Annemarie Colbin
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 As single elements, vitamin and mineral supplements must be considered medicine, whether they're natural or synthetic. They will fill a gap in the metabolism—if there is one. By "gap" I mean a relative vitamin and mineral deficiency created by partial or incomplete foods, such as sugar or white flour because of their unaccompanied carbohydrates (see chapter three, page 63). Thus, even a small amount of sugar in the diet will create gaps that could theoretically be balanced by supplements. |
Carol Simontacchi
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 Start your child on a good supplement program, using vitamin and mineral supplements that provide a "healthy" amount of all the B complex, the rest of the vitamins, and high doses of minerals. Make sure they supply at least 250 milligrams of magnesium, 250 milligrams of calcium, 25-35 milligrams of zinc, 5-8 milligrams of iron (especially if your child is a girl), and 200 micrograms of chromium. A good supplement will reduce many of the cravings for inappropriate foods and help balance blood sugar. |
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.
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 You can find quality multiple vitamin and mineral supplements that cost under ten cents a day, or three dollars a month. Add another one to three dollars a month for a good calcium-magnesium supplement, and about the same for an antioxidant or vitamin E capsule.
2. What do the letters "USP" mean on a supplement label?
United States Pharmacopeia, or USP, is a nongovernmental standard-setting body. This seal of quality means the supplement should dissolve within the digestive tract, is made from pure ingredients, and contains the amount of nutrients listed on the label. |
Dr. Vern Cherewatenko and Paul Perry
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 When they come to my clinic, I start them on a comprehensive program that involves regular exercise, sensible eating, vitamin and mineral supplements, and medication to curb their appetite. I have had the opportunity to see the effects of virtually every diet drug ever marketed on type 2 diabetes. I have found that a combination of lifestyle change with any diet drug will allow a person with type 2 diabetes to eliminate medication or greatly reduce the amount needed almost immediately.
Why Not Diet Drugs? |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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 I have used homeopathy as my primary means of therapy since 1978, emphasizing good nutrition and vitamin and mineral supplements. The reason for my switching to homeopathy is simple: it is much more effective than any other system of medicine I have used before."
The reason for this effectiveness and the consistency of the results can be explained very simply, according to H.C. Gurney, D.V.M., of Conifer, Colorado. "Animals do not have the power to reason whether a treatment is going to work or not. It either will or it won't. |
| Fats and fried foods should be avoided. vitamin and mineral supplements may be necessary as well, due to excessive nutrient loss.
Dr. Donovan treats children's diarrhea with barley water or rice water. A little sugar can be added to increase the absorption of minerals. Pectin, found in the peel of citrus fruits, apples, carrots, potatoes, sugar beets, and tomatoes, helps relieve diarrhea. Lactobacillus acidophilus is needed after diarrhea to reconstitute the bowel flora.
Herbal Medicine: Goldenseal has proved beneficial in bacterial-induced diarrhea. |
| The Hoxsey therapy consists of a mix of herbal preparations for internal and external use, and an emphasis on diet, vitamin and mineral supplements, and personal counseling. The external formula (but not the internal one) includes Sanguinaria canadensis, also known as bloodroot, which has been used by Lake Superior Native Americans to treat cancer.
Wide-ranging laboratory research has found definite biological activity in the various ingredients of the Hoxsey herbal formula. Studies have shown antitumor effects with components of prickly ash and Stillingia, burdock, and extracts of barberry. |
| Apparently the message is getting through—it is estimated that 80% of adults now take vitamin and mineral supplements, spending $16 billion per year.
The Modern Diet and a New Understanding of Nutrition
"Nutrient density is the hallmark of good food," says Paul McTaggart, a nutrition researcher from Ventura, California. Nutrient density is defined as the relative ratio of nutrients to calories. Foods low in nutrient density are often termed "empty-calorie" or "junk" foods. |
| While most experts agree that nutritional supplements are vital for a variety of illnesses, injuries, and age-related problems, vitamin and mineral supplements can also help to maintain optimal physical and psychological health, and promote longevity and chronic disease prevention.
~ * ver since the term vitamin was coined almost 100 years ago to describe the discovery of the * ^ essential life substances in foods, scientists have debated the issue of nutritional adequacy. Medical science has long held that healthy adults do not need supplementation if they consume a healthful, varied diet. |
| Herbal medicines may be used as tonics and nutritive agents to support and strengthen weakened systems, while specific nutritional agents such as vitamin and mineral supplements and glandular tissue extracts might also be utilized. Hydrotherapy and various types of physical therapy may be required. Additionally, it is important that major emotional stresses be eased to allow the gastrointestinal system to function in the relaxed environment required for proper digestion.
Finally, underlying many illnesses is a spiritual disharmony. |
Natural Prescriptions: Dr. Giller's Natural Treatments & Vitamin Therapies For Over 100 Common AilmentsRobert M. Giller, M.D.
