Assimilation
by Randal J. Watkins
Understanding Assimilation
of Nutrients
It's easy for us to swallow vitamins, minerals
and herbs. However, we have no assurance we will assimilate the
nutrients once they are swallowed. For example, we can have a
car that needs gasoline. We can have the gasoline sitting next
to the car or in the car. However, until we put the gasoline
into the place where it's needed, we are not going to receive
the benefits of the gasoline. In the same manner, the human body
can take nutrients and have them inside of us (the blood stream)
but until they go to the cellular level (just like the gasoline
tank) we won't get any benefit.
Sometimes, poor assimilation can be related
to the ingredients of the products you are taking, or the necessary
co-factors are not present. There are now many different materials
that are used for vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements. I
encourage you to buy a quality
product that others you know have used and noticed a difference
with.
If you take supplements and don't notice a
difference or a change in symptoms,
then you may want to consider changing brands. So many folks that
I talk to take nutrients on a regular basis but when asked if
they can tell they are helping they often reply, "I hope
so." We can know for sure if something is helping if we will
begin to evaluate their effectiveness against the symptoms they
are supposed to improve.
The basic requirements to aid in sleep is to
feed the body calcium and magnesium. Herbs that help with sleep
are high in these minerals. Personally, I suggest you take an
actual calcium and magnesium supplement
as a very minimum of your nutritional supplement program. I would
take the calcium at bedtime 1200 - 1500 mg and the magnesium at
breakfast and lunch. Definitely, stay away from oyster shell calcium.
Personally, I take 500 mg. of magnesium at breakfast and at lunch.
Co-Factors
In working with individuals with insomnia
I have found often taking calcium and magnesium is not enough.
In studying the body I have found it is important to support
the Glandular system. The
hypothalamus and parathyroid gland play a key role in whether
we assimilate calcium and magnesium properly. Feeding each of
these glands the nutrients they were deficient in proved to increase
the mineral assimilation needed to bring the much needed rest
to the body.
The hypothalamus is the "5-Star
General" of the entire glandular system.
Regarding those co-factors, the hypothalamus performs a big
role in assimilation. The story below illustrates the importance of this gland.
Imagine a lot of soldiers in war getting ready to formulate a different attack
because charging the enemy hasn't worked. A drunken 5-Star General walks in and
tells them to do the same thing that hasn't worked. The soldiers will have to
obey . As an observer, we might think the soldiers are not very smart. The fact
is, their "orders" caused the problem. The hypothalamus is the 5-Star General of
your glandular system and if it gets weak it begins to send out
the wrong "orders." These orders tell the pituitary
to do the wrong things. For example, your adrenals are providing
adequate energy, but if the hypothalamus says to the pituitary
to secrete hormones that control hormone secretion of the adrenals,
and this message is in error, all of a sudden you may become
fatigued and want more energy. I realized how important this
organ was with me when I kept feeding my adrenals herbs to get
energy and didn't make much progress. Feeding my hypothalamus
caused my energy to take off. Now at 45 years young I have
more energy than I did when I was 16.
Nutrition for the Hypothalamus
The hypothalamus is fed by essential fatty acids (EFA's) and
other nutrients. If you have chronic dry skin this may be due to a lack of EFA's.
The glandular system uses fatty acids to make hormones. If you are deficient,
the body doesn't have the building blocks to make the proper hormones. These hormones
play a role in calcium assimilation with the parathyroid gland. Black
Currant Oil is what I suggest to our clients that have trouble sleeping.
Providing the nutrition the body is lacking alllows insomnia to be a thing of
the past.
Other sources of EFA's are Flax Seed Oil, Omega-3 EPA, and Evening Primrose Oil. Other nutrients that feed the hypothalamus and Glandular system are Target
TS II and Red Raspberry.
If you have taken essential fatty acids, and you don't notice any
changes in the dry skin condition or the other benefits of fatty acids, you
may need to improve your assimilation of fats. The liver is the organ that
may need some work or support in breaking down fats. LIV-J is
an herbal combination used to feed the liver.
If this doesn't answer your questions or your assimilation isn't where you want it to be then consider the material on Why Must I Take More.
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