2 years ago, I decided I was fed up with supplements. Just freakin' tired of all the tablets, capsules, pills, powders and oils. And bottles. Lots and lots of plastic bottles scattered everywhere. I distinctly remember the day I finally decided something needed to change. It was when I swung open the door of my refrigerator to dive into my daily regimen of vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients, micronutrients, fish oils... ...and I realized it was getting overwhelming. Sure, it was better living through science, but it was anything but simple. I'm sure you've experienced the same thing. You open what seems like nearly a dozen different bottles to launch into your morning supplement regimen.... ...or you pack your suitcase to travel and struggle to prioritize which bottles to shove into your limited suitcase space... ...or you spend an inordinate amount of your precious time tracking, ordering and restocking your vitamin D or your fish oil, or your greens, or your multi-vitamin or your minerals or your antioxidants or your amino acids... You get the idea. Supplement clutter, supplement confusion and utter lack of supplement simplicity. ------------------------------------ 9 Reasons You May Not Want To Throw Out All Your Supplements Now don't get me wrong. I don't think supplements are an inconvenient and unnecessary curse that should simply all be tossed out. There is certainly evidence that , but even if you're eating a “healthy” diet, studies have shown that it is nearly impossible in our modern era to get all our nutrients, vitamins and minerals only from food. For example, a : "Large portions of the population had total usual intakes below the estimated average requirement for vitamins A (35%), C (31%), D (74%), and E (67%) as well as calcium (39%) and magnesium (46%). Only 0%, 8%, and 33% of the population had total usual intakes of potassium, choline, and vitamin K above the adequate intake when food and multivitamin use was considered. The percentage of the population with total intakes greater than the tolerable upper intake level (UL) was very low for all nutrients..." "...Conclusions: In large proportions of the population, micronutrient sufficiency is currently not being achieved through food solutions for several essential vitamins and minerals. Use of age- and gender-specific multivitamin supplements may serve as a practical means to increase the micronutrient status in subpopulations of Americans while not increasing intakes above the upper intake level." So how on earth could this be? Is the planet broken or something? There's actually nine reasons for the failure of modern diets to supply our bodies with all the nutrients we need. First, modern commercial farming practices strip our precious soil of nutrients. When plants are repeatedly grown on the same land for year-after-year (a relatively new phenomenon in agriculture that beats up our land but gives us lots and lots of calories), the overused soil loses it's nutrients faster than they can be replaced.  Over time, the plants have fewer nutrients to grow, so the farmers are forced to fertilize.  Fertilizer does indeed contain enough nutrition for a plant to survive until harvesting, but not enough nutrients to support your body's nutrient needs. As discussed in the excellent book "", this results in plants that up to 75% fewer micronutrients. This problem is compounded by the fact that most plants are not harvested fresh, and the nutrients degrade as they often sit on airplanes, trucks, shelves, and counters for weeks before they arrive on your plate. Second, most , and not maximum nutrients, and because of this much of your fresh produce that us humans would have historically relied upon for nutrients are instead .  And of course, this is all passed on to the animals (including you!) that are eating the plants. For example,  found copper levels have dropped by 90% in dairy, 55% in meat, and 76% in vegetables! Third, pesticides are making this pro