| How many pills should a healthy adult take | | | | Vitamin C and folic acid. |
| anyway? It seems that every week a new, | | | | And then there are non-essential ingredients. Along |
| miraculous pill is discovered that will cure your | | | | with the basics, many companies will add in a long |
| piles, consumption and vapors. | | | | list of herbs and non-essential nutrients in |
| So many things sound exciting and promising. | | | | ridiculously small amounts. You can call this |
| There is no end to the pills we would take if we | | | | "cosmetic labeling". It is kind of like a low budget |
| based our decision on marketing hype. Between all | | | | movie that headlines Al Pacino, but he gets killed |
| the commercials, mailers, and magazine articles, | | | | off in the first few minutes. Let's look at Biotin. It |
| you might feel overwhelmed trying to sort | | | | is essential, but it is also the most expensive |
| through which vitamins and minerals are REALLY | | | | raw-material that goes into a multi. Ever wonder |
| essential to take. Here is a quick and easy guide. | | | | why your vitamins have 5000% of the RDA for |
| The core purpose of supplementation is to make | | | | Thiamin and only 30% of the RDA for biotin? |
| up for a lack of nutrients in the diet. Ever heard | | | | Now you know, they're being cheapskates! |
| the conventional party line on supplements? It | | | | 1) Here's a quick run down on exact amounts to |
| goes like this: "we get all the vitamins and minerals | | | | look for in a Multivitamin: |
| we need from a balanced diet." Here's another | | | | Nutrient Amount RDA |
| good one: "vitamins give you nothing more than | | | | EPA 1000 + mg n/a DHA 300 + mg n/a |
| expensive urine." | | | | Vitamin A 10,000 IU 200% -Ideally 3/4 from |
| Let's try doing what the RDA suggests. What | | | | mixed carotenoids Vitamin C 850 mg 1417% |
| exactly does RDA stand for? | | | | Vitamin D3 1,000 IU 250% Vitamin E - 400 IU |
| Recommended Dietary Allowances. | | | | 1333% -Blended or alpha tocopheral, -Avoid dl |
| The D is not 'Daily', it is 'Dietary' since it's meant | | | | Vitamin K 100 mcg 125% Thiamine 40 mg |
| to reflect a week's average. If you fall short on | | | | 2667% Riboflavin 11 mg 647% Niacin 20 mg |
| folic acid on Monday and Tuesday, there is always | | | | 100% Vitamin B6 10 mg 500% Folic acid 1000 |
| Wednesday to catch up! | | | | mcg (1 mg) 250% Vitamin B12 1000 mcg (1 mg) |
| The amazing thing is, if you were to try to create | | | | 400% Biotin 400 + mcg 133% Pantothenic Acid |
| a diet that would meet the RDA guidelines, (even | | | | 413 mg 4130% Calcium citrate 800 + mg 90% |
| when you're looking at charts of foods with their | | | | Magnesium 600 mg 150% -citrate or oxide, -can |
| lists nutrient values and making a diet that would | | | | cause loose stools! Zinc 15 mg 100% Selenium |
| never occur spontaneously)...you can't meet the | | | | 200 mcg 286% Copper picolinate 2 mg 100% |
| RDA guidelines! | | | | Manganese 6 mg 300% Chromium picolinate 200 |
| And that's not factoring in soil depletion, the fact | | | | mcg 167% Molybdenum 100 mcg 133% Boron |
| that the RDA's are woefully outdated, or the fact | | | | 3-5 mg not established |
| that people's individual nutritional needs can vary | | | | To make this happen you can purchase a good |
| 20 fold. | | | | "iron free" multi in capsules. Most high quality |
| You DO need supplements. Some studies have | | | | products that yield doses like this will require 4-8 |
| shown that just taking a vitamin and mineral | | | | pills per day. |
| complex, aka. multi, can lower mortality odds by | | | | 2) Cal/Mag |
| 30% per year. | | | | Next is a calcium/magnesium supplement in |
| Basically adults need 1) a multivitamin, 2) calcium | | | | capsules, tablets or liquid. These are 2-4 capsules |
| magnesium, and 3) fish oil. Green foods | | | | or 1 - 2 tbsp or liquid per day. This will protect |
| supplements are options that can make up for a | | | | your bones, help your muscles, and will stop |
| lack of good fruits and veggies. Avoid ones with | | | | muscle cramps. |
| laxatives like senna, cascara sagrada, aloe or | | | | 3) Fish Oil |
| rhubarb. | | | | Fish oil can range from 2-8 gel caps or 1/2 - 3 tsp |
| Some basic concepts: | | | | based on the concentration. Just look for the |
| Liquid nutrients is a great idea, but when products | | | | amount of mg of EPA per serving. |
| are made this way they usually end up needing | | | | **Here is a tip, the cheap big discount warehouse |
| tons of flavors and preservatives just so you can | | | | brand costs less per capsule but not per mg of |
| get them down. Calcium/magnesium are | | | | EPA! Plus it's loaded with Mercury. |
| exceptions, chemically they can exist in liquids with | | | | Fatty acid supplementation is also critical. |
| less flavorings and without preservatives. | | | | Fish oil is the thing to take in order to get good |
| Tablets are OK for calcium/magnesium blends but | | | | fats. The best products are tested for toxic |
| should be avoided for multivitamins. Tableted | | | | metals, solvents and have a high concentration of |
| multivitamins don't break down well enough for | | | | EPA, like 400+ mg per capsule. Don't get the |
| absorption of trace minerals. | | | | cheap fish oil! Bad fish oil can actually do more |
| Iron does not belong in multivitamins. If you are | | | | harm than good. |
| low in it, we need to know why and correct the | | | | Hopefully this simplifies fact from fiction for what |
| problem. If you're not low in it, you don't want | | | | you REALLY need when it comes to |
| extra. Additionally it uses up the antioxidants and | | | | supplementation. |
| makes other minerals absorb poorly. You don't | | | | To your health! |
| want to take your iron with anything other than | | | | |