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Too Many Vitamins?
January 27th, 2009 | Stephen Bailey
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In my latest quest for healthy living, I found something very interesting. Now keep in mind that I am (of course) no expert and what follows is pure conjecture based on the suggestions of one doctor.
At a recent checkup with Dr. Ruvan Shein, he relayed a few points about vitamins. Some of what he said sounded more like his opinion rather than hard, cold facts, but he's the doctor so I listened politely.
He told me that many people think that, no matter what their diet may be, there is a need to take extra vitamins. Even worse are those (like me) who feel they need to add herbal whatnots (ginseng, ginkgo, echinacea, etc.) to the mix which are largely untested and wholly unregulated.
Well, what's wrong with that? I thought to myself. It all seems safe enough to a layman like me. After all, ancient Chinese secrets and all that jazz have kept folks healthy for many millennia. Right?
The problem is people forget that these are meant to replace vital nutrients that may be lost to an unhealthy diet. It's why they're called supplements (duh). And in the case of herbal supplements, nothing has yet to be scientifically proven that they add anything. Combine that with an overwhelming ignorance over what we put in our mouths from day to day, and many of us could be doing some real harm.
I started to think, oh great. Here we have another doctor ranting against the natural health field in order to sell more pharmaceutical solutions. I was wrong. The more we spoke, the more I realized that Dr. Shein is against any sort of pill-popping shortcuts. Pharmaceutical or otherwise.
As I said, I'm no expert, but what Dr. Shein said seemed like common sense to me. Besides, taking less pills everyday appeals to me. As does the idea of not poisoning myself. Did you know that vitamins can be toxic if taken in high dosages? Excessive vitamin D could damage your liver. Vitamin A, your kidneys.
And the ever-trusted, cold-fighter vitamin C has a recommended daily allowance of just 60mg per day for adults. Do they even make a pill under 100mg? The average is 500mg. Vitamin C in high dosages can cause kidney and gallbladder stones.
Dr. Shein's philosophy is based more on truly natural solutions like diet and exercise. These are things that are often neglected due to our increasingly convenient and sedentary lifestyles. "Eat fish, broccoli and tomatoes. You'll never take another vitamin pill again," he says. Well, kind of.
He doesn't rule out the need for supplements and has used herbs and vitamins in certain treatment regimens. But like anything else, you should check first to see if and/or what you need. Again … common sense.
Since working to further improving my diet over the last few weeks, I halted my supplement intake. Maybe it's psychosomatic, but I do feel better. In the end, what Dr. Shein's ideas regarding supplements told me was that I need to pay closer attention to what I eat and drink. We all do.
So no matter what your position on the matter maybe, at least we can all agree on the benefits of knowing what we put into our bodies.
Related Topics: diet, doctor, exercise, health, life, resolutions, vitamins
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Stephen Bailey | 1 Comment »
Too Many Vitamins?
(via Facebook, MySpace, Digg, email and more)
February 4th, 2009 at 8:32 am
It's entirely true that most people seem to think if they take supplements that will instantly mean they're healthy, regardless of how poor their diet may be, and seem to think they can eat whatever they want because they're taking vitamins, when this couldn't be more wrong.
Overdosing on the vitamins you mentioned, A,D and C is very unlikely. Vitamin C for example is sold in high doses because it is water soluble, meaning your body cannot store it and any excess is simply excreted in your urine. Making it very safe to take in high doses.
A and D are more of a problem because they're fat soluble, and can accumulate in your body.