To follow will be a primer for those unfamiliar with nutritional supplements and how to use them. This material will be of little value for those who have read my first book: Health Secrets for the 21st Century - Volume 1, but may be of value to your friends and family who are thinking of entering the wonderful world of natural healing
Evidence We Need Nutritional Supplements to be Healthy
I recently ran across a review of a book called Naked Calories (Mira Calton CN and Jayson Calton PhD; 2013), and they provided an interesting observation on modern nutrition. Their key thesis, based on Jayson Calton’s PhD dissertation, was to look at a variety of diet plans to see how close they came to providing the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) values of calories and micronutrients. They only looked at what was available in foods, not incorporating any nutritional supplements that may be advised by some of these diets.
They looked at a low carb diet (Atkins), a low fat diet (Best Life, which does not appear to be around anymore but here is an example of a similar program), a low sodium diet (DASH), the Mediterranean diet, and the basic USDA diet advised for U.S. citizens. What they discovered was that the highest amount of required daily micronutrients that any diet could provide was 56% (“Best Life” a low fat diet).
The title of their book, Naked Calories, refers to how modern farming and food processing techniques have stripped foods of their nutritional value, leaving us with empty calories leading to disease and obesity.
The main criticism of this book is that the authors are involved in selling nutritional supplements, and this may compromise their objectivity as authors. Nonetheless, I feel that their information is both valid and accurate. And here is the kicker: they did the math required to determine how many calories we need to eat in order to consume the amount of 27 micronutrients recommended by the USDA. That total is 27,575 calories, leading them to conclude that no diet can possibly provide all of our nutritional requirements.
This does not even take into account the fact that the recommended amounts of nutrients were based on the U.S. RDI which, like the amount of nutrients recommended by the Health Canada, are far lower than many in the nutritional field believe are required for optimal health.
(Amazon link to Naked Calories)
The Problem With Multivitamin Pills
Let’s begin with the premise that you don’t fancy going through 10 bottles of vitamins every morning, and you go looking for the best “one-a-day” multiple vitamin and mineral product that you can find.
The basic problem with this approach is that no one tablet can provide sufficient quantities of everything you need. A multivitamin will definitely not provide enough vitamins C, D, and E, nor magnesium (and in some cases, calcium), not to mention such a product will contain no omega-3 fatty acids Were these to be included at adequate levels in one pill, it would be impossible to swallow.
Now, some multivitamin products will be in capsule form and require that you take 3 per day. These products have essentially taken what is in one pill, which is compressed powder, and left the nutrients in powder form and put them into capsules, which are easier to digest. But 3 caps will only provide a small amount more nutrients than one tablet.
Also, with such products it is important to remember that things like folic acid and selenium are needed at a minimal dose, all of which will be in one tablet, but will be divided into 3 caps. So if you take only one or two of the caps you will come up short on these, and other specific nutrients. That being said, all caps can be taken at one meal.
Another problem with tablets is the fact that many of them are so poorly made that they don’t digest at all and just pass through the body intact. To determine if your tablets are digestible, cover them in vinegar for half an hour and see if they have fallen apart. This mimics your stomach acid, and if the pill is unfazed by the vinegar it indicates that you are not digesting it. Calcium is a particularly difficult pill to digest so definitely test out calcium tablets, if you are taking them.
Choosing a Multivitamin Product
Now, let’s assume you find the best one-a-day multiple you can, perhaps one that is gender specific. Such a formulation will provide extra iron for women and extra zinc for men, as this is the only essential difference in nutritional requirements between genders. (Women will lose iron during menstruation, and men lose zinc during ejaculation.)
Formulas for men, and post-menopausal women, should not include iron, as excess iron has been linked to heart disease. If you eat red meat and you are a male, or a female past menstruation, you should avoid iron supplementation, unless you have been diagnosed as iron-deficient.
Your high quality one-a-day may provide enough vitamin A (5,000 IU) for basic needs, as well as sufficient amounts of zinc (10 to 15 mg; more zinc is required by older men and those with prostate problems), and some of the trace minerals such as chromium and selenium (100 to 200 mcg of each). Unfortunately, it will provide some or all of the vitamin A as beta carotene, and 90% of the time it will be synthetic beta carotene which is essentially worthless. If it is natural beta carotene, a viable supplement, it will state the word “natural” or list “mixed carotenoids” as well.
Vitamin D is being proven more and more important by modern research, especially if you live in the Northern hemisphere. It not only is required for proper calcium absorption but also is linked to helping prevent multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders, and many forms of cancer (including breast, colorectal, and prostate). And this is only scratching the surface of what vitamin D does for the body. I personally consider it the single most important nutrient to supplement with.
It is now considered quite safe to have 5,000 IU of vitamin D per day (and much more in many cases). I personally believe the average person in good health should average about 5,000 IU five days a week (or 25,000 IU once a week).
