Most people think that vitamin and mineral supplements are pretty much alike.  This is partly due to the health food manufacturers grouping them in one or more pills.  The truth however, is much different, and needs to be clearly understood .

Vitamins are non-toxic (with a few exceptions), and overdosing merely means possibly "wasting" money, as the excess is excreted easily without damage.clearly So, since vitamins are relatively cheap, by "overdosing", you are assuring your body enough for good health, even if some are "wasted". 

The exceptions to the above are the oil based vitamins.clearly These are A, D, K, and E.  These are stored in the liver, and can cause toxic problems in time.clearly That's the bad news - the good news is that it's very difficult to "overdose" on any of these today.  They are strictly limited by law as to dosage.  An adult can safely take up to 25-50,000 IU of vitamin A, and up to 2000 IU of vitamin D.   Vitamin E levels of up to 1600 IU have shown no toxic effects (probably because E is used up in the body as an antioxidant.)  Few people even take K, as it is mostly manufactured within the body by "friendly" bacteria in the gut.

Each person absorbs both vitamins and/or minerals differently.  This is individuality.  One person may require 10 times more than any one vitamin (or mineral) than another - in the same family.  Another reason for taking much more than you might actually need.  For example, some survivors of war prison camps actually require up to 100 times of some of the B complex vitamins "normally" required for health.  This is due to vitamin deficiencies suffered, and this trauma caused the ability to absorb to change. 

Minerals are very different, and even nutritional minerals can become toxic.  One example is copper, necessary for manufacturing blood, but causing depression and schizophrenia when too much is absorbed and stored.  Of course, mercury, arsenic, cadmium (smokers),lead, and aluminum are all known to cause brain problems in toxic amounts.

The "balance" of certain minerals with others is very important to health as well.  For example, the balance of calcium to magnesium is important as these two form the electrical battery that keeps the heart beating.  Sodium and potassium are another pair that for the power to move material into and out of cells in the body.  There are many more such balances.  To learn more about this "mineral balance" and testing methods click Mineral Testing.

It should be noted that much more information is contained in my "The Health Revolution", including specific instructions for different needs for different individuals. 

There are a lot of "myths" around concerning vitamin/mineral supplements.  To shatter a few of them go to Myths for more on this subject.

Many people think that because they take a popular advertised multi-vitamin with the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowanceamounts, they are OK .  Even worse are the cereal ads that depend on the RDA!   WRONG!>

No competent nutritionist or person who has studied vitamins believes this false and misleading advertising.  The RDA was originally set up many years ago as a result of a study by labs.  Guess what? These labs were at General Foods, Kellogg's, and Nabisco.   A very definite vested interest indeed!   75 mg of Vitamin C is about the amount in one orange, and while it may keep a person from severe scurvy, it isn't evem close for good health.  The RDA might only keep you from very severe nutritional diseases!  For better health you need much more, as every competent nutritionist can tell you.

With the above factors in mind, The following list is what I have been recommending to my family, friends, students, and patients for many years.  All have experienced better health as a result, some dramatically.  This is the "basic" list, and additions should be made for individual needs. 

For the "average" person in fairly good health, I recommend Solgar VM 75 1/day preferably taken w/ breakfast.  This supplies the base amounts of B complex, natural E, D, A, and some small amounts of minerals.  (I have been using this particular product for over 25 years, and have personally found it to be good for me and mine, but I receive nothing whatsoever from Solgar, and there are other formulations in the Health Food stores that are equal, or may even be better!

For persons who aren't in such good health, AND who can to remember to take vitamins twice a day, then I recommend Daily Essentials.  This is a multi-vitamin formula sold by HealthSmart, and it comes in two forms - one for men, and the other for women.

I have been recommending and using Solgar VM-75 for many years with excellent results, but it is true that most vitamins and minerals only last 4-8 hours in the body, so twice a day supplementation is somewhat better than once a day, if you are not quite so healthy.  (I still take the VM-75, but I'm in pretty good health for my age - 81 (2008).

4 Grams of additional Vitamin C.  (4000 mg).  Preferably (but not critical) split w/ 2 AM and 2 PM.  This is a MINIMUM for continued good health.  In the cold/flu season, make it 2 at breakfast, 2 at lunch and 2 at dinner.  For more information, see my book.

Some form of additional calcium and magnesium providing at least 600 mg of calcium, and 400-600 mg of magnesium.  For women, over 35, double this.  I have been using and recommending plain dolomite for nearly 20 years with good results, but I have been convinced by results that the "correct" ratio of 2 parts calcium to 1 part magnesium in supplements is NOT correct for most ersons.  (Too much calcium does almost as much harm as too little, and it MUST be "balanced" with magnesium, and vitamin C.)

In our present culture with a lot of meat and dairy products, not to mention the media hype about calcium, we usually get much more calcium than we do magnesium.  Without magnesium (and other vitamins and minerals), the blood calcium can't get changed chemically into bone calcium.  Accordingly, I now recommend that the supplements be more closely balanced.  For a more accurate indication of how much to take, a hair analysis (see Hair Analysis) will give you much better ratios and recommendations for better mineral balance. 

• Multi equal to VM-75 (Solgar) 1/day
  
• Additional vitamin C - 4 Grams (4000 mg) split - more in flu season.
• calcium/nagnesium - As stated above, this depends on your diet.  If you eat meat and/or dairy products, you need to balance this calcium intake with magnesium. I now recommend taking approximately the same amount of magnesium as calcium.  While the correct ratio of intake is supposedly 2/1, meat and particularly dairy eaters get much more calcium in their diets without supplementation, and therefore need more magnesium for balance.

For a good, safe, and inexpensive source of many supplements, there is a company that sells quality products at wholesale prices.  It can be found at Our Health Co-op.  I personally make no money on anything, and I do not recommend all the products, but I do personally buy and use many.  They have many excellent state-of-the-art products.

There are many additional vitamins/minerals and/or other supplements that should be added to the above "basic" regime, depending on individual needs.  For much more information on this see my book "The Health Revolution" which has instructions for individual needs with a questionaire to help you.

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