This post is this week’s Real Food Resource, which is a weekly spotlight on books, sites, and relevant media that helps you to identify what real food is. If you enjoy this article, please consider subscribing to Almost Fit. Thanks.

Every once in a while you come across a person that is truly dedicated to helping others. Robin Plan over at Whole Food and More, in my estimation, is just such a person. Her site is this week’s Real Food Resource.

One of the reasons I frequently read Whole Food and More is because Robin is very clearly passionate about her subject matter. Whether the topic is addressing the benefits of eating avocados (remember when the low fat nutrition fad vilified avocados? Times have changed…), a recipe for a healthy cheeseburger (yes, there’s real, grass-fed beef in it), or the psychology behind the Western world’s addition to junk food, Robin’s articles are informative, well written, and enjoyable reads.

In one regard in particular, Robin’s focus is crystal clear: She is dedicated to the eradication of synthetic vitamins and the education of the public on their dangers. Synthetics are big industry’s cheaply produced snake oil that, combined with enormous advertising budgets and questionable science, have duped several generations into buying expensive products that may ultimately have led to damaging the health of their adopters. In fact, recent studies are showing very clearly that synthetic supplements are not only ineffective, in some cases they have been linked to premature death.

You can read more about the dangers of synthetic supplements, and an excellent trade-in program at Robin’s site.

While my focus here at Almost Fit is on eating whole foods for your nutritional needs, there are certainly cases where supplements are a needed dietary component. In thinking about it, I am actually a living example of this. For years I was allergic to fish. Not shellfish - rather, fish like Salmon, Halibut, and Trout. And I might mention - I loved fish when I could eat it. But somewhere in my early twenties, something changed. Eating fresh caught salmon or a can of tuna caused my throat to constrict, which is not a very comforting experience.

As a result, I was really unable to get some of the essential nutrients that fish provide. Regular fish intake has been shown to significantly reduce everything from the likelihood of cancer to the damage and possibility of heart attacks. For someone like me (at the time), supplements were the only way I could get those essential oils. (For more information on the unique value of fish in our diet, see Nina Planck’s excellent book, Real Food - What to Eat and Why.)

One odd sidenote: lately for some reason I’ve been able to eat fish without the tell-tale throat swelling; I’m truly not sure why, but the change has occurred since I revised my diet away from industrially produced foods. It is very possible that this is coincidence, I will admit. But, I’ve had fish several times in a single week (a few weeks ago), and it had no negative effect at all. It’s a mystery, but wow am I glad it seems to have changed.

At any rate, while I currently do not take supplements regularly, I can definitely see the value particularly for folks like me who were unable to get the nutrients I needed directly from food. And as a result of efforts by folks like Robin, I am beginning to reconsider whether I should be adding some supplements into my diet again. I’m looking to the factual information that Robin presents, among many others, to help me to make an informed decision.

Thanks Robin!

If you have a resource that you think is particularly important in understanding what real food is, please feel free to send them my way. Thank you for reading.

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