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| I recommended vitamin and mineral supplements, and within two weeks the bleeding stopped. But when he went away on vacation, he didn't take his supplements along; bleeding began within ten days. When he returned, he resumed the supplements, and once again the bleeding stopped. Since adhering to his supplement regime, he has had not further problems with his gums.
Vitamin C is one of the key vitamins needed for healthy gums. While it's not known exactly how vitamin C works, it appears to battle bacteria while promoting the formation of healthy new gum tissue. |
James A. Duke, Ph.D.
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 Scientific research has since proven that many vitamin and mineral supplements have real value in preventing and treating disease, when taken in doses higher than the Daily Values. Studies have also concluded that echinacea and other herbs are, in fact, immune stimulants. And in 1998, the federal government—a bastion of quackbuster-type thinking— acknowledged the existence of brain foods by adding choline to its list of essential nutrients.
For nearly a decade, some supplement manufacturers pushed choline as an important, if not essential, dietary phytochemical. |
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.
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| Every day at health food stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, and discount department stores people face a wall of vitamin and mineral supplements. A simple decision to take a supplement becomes a nightmare when you try to choose from thousands of powders, pills, potions, capsules, tablets, multiples, single nutrienrs, and "day packs." How do we know if rhe $6 to $10 billion worrh of supplements sold in this country every year are doing us any good? Would we be just as well, or better off, without them, or would everyone benefir from a daily viramin pill? |
Stephen T., M.D. Sinatra
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 Since vitamins cannot be produced by the body we must get them through the diet and/or in vitamin and mineral supplements.
Some vitamins such as A, D, E, and K may be fat soluble and do not need to be replenished on a daily basis, as the body can store them in the adipose tissue. The water-soluble vitamins such as B vitamins and vitamin C must be ingested on a daily basis as they cannot be stored in the body.
Vitamin A and Beta Carotene
Vitamin A is essential to prevent night blindness and the formation of cataracts. |
David Brownstein
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 Joyce was put on a program that included diet changes (reduction of refined foods), exercise, and natural hormonal therapies including natural progesterone and DHEA, along with vitamin and mineral supplements. Over the next three bone density tests, Joyce's bone density reversed itself. "My internist was amazed. He kept saying, "I have never seen this happen ". I feel so much stronger on the natural hormones that I know I will not be bothered by osteoporosis, " she claimed.
Many conventional physicians are under the mistaken belief that estrogens alone?and synthetic estrogens at that? |
Lita Lee, Lisa Turner and Burton Goldberg
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 Enzyme Therapy
A common misconception is that vitamin and mineral supplements will make up for dietary deficiencies. The fact is, without enzymes, nothing works in the body, no matter how well formulated the supplement might be. If food is not completely digested, the body does not get the full complement of nutrients it needs. That's why people with food allergies often have accompanying vitamin and mineral deficiencies. |
| However, you may not be aware that some vitamin and mineral supplements, even those found in health food stores, contain aspartate or glutamate as chelating agents. If calcium glutamate or calcium aspartate appear on the list of ingredients, it is best to avoid that product.
Fluoride Toxicity
Fluoride poisons at least 100 enzymes.'6 It accomplishes this by binding to sites on the enzyme which prevents the coenzyme (a vitamin or mineral) from activating the enzyme. In addition to its seizure-inducing effects, fluoride can cause cancer, osteoporosis, and other aging diseases. |
Barrie R Cassileth, Ph.D.
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 Megavitamin and Orthomolecular-Therapy
Scientific data on problems associated with deficiencies or overdoses of nutrients are well established, and vitamin and mineral supplements are used appropriately to compensate for vitamin deficiencies. But some alternative practitioners believe that huge dosages of vitamins, sometimes hundreds of supplement pills a day, can cure disease. These individuals practice megavitamin or orthomolecular therapy (the latter adds minerals and other nutrients), unproven methods considered dangerous by mainstream scientists. |
Leo Galland
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 Study after study has found that vitamin and mineral supplements improve the immune function of elderly Americans.66 The specific nutrients with the most profound effects on immune function are EFAs, protein, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B6, folic acid, and iron. Among the healthy elderly, immune-boosting benefits have been demonstrated for antioxidants like zinc, selenium, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. |
David Brownstein
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 Jodi was treated with a small amount of Armour thyroid along with vitamin and mineral supplements. Within 6 months, her hair and mineral tests showed normal levels of nutrients. Jodi now takes a multiple vitamin mineral product and eats more whole foods that are a rich source of vitamins and minerals. She has continued to maintain good health for the past two years.