So your one-a-day will not provide sufficient vitamin D, though at least these days most good multi’s will include 1,000 IU of this vitamin, which is better than the 400 IU they used to contain. Thus one should supplement any multivitamin with extra vitamin D.
Vitamin B Complex
Good multivitamin formulas include about 25 to 30 mg of most of the B vitamins, which is enough for the average person. The B complex should include at least 20 mg of B-6, 100 mcg of B-12, and 1 mg of folic acid, these being the minimal amounts required to prevent homocysteine build-up in the blood, which causes cholesterol to trap in the arteries.
Those in chronic poor health may be poor “methylators” and so should ensure that their product has the folic acid in the form of methylfolate. They should also make sure the B-12 is in the form of methylcobalamin, as poor methylators cannot convert the last generation of B-12, cyanocobalamin, into the active methyl form. It is the same issue with folic acid.
If you feel the need for a higher level of B vitamins, perhaps due to high stress levels, and you decide to take an extra B-complex, take it at a separate meal from the ones you get in your one-a-day. Taking them together would only give you expensive urine, as the blood can only hold so much of the Bs at once. The best way to take B vitamins is in divided doses. Time-release is no longer considered a valid technology for the delivery of B vitamins, as they are picked up in the upper intestinal tract, and pills sink to the lower intestinal tract.
Now, to bring that one-a-day tablet (or 3-a-day capsules) up to the level where you get the amount of nutrients scientifically proven to help protect against cancer and heart disease, it is essential to add extra vitamin C (a minimum of 500 mg) and vitamin E (a minimal of 400 IU).
Vitamin C
This vitamin works fine in the ascorbic acid form, but for those who find the acidity disturbing to their gut, there is the option of a “buffered” vitamin C. This refers to a form where the ascorbic acid has been reacted with a mineral to neutralize the acid and create a pH-neutral form of vitamin C. This form, aside from being easier on the digestive system, is also retained in the body for longer than ascorbic acid.
Evidently, this neutral form is closer to how a mammal produces vitamin C in their bodies. We humans have lost this ability somehow in our evolution, so when we take ascorbic acid the body will steal some minerals to react it with, neutralizing the acid and allowing it to be fully absorbed in the body. This process means that if you are taking high therapeutic amounts of vitamin C as ascorbic acid, you should ensure you are taking extra minerals to compensate for what this form of vitamin C will steal from the body in order to neutralize itself.
The most common form of buffered C is calcium-ascorbate, though there are as many forms as there are nutritive minerals (i.e. magnesium ascorbate, zinc ascorbate, manganese ascorbate, etc). One should be aware that each gram of calcium-ascorbate will provide 90 mg of calcium which is a very absorbable form of calcium.
While too much ascorbic acid will cause a laxative effect, too much calcium ascorbate will have the opposite effect and can cause constipation. This is at a level of 6 to 10,000 mg daily, at which point we are also looking at possibly ingesting too much calcium.
A vitamin C supplement should include bioflavonoids, which work synergistically with vitamin C as antioxidants, and to strengthen veins and capillaries. Most bioflavonoids are derived from citrus fruit but other forms are available as well, including rutin, hesperidin, grape seed extract, and pine bark extract. These last two are powerful forms of bioflavonoids for those in need of therapeutic doses (i.e. for varicose veins) .
Your intake of vitamin C should be at least 500 mg, 2 or 3 times per day. While one may take much more vitamin C (Linus Pauling took 18,000 mg per day and lived to be over 90), 500 mg is the minimal dose required to elevate glutathione levels, thus enhancing immune and detoxification functions. However, increasing the dosage above 500 mg, while it may have other benefits, will not elevate glutathione any more than 500 mg will.
Personally, I like to take 1,000 mg three times daily, both for supporting collagen production and to help keep infections at bay.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E should be in a natural form (“d” alpha rather than “dl” which indicates the synthetic form), and daily intake should be from 400 to 800 IU Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the most respected voices in the alternative healing field, suggests that those under the age of 40 need 400 IU, per day, and over the age of 40 should have 800 IU, per day.
A “mixed” vitamin E is closer to the way vitamin E is found in food, providing the family of tocopherols, not just alpha tocopherol, and is considered superior for circulatory disorders. Some studies have indicated that the dry form of vitamin E (succinate) is a superior antioxidant to the common oil-based form, and is definitely better for those who do not digest fats well.
In Part 2 we will look at calcium and magnesium, enzymes, and essential fatty acids, as well as examine the correct way to take supplements.
(Author: All newsletters and blogs are written by Ken Peters who has worked as a nutritional consultant for the last 30 years, and as product designer for NutriStart for the last 25 years. He has also authored two books - Health Secrets Vol. 1&2. He may be reached at: kenpetersconsulting@gmail.com)