Can Supplementation be Customized To Your Specific Needs?

Due to today’s modern technology there are now ways to measure various nutrients in your system and their effects. Although this type of complex testing can be quite costly it is being increasingly employed to custom design supplement programs for people. Unfortunately due to the expense of this testing it also puts it out of reach for many people.

There is a growing recognition of how a good nutritional supplement program benefits both good health and longevity. But there is the question about what would be the most appropriate supplements for you to take that suit your needs.

To find this out there are a couple of questions that need to be answered so that you can design the most effective supplement program for you:

• Are you taking the right nutrients?
• Are you taking the proper amounts?
• Are you absorbing your nutrients properly?

Modern technology is the most effective way to help you answer these questions, with a more practical approach we can now look at the major differences which can determine a person’s principal needs for specific nutrients. There are also well documented differences in individual requirements regarding age and gender, older people have increased needs when compared to younger people, while women have different nutrient needs to men.

Additionally, evaluating three areas of human physiological function where
nutrition has a profound influence can provide helpful guidelines for designing a
supplement program:

• Antioxidant protection against oxidant stress
• Detoxification ability
• Inflammatory processes regulated by Nitric Oxide activity

An overnight sample of urine is used to measure these compounds in conjunction with an assessment program which evaluates gender and age to design the most cost effective solution.

Antioxidants protect the body from cellular damage caused by chemicals or free radicals generated in the body. They are thought to be critical for the prevention of many degenerative diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Lipid peroxides are molecules that are generated in response to lack of adequate antioxidant protection in the bodies tissues. Free radicals can cause the elevation of these molecules which can have a damaging effect. This elevation can be measured in with a urine sample. High levels of lipid peroxides are indicative of inadequate antioxidant protection in the body’s tissues, while normal levels indicate adequate protection.

Our bodies need to constantly eliminate toxic material, these materials can come both from inside and outside of the body. With the foods we eat and chemical pollution we are exposed to every day these need to be converted to harmless by products. The liver, kidneys and lungs prevent the body from accumulating these dangerous chemicals. When the body is under conditions of prolonged toxic stress, a poor diet, and other health problems these detoxification chemicals can become depleted. Sulfate is an important component of detoxification and is used by the liver to combine with many compounds as part of this detoxifying process. A test of ones urine sulfate levels can indicate if there is a depletion of this detox ability which can be corrected with proper supplementation.

A critical molecule that has recently become recognized is nitric oxide, which is involved in the functions and dysfunctions of practically all systems in the body. Nitric acid activity has been shown to be significantly affected by nutrient insufficiencies and manipulations via supplementation. Because of this nutrition has an extremely powerful influence on modulating nitric oxide activity in the body. Balance is very important, either inadequate or excessive production of nitric acid can result in physiological imbalances leading to a wide variety of disease states. Overproduction of nitric oxide can result in undue oxidant stress and deplete antioxidant systems, while too little nitric oxide can cause immune suppression, high blood pressure and G.I. dysfunction.

As nitric oxide is highly toxic to tissue and is present for only a few seconds before it is converted to less toxic forms of nitrite and nitrate which are excreted in the urine. Because of this, a measure of nitrate in urine is a good way to assess its activity in the body. Once this has been taken, you can design an appropriate supplement program which will optimize nitric oxide activity in your body.