She also used the book to describe in detail her belief that most Americans inflicted harm on themselves with their typical diets, which was excessively high in salt, refined sugars, pesticides, growth hormones, preservatives and other additives, and thereby "devitalized" of its essential nutrients by the excessive processing. As a result, she says countless adults and most children in the U.S. "have never once had a mouthful of genuinely wholesome food." She recognizes that wholesome foods are difficult to obtain in supermarkets, which is one of the reasons she recommends vitamin supplements.