Recently, when advising a young male patient, I recommended he take a zinc supplement. “I don’t like taking pills – can’t I get it in food? What foods is it in: I’ll eat more of those,” he said.

This is a sensible reaction and I welcome it in many cases. There are situations, however, where it doesn’t necessarily turn out to be the best option for rectifying imbalances in the body.

1. If the patient has poor digestive function and is therefore not absorbing nutrients efficiently from food, even if their diet is good.

2. If the nutritional deficiency is large and it would take a long time on a rather artificially constructed diet to make up the deficit.

3. If the nutrient in question is difficult to find in sufficient quantities in food sources. This is often the case where people are not eating organic food but food grown on nutrient-deprived soil, such as where intensive farming methods are practised.

There are also certain situations in which people need to increase the supply of nutrients going into their bodies in order to meet increased demand.

when undertaking demanding sporting activities or doing a physically demanding job

when under pressure at work or at home, with harassing deadlines and insufficient sleep

when recovering from illness or coping with a long drawn out problem such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

In these situations, a supplement that provides extra quantities of vital nutrients such as the B vitamins or iron can be extremely helpful.

What is the best option for supplementing the diet?

Our bodies were designed to get their nutrients from food. Taking isolated nutrients that were synthesised in a laboratory isn’t very natural. The most logical option is to take extra nutrients in the form of foods, handily concentrated into a manageable form so that you don’t have to eat several extra meals a day.

The body will recognise foods as its nutrient source and will be able to unwrap the package to utilise the contents efficiently – it’s the natural way. Everything the nutrient needs to get into the system and work effectively there is present in the whole food form. Many extremely nutritious foodstuffs that you would find difficult to access on a regular basis are provided in botanical supplements – sourced from foods, with nothing added or taken away.

So if you need a little extra to keep you going or bring you back to your best, look for botanical supplements, to make it easy for your body to take extra nutrients on board.