Zinc
The serum levels of zinc are positively correlated with the levels of the active thyroid hormone, T3, especially in the aging population.24 In zinc deficient rats, lowered conversion of T4 to T3 has been observed. |
David Brownstein
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 There are three main reasons that I recommend vitamin and mineral supplements:
1. Poor farming techniques have depleted many soils of vital minerals. Food grown in these depleted soils will contain inadequate mineral levels.
2. Modern food processing has stripped valuable vitamins and minerals from food. Examples of foods that have been stripped of their nutrients include refined flour, refined sugar and partially hydrogenated oils.
3. Fruits and vegetables have been contaminated by the widespread use of pesticides. |
Stephen T., M.D. Sinatra
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| CHAPTER
Fourteen
Nutritional Healing for the Year 2001
PHYTONUTRIENT S /PHYTOTHERAPY
My gradual transition toward nutritional/metabolic healing started in the early 1980s with my own personal use of vitamin and mineral supplements. However, it was not until 1984 that I began to prescribe vitamin and mineral support to my patients. Two years later I began to use low doses of coenzyme Qw in my practice. I administered it to patients about to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery and to patients who suffered from heart failure. |
Zorba Paster, M.D. and Susan Meltsner
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 So does taking vitamin and mineral supplements. But that's not the only longevity-boosting benefit of supplementing our daily diets.
Supplements also can help us avoid conditions that are not directly related to a particular micronutrient. Take heart disease. It is not the result of a vitamin deficiency, yet subjects of the Nurse's Health Study who started their days with vitamin- and mineral-fortified breakfast cereals were much less likely to develop it.
Supplements often produce positive health results in their own right as well. |
Stephen T., M.D. Sinatra
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| Standard children's vitamin and mineral supplements often include small doses of iron. Caution is required, however, in dispensing iron to children, as several deaths have been attributed to iron overdose in young people. A typical overdose scenario involves a young child tampering with adult (especially women's formula) vitamins, which typically contain high levels of iron. Since only a few tablets can cause fatal shock in very young children, it is absolutely essential that parents keep any iron supplements as well as adult multivitamin and mineral preparations away from children. |
Robyn Landis
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 Take vitamin and mineral supplements wisely. The antioxidant vitamins and minerals are especially important.
Drink plenty of water. We recommend at minimum 8 to 10, preferably 12 to 15 glasses of water a day (I manage 20 plus).
Bust stress. Consciously seek to arrange your life so that there is as little physical and emotional wear and strain as possible.
Reduce toxicity. Take measures to reduce your exposures to environmental pollutants. |
Stephen T., M.D. Sinatra
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| Although vitamin and mineral supplements are no substitute for a proper diet, they are a beneficial, nontoxic, and easy way to promote optimum health. Unfortunately, even the rare individual who eats a balanced diet (about 9 percent of Americans) that includes five to nine servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day does not get the larger amount of these nutrients demonstrated in scientific studies to be effective.
While supplemental vitamins and minerals are the easiest way to make up the deficit, the problem is that most supplements are unregulated as to potency and absorption. |
| One reason may be that the results of this study appeared just before the passage of the famous Hatch-Richardson Bill regarding the purchase of vitamin and mineral supplements.
The study population in the Finnish trial included approximately twenty-nine thousand male smokers in Finland. Most of these individuals had been smoking for thirty years. Since the average fat content of the Finnish diet was at about 38 percent of total calories, most participants had high cholesterol levels. In addition, many of the participants drank considerable quantities of alcohol. |
Gale Maleskey
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 Replace Lost Nutrients
In the meantime, until the healing process does its work, it's a good idea to take vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent deficiencies and malnutrition, says Pamela Taylor, N.D., a naturopathic doctor in Moline, Illinois.
At the very least, you'll want to take a multivitamin/mineral supplement that includes calcium and magnesium, says Dr. Taylor. Magnesium deficiency often occurs in malabsorption syndromes and may contribute to osteoporosis, the rapid bone loss that can lead to hip fractures and other skeletal problems. |
| That means eating a healthy diet as well as taking vitamin and mineral supplements. If you think you need extra help, turn to naturally detoxifying herbs like ginseng, garlic, or milk thistle, he says. no way to know exactly whether you're getting adequate selenium from the produce you buy in the supermarket. Supplements are the surest way to make sure that you get enough.
In the Tucson study, the people who showed increased resistance to cancer were taking more than 200 micrograms of selenium a day. According to Dr. |
| Supplement-Making Made Simple
How are vitamin and mineral supplements made, tested, packaged, and sold? How do you know if you're getting what the label says?
Vitamins, whether synthetic or "natural," are processed in huge, modern plants. There are only about six large companies worldwide that produce these vitamins so that hundreds of companies can purchase them as ingredients for vitamin pills.
Each vitamin is produced by a unique series of steps. Vitamin C, for instance, can be made from natural-source dextrose, a type of sugar. The process involves nine steps. |
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