Vitamin Supplements

The safety of minerals depends on three factors. Firstly, the amount — all minerals show toxicity at exceedingly high doses. Secondly, the form — trivalent chromium, for example, is essential, while hexavalent chromium (which is not found in food or supplements) is very toxic. Thirdly, the balance with other minerals in the diet — iron supplementation, for instance, can exacerbate zinc deficiency since it is a zinc antagonist. The reason for this antagonism is that many minerals are atomically very similar to each other. So if you lack one mineral but take in an excess of another similar mineral it can slot into the wrong enzyme, speeding up or slowing down or simply stopping the enzyme from working. Read the rest of this entry »

Who benefits from supplements?

The answer is simple: Everyone. Many of my colleagues will probably want to burn me at the stake for this but there is enough evidence to prove that most people today do not eat a balanced enough diet to get all the vitamins they need. In addition, the fast pace, stress and pollution of modern society result in a greater need for vitamins and other nutrients. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the years, no other vitamin has received as much media attention, hype, and hoopla as vitamin C. Thanks in great part to its most prominent and outspoken advocate, Linus Pauling, millions of people religiously consume large amounts of vitamin C in hopes that it might cure them of everything from the common cold to cancer.

Despite all this attention, the average person isn’t sure what to believe about this highly touted nutrient. Furthermore, until recently, most physicians weren’t sure what to tell their patients. Research has now provided us with many of the answers. Read the rest of this entry »

Phosphorus

Another very important mineral upon which the body depends is phosphorus. This mineral plays a leading part in many of our vital processes.

It is present in every tissue and has much to do with the growth and functions of all the cells of the body. Phosphorus enters into a great many different chemical reactions, especially those involving enzymes, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Phosphorus is essential for all the muscles. Believe it or not, you could not lift an eyebrow without phosphorus! It is part of the nuclear structure of every cell. Phosphorus also helps to maintain the normal acid-base balance of the body.

In combination with calcium it forms a large part of the bony framework on which the rest of the body depends. It is essential in building sound, healthy teeth. Most of the phosphorus in the body is stored in the bones. Like calcium, it can be drawn upon for needs elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »

Iron Overdose Toxicity

If your health is generally good, you run little risk of experiencing side effects from high doses of iron (up to 75 mg per day), either in your diet or in supplements. People with an inherited disease called hemochromatosis are at risk, however. The intestines of people with this condition fail to regulate iron absorption properly, so the body tends to accumulate and store too much of the mineral. The extra iron can damage the body’s most critical organs (including the liver, heart, and spleen) and bone marrow, causing serious problems like cirrhosis and irregular heart rhythms. Hemochromatosis tends to affect men more than women. Although this disease is rare, it can be deadly. Read the rest of this entry »

You can meet your optimal calcium needs by drinking three glasses of low-fat (1%) milk and eating two 8 ounce servings of low-fat yogurt per day, for example. Most people, however, consume less than half of our ODA through diet alone. You may find it more practical to get part of your calcium through supplements.

Having a deficiency in iron may at first seem rather implausible. After all, iron is plentiful in many foods we commonly eat—from red meats to vegetables to beans. In fact, though, this is the most frequent nutritional deficiency in the United States and throughout the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Before you decide that you need to take iron supplements or change the way you eat, you should know where you stand and how much improvement you really need. To help you analyze your current diet, we’ve developed a system you can use to calculate your approximate iron intake. Our ODA for men is 10 mg; for women, it ranges from 12 to 15 mg, rising to 20 mg for women with heavy menstrual flow. For the purposes of this test, we have used an ODA of 15 mg.

To determine your average daily intake of iron, start by keeping an accurate food diary for three or four days. The longer you keep the diary, the more accurate your calculations will be. Write down exactly what you eat and drink, together with an estimate of the serving size. Read the rest of this entry »

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you (or your child) have an above-average risk of developing an iron deficiency.

• Are you pregnant, or have you recently delivered a baby? During pregnancy, the fetus and placenta demand a great deal of iron from your body. Blood loss during childbirth can also lead to an iron deficiency. Read the rest of this entry »

Except for iron, no other trace mineral is as prevalent in the body as zinc. And few have been as highly promoted. You may have heard a lot of claims about zinc, in fact; many myths have flourished around this mineral. Zinc has been touted as a treatment for angina, acne, liver disease, and lack of energy— despite scarce evidence to support any of these claims. Some proponents have even insisted that zinc stimulates sexual potency.

Setting aside the spurious claims, zinc is an essential nutrient that plays important roles in the body. It is present in all of the body’s cells, with large amounts in the eyes, liver, bone, skin, hair, and nails. Read the rest of this entry »

This is another borderline case which can be a medical or self help condition. Knowing whether or not you are anaemic requires a blood test which shows how much iron, as haemoglobin, you have in the red cells of the blood. Ideally it should be at a level of 14 mg per 100 ml of blood but many women have less than this amount, particularly after childbirth or heavy menstrual periods. Iron tablets may be recommended by the doctor for a short time to build up the iron in the blood but the long-term prospects should rest on correcting the diet. Unfortunately iron is not very ‘available’ in the foods we eat. This means that although we may eat plenty of iron in our meat, liver, kidney, eggs and fish it is poorly absorbed from the intestine. Read the rest of this entry »