John:
<< Well, let me state it another way.  I've been eating this way for a little
over a year now.  I have no obvious illnesses, no sydromes or symptoms, my
hair is not falling out (any faster than it should, I guess), and my skin
looks pretty normal. >>

These are good things to be paying attention to. And again, John, I'm not
suggesting you take supplements if you don't feel you should. But I would say
that many nutritional deficiencies that I have seen in my work only show up
after a longer period of time, or they are sometimes even hard to spot by
outward signs and show themselves by sneaking up gradually in the form of
little imbalances that begin to be noticed, fatigue, lack of vitality,, or
little problems that seem to be unrelated. Sometimes a person can go for years
with pretty severe deficiencies, and not notice until something very serious
causes them to do the sleuth work to figure out where the problem may have
originated.

Again - this is not a case for supplements - just a case for considering all
the facts when trying to think best about designing one's diet.

<< So where would I even get the idea that I needed some kind of
supplementation except from other people?  And what other people tell me I
need, I am always just a little suspicious of, because most often those who
tell me I need something are those who sell it. >>

Yes, you are right - it is hard to find trustworthy sources of information.
Either someones is trying to sell you something, or has a personal 'agenda'
that has nothing whatsoever to do with your health, or they have had incorrect
or incomplete training, or they are simply a quack, etc. I agree with you - it
is always wise to consider the source, and basically to do your own research
and form your own opinions based on as much information as you can gather.

<< I certainly don't think that it's necessary to take supplements to try to
compensate for potential shortfalls in certain nutrients based simply on their
availability in our environment; the human body is rather adaptable and not
every location has the same nutrients available.  >>

Cultures will adapt over time to environmental conditions, but you as an
individual, in your own lifetime, will not adapt to the lack of needed
nutrients. There are certain critical nutrients (I'm mostly thinking of
minerals for this discussion) that if you just leave them out of your diet
entirely, your health will surely suffer in the long run.

<< So even if you were to try to compensate with supplements, levels of
nutrients would be subjective guesses at best anyway. >>

Again, you have to read, ask as many people as you can, use the internet and
discussion lists, check all the research, gather as much as you have the time
and inclination for, and then make your own subjective decisions about how
much of each nutrient you feel you should include in your diet, and where you
are going to find it.

<< I prefer to spend my money on meat, not pills that put money in people's
pockets.>>

BTW you might consider things like wheat grass or barley grass or dried
powders of those things, or seaweeds, if you are against pills. The grasses
are packed with minerals (imo not all that you need, but many) and you could
grow these yourself. Minerals are usually pretty inexpensive compared to a lot
of the pricey supplements out there.

Lots of Love,  Liza

[log in to unmask] (Liza May)