Q & A On Vitamins And Minerals

Q- What about vitamin and minerals. Do we getthat have taken many multiples of that like 25,000
enough from our food or do we actually need tointernational units of that and there are health
supplement?consequences for doing that.
A- It depends on where you are coming from andIt comes down to someone not having a balanced
what culture. Again if you get variety in your diet therebackground and information to fall back on and they
is probably no need for vitamin and mineral supplement.just do it because they are naïve. You know it
Most people get enough variety in their diet so theymay start out as a doubling of the recommended daily
don't need a supplement but there are exceptions toallowance and they think, "well I'm not seeing any
that rule. If you are pregnant or lactating or if there isresults so I will triple it." Some of the vitamin companies
some other need for vitamins and minerals then it isthat manufacture these are no help because they will
probably a good idea. You kind of need to go off yourintroduce products in the marketplace and where one
doctors recommendations.capsule will deliver a mega dose of the product it can
Q- Would age be a factor?be confusing to people. You know if one is safe to
A- Yes, there are quite a few areas where you maytake then why are they marketing those products in
need a supplement. You know supplements can bethat amount in the first place?
expensive. Some may be dangerous. It depends onIt just gets to be like a power struggle even with the
the kind of vitamins and minerals you are talking about.manufacturers of those products. People will think that
You know they break down into water soluble andif a little bit in a tablet is good then more will be better
fat-soluble and there are the vitamins they call oiland we go back to that philosophy well how much can
soluble. There are four of them, vitamins A, D, E, and K.we get for our dollar then we start to think in terms of
Typically there is more concern with the oil solublemega dose amounts.
vitamins because they are not excreted from yourI don't understand that whole thought process. There
body, unlike the water soluble vitamins like B and C, theare very well documented cases of overdoses and
excess will get flushed but with the oil soluble vitaminsthe consequences of taking too much of one vitamin
the excess is retained in your body.and minerals in the medical journals. It isn't a mystery it
That can get to be a problem if you are for someis out there and you just have to be careful. Most
strange reason taking excessive amounts of let's saysupplements if you will look on the labels will tell you
vitamin D for example. I think the recommendation ishow much to take.
400 international units. Well there have been people