The Two Vitamins You Should Take Daily

You could literally make a meal out of all the daily vitamins available today. But there are only a couple we take each day.

The reason is that when you consume a whole plant-based diet, you actually get all but a couple of vitamins and minerals you need each day simply by the food you eat.

Reductionism and nutrition

The most dominant approach to nutrition is that everything can be broken down into its parts, where food is a collection of single compounds with single effects. This approach is called reductionism.

This means that most vitamins and minerals don’t work the same way when they’re isolated and removed from their original state.

All the vitamins were discovered over a half-century ago. But it’s our current way of eating that allows heart disease, diabetes, and obesity to persist. Instead of taking care of our nutrition, too often we try to treat our deficiencies with a pill.

There are two vitamins we take daily in our home.

The two vitamins you should take each day

So, let’s go over those two vitamins, and then I’ll briefly discuss whether there’s reason to take any others. 

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is one of only two vitamins we cannot get through food. Vitamin B12 actually comes through tiny microbes. You’re able to get small amounts of vitamin B12 through meat because these microbes grow in the gut of animals. 

However, studies show that our bodies are unable to absorb most of these microbes. We used to get these microbes from water. But now we chlorinate our water and so it kills off all microbes – both the good and the bad.

Liquid vitamin D

Vitamin D is the only vitamin you cannot get through food. The reason is that it’s made by animals or humans when exposed to sunlight. And the small amounts added to milk isn’t enough to experience any benefits. 

The only way to get an adequate amount is by the sun or supplements. And for those of us in the midwest, because of the angle of the sun’s rays during December and January, it’s impossible to get enough vitamin D no matter how long you stay outside.

The reason we consume it in liquid form is that it contains Liposomes which are tiny spheres of fat used as carriers for vitamin D so it’s better absorbed.

But remember what Hippocrates said thousands of years ago: “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. “ The best way to remain in good health is to maintain a healthy diet.