supplements have also been reported to have cardiovascular side effects.

Next, from the perspective of the body utilizing the nutrients in food, there is an important point to note. When we eat food, the entity working inside our body is a program called genes inside the cells. Even if we eat food, health tonics, or supplements containing all the nutrients our body needs, nothing happens unless the gene switches are turned on and the body starts working.

It is very important that the gene switches turn on properly when needed so that the ingested nutrients can be used as raw materials to produce necessary substances and the body can perform its required functions well. Therefore, rather than focusing on taking health tonics or supplements, we should pay more attention to creating an environment that genes prefer so that gene switches can be turned on properly while maintaining a healthy diet.

Independent Researcher