Your body in balance

The body is a large assembly of cells that are constantly in contact with each other and work closely together. It possesses various mechanisms that ensure your internal environment remains balanced and adapts to changing conditions, also known as homeostasis. This entire process occurs within the framework of your energy management. When there is an imbalance in the mechanism, the body will have to decide which processes take priority for energy supply. We would like to explain how this works and why it is wise to support your body preventively to remain in balance not only now but also in the future.

Energy Management

Adenosine triphosphate, also known as ATP, is a molecule that transports energy in cells and enables our body to perform all bodily processes. Consider activities such as exercising, working, and sleeping, but also digestion, organ function, building and repair mechanisms, and the immune system. However, before energy can be transported, energy must first be ingested. This occurs in the form of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These nutrients are called macronutrients and are the fuel for the body, which cannot function without this energy. However, these macronutrients alone are not sufficient. The cofactors, namely vitamins, minerals, and trace elements (micronutrients), must be in order to extract energy from macronutrients and amino acids from proteins. Additionally, micronutrients are essential for the proper functioning of many processes in the body. Without vitamins, for example, proteins would not be able to effectively repair and build muscles.

Energy Distribution

The body has an energy distribution system. This is necessary because vital organs, such as the brain and heart, must always receive sufficient energy. The hypothalamus, a small organ in our brain, is responsible for this distribution and uses our biorhythm and external stimuli to determine where the energy should go. For instance, you can imagine that right after a meal, a lot of energy needs to go to your intestines for digestion. In contrast, with a disturbed homeostasis, it may be that certain processes are overloaded for too long and require too much energy, causing other essential processes to receive too little for an extended period. This is particularly evident when your immune system has to work hard for a prolonged period. While the immune system at rest consumes only 86 kcal, it requires a tremendous amount of energy when active. In terms of energy consumption, it is an extremely costly bodily mechanism. The body does not have this energy and will put other bodily functions that are not of life-saving importance into energy-saving mode, preventing them from functioning at full capacity. You can imagine that the longer this persists, the more damage it can cause.

In terms of energy consumption, it is an extremely costly bodily mechanism.

Prevention is Better than Cure

When your body is out of balance, it will demand extra energy, resulting in other processes (structurally) receiving too little energy and sometimes even entering energy-saving mode. Preventive protection is much simpler for you and your energy management than recovery. You can help your body by at least maintaining your immune system through a healthy lifestyle and additional supplements. Furthermore, it is important that there are sufficient nutrients, both macro and micronutrients, available in the body. This way, you provide your body with enough energy sources and cofactors to allow all processes in the body to proceed smoothly. By adopting a healthy eating pattern and preventive supplementation, you create the conditions for health.

Looking Ahead

Lifestyle and supplementation not only relate to current health. They can also provide a good foundation for the future. You have probably heard of the blue zones. These are five areas (Sardinia, Okinawa, Loma Linda, Nicoya, and Ikaria) where people live to an average age of 90 or even 100 in good health without medication or disability. What do these regions have in common? Daily habits. The inhabitants of these regions generally eat a lot of vegetables, experience little stress, walk and move in nature, garden, have many social contacts, take regular naps, and occasionally enjoy a glass of wine. Although we do not live in a blue zone, we do have the means to try to approximate the situation as best as possible. When we adopt a healthy lifestyle as a habit, it will reduce the likelihood of potential discomforts in the future.

Supplementation Advice

Of course, you can get very far with a varied diet. However, it can still be challenging to get enough nutrients every day. “250 grams of vegetables per day” is the advice from the Nutrition Centre, but from the perspective of orthomolecular nutritional science, an optimal amount of vegetables is significantly higher, namely at least 400 to 500 grams of vegetables per day. Vegetables are extremely important due to their fibres (of which you need about 30 to 40 grams daily) and micronutrients. 250 grams of vegetables contain only 11 grams of fibres, and unfortunately, the amount of micronutrients in vegetables and fruits has significantly decreased in recent decades. This is partly due to soil depletion, unripe harvesting, and breeding. We often do not reach those 500 grams of vegetables daily. Therefore, our health coaches recommend a basic supplementation of the most important nutrients throughout the year based on orthomolecular insights that provide your daily dose of micronutrients. We do not call this group of supplements ‘The Big 5’ for nothing. These nutrients can not only support daily but also contribute to a healthy balance for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Nicole Langedijk