nutritional supplementsDo nutritional supplements really protect us against various degenerative diseases? There is certainly enough clinical research to indicate that nutritional supplements do protect us from things like heart disease and diabetes. However the evidence I have seen with my own eyes also tends to make me think that nutritional supplements along with good lifestyle choices definitely do have a positive impact. I’ve thought about the health of my grandparents when they were in their late fifties and early sixties compared to that of my parents. My parents take nutritional supplements and try to eat healthily (although my dad has a sweet tooth and my mother has to be strict with him). They do not smoke and drink only in moderation.
By contrast my grandparents smoked, ate a diet high in saturated fat and did not bother with nutritional supplements. When my paternal grandmother was my father’s age she already had heart disease and soon after developed type 2 diabetes. When my paternal grandfather was 64 he had a massive stroke that left him paralyzed down one side and he has had to live like that for almost 20 years. By the time my maternal grandmother was my mother’s age she had angina. My maternal grandfather died of lung cancer at the age of forty-two. My parents both have fairly low cholesterol and normal blood pressure and are both healthier than their parents were at that age. This makes me believe that nutritional supplements are definitely of some benefit when it comes to protecting our health.