To supplement is to make stronger, or reinforce, by addition.

I think the modern athlete, bodybuilder and dieter forget this. Often supplements are misused as “replacements.”  These come in the form of shakes to replace whole meals, powdered “superfoods” and “greens” to replace vegetables, multivitamins to replace vitamins and minerals, etc., etc.

The supplement industry is founded on nutritionism, which is the reduction of the value of food to its nutrient parts. Michael Pollan, in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,  discourages this reductionist view of food, and instead suggests that we all revert to what our ancestors did: eat whole foods.  It’s a book that was an easy and intelligent read, and it changed my view on the manufactured health food products that I was guilty of eating.  I eat more “food” now.

I just don’t relate to the whole, “have a shake for lunch,” attitude that “healthy” eaters today often exhibit.  There are so many products out there that claim to have the nutritional punch of a dozen servings of fruits and vegetables in a 5 gram servings (Biotest Superfood, I am calling you out).  Maybe they do and maybe they don’t, but they absolutely don’t have the satiety factor of a dozen servings of anything.  Plus there is just no way any blend of extracts and powders  can replace all of the compounds founds in natural foods.  A short time ago we didn’t know that vitamins existed; for us to say now that we can completely duplicate the benefits of, and replace whole foods with engineered foods is arrogant and misguided.

Food needs to make us feel full because when we don’t, we can’t resist our evolutionary urge to seek and destroy more of it, until our bodies signal that they are nourished. Satiety can’t be supplemented by supplements – compare the fullness factor of a tablespoon of greens to 2 bananas, 2 apples, 2 oranges, 2 cups of broccoli, a carrot, a kiwi, and a big slice of watermelon.  Besides the obvious calorie difference, there’s a lot more food and a lot less hunger in the real 12 servings of fruits and vegetables.

My ideas about eating have changed over the years, and I have come to depend on supplements as supplements, not replacements, and only use them as aids when a meal would be otherwise incomplete.  If I have chicken, I leave the protein on the shelf.  Misuse occurs when one takes a spoonful of Superfood or Greens+ and doesn’t otherwise even look at a vegetable.  To think we can replace vegetables and fruit from our diet with a mere multivitamin or tablespoon of powder is absolute hubris.

A multivitamin, serving of Superfood or Greens+ in addition to an already whole foods-centered diet? Fantastic, if you have the extra money.  I don’t, so I stick with broccoli, sweet potatoes, and seasonal produce.

The bottom line is just that there is more to food than just the nutrient parts, much of which scientists are yet to discover, and basing one’s diet on powders and pills for quality nutrition is a mistake.