Who Needs Vitamins?

Are you like many of my patients? Do you find it difficult to eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily? Is the thought of eating 2-3 servings a day unrealistic with your lifestyle, let alone attempting to eat 8-9 servings daily? Do you wonder what's wrong with "Wonder Bread"?

Do you find vitamins and supplements to be confusing? Maybe your shelf is stocked with vitamins, but you do not know what is what? Have you heard that vitamins are just a form of creating expensive urine? Do you think a "balanced diet" is all you need for optimal health? Are you unclear as to what actually constitutes a balanced diet?

The good news is that science and medicine has started to pay attention to the need for good nutrition and appropriate supplementation. We are beginning to understand the role nutrition plays in the development of chronic degenerative disorders, or diseases of “affluence”. Disease of "affluence" simply means we have enough income to live unhealthy lives. This includes eating the...

* incorrect amounts of the

* incorrect foods at the

* incorrect time!

All the while, you are under pressure and under the daily stressors, which life presents. This includes diseases from heart disease to diabetes to arthritis and even cancer. But the scientific information to help guide you is scattered throughout various medical disciplines and scientific journals, making it hard for even the best physician to keep up-to-date and capable of making creditable recommendations, much less the lay person.

In 2002, Harvard medical school researchers concluded that "due to poor eating habits and nutritionally depleted food sources..."

* every American would benefit from taking a quality multi-vitamin and mineral daily.

Additionally they concluded that due to common malabsorption problems,

* elderly Americans should be taking two multi-vitamins and minerals per day.

This information was published in the esteemed Journal of the American Association AKA JAMA

Do you consume two servings of cold-water fatty fish per week? In 2007, the well respected American Heart Association or AHA published their findings on this topic in the prestigious medical journal Circulation. They concluded:

* Every American needs two servings or more of cold-water fatty fish per week!

Some people cannot eat fish, those who cannot will benefit from a supplement! Supplements containing omega 3 such as fish oil and flaxseed are ideal. Others that benefit from omega 3’s are:

Those fighting a chronic level of inflammation every day such as arthritis, chronic pain or a multitude of autoimmune or degenerative disorders. The anti-inflammatory qualities of omega 3 essential fatty acids are vital to your diet. Omega 3 essential fatty acids enhance your body's own anti-inflammatory pathways and can neutralize the harmful effects of inflammation. They can influence pain, reduce stiffness and even cross over into your brain to boost your mood! They support hormone function and are important for the developing fetal brain.

Most Americans do not eat the recommended amount of fish. Even those who do should take a supplement.

Are you finding it difficult getting a full five or more servings a day of fruits and vegetables into your meal plan? Do you have intestinal troubles that limit how many servings a day you can eat before pain sets in? The National Cancer Institute now recommends eating 5 to 9 servings a day as part of a healthy, active lifestyle to lower the risk of many diseases. If you have trouble consuming this amount, you will be glad to know that there are new supplements containing the "good" molecules called bioflavonoids, contained in fruits and vegetables, that can benefit your health and minimize inflammation in your system. One fantastic supplement for fighting your inflammation is called OPC or oligomeric procyanodins. OPC's are large molecules found in a variety of foods - grapes, grape seeds, wine and even in certain kinds of pine bark. Extracts of these natural substances have up to 50 times more anti-oxidant activity than vitamin C to neutralize free oxygen radicals in your body.

Free oxygen radicals are molecules that your body produces either when undergoing normal metabolic processes or when you become exposed to environmental toxins such as UV rays from the sun, smoke, polluted air and other contaminants. These molecules are extremely destructive to your tissues - joints, skin, intestinal system, brain, etc - because they contain an unpaired electron in the molecule. This unpaired electron acts as a powerful irritant to the body as it searches throughout your system to find another electron to pair up with and create a balanced molecule. This irritant creates inflammation in your body.

While concentrates of fruits and vegetables may not provide all the nutrients of the whole food itself, fiber supplements can enhance their ability and still give you some of the benefits of the whole foods. If you have excessive inflammation and pain or if you are challenged in getting fruits and vegetables into your daily diet, then you need a quality supplement rich in OPCs.

For optimal health as well as fighting inflammation, begin today eating healthy whole foods and supplementing with a quality multi-vitamin, fish oil or flaxseed and consider the power of bioflavonoids such as OPC. The science in and the evidence is compelling. Supplementation makes sense for everyone!