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 Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
Approximately 40 micronutrients are required in the human diet. Food is the number one source of nutrients, and if you’re eating a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fish, and olive oil, you’re probably giving your body everything it needs to stay as strong, energized, and free from illness as possible. But who eats a balanced diet with every needed vitamin and mineral every single day? Not many. Anyone who leads a hectic lifestyle, is on a special low-calorie diet, and who cannot or does not eat certain foods, such as dairy products, should consider a multivitamin. Which multivitamin should you choose? A broad-spectrum multivitamin from a reputable U.S. manufacturer will provide the RDA or DV of vitamins and minerals your meals may be missing. But taking it this way may not be optimal. RDA and DV are terms used to convey the Recommended Daily Amount or Daily Value of a vitamin needed to prevent deficiency diseases, not the amount that is optimal for health; the newer concepts are Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) and Amount for Optimal Health that are intended to reflect amounts shown to promote health and ideal for optimal aging. Doses of water soluble vitamins optimal for health may be urinated out within less than 24 hours causing you relative deficiency for some of the day, other vitamins or minerals may not be absorbed if taken at once in amounts needed daily, or cause toxicity if taken all at once. So a once-a-day multivitamin for optimal health may not be appropriate. When selecting vitamin supplements, look for USP on the label. The USP mark is relatively new for supplements. It confirms that United States Pharmacopeia tests verify what is on the label of vitamins and supplements is in the pills. Look for a multivitamin that is taken at least twice daily to contain (in total for the day): Folate 400 mcg Sources: Michael F. Roizen, MD, Wellness Management, Spring 2003 – National Wellness Institute
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