Are those vitamins doing more harm than good?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes; but no. There may some bad sides to supplments, but not getting the vitamin may be worse.

I wish I could get vitamin D and C naturally, but in the winter my skin never sees the sun, and most cirtus fruit has too much sugar for my diabetes. And I love fresh grapefruit in the morning!

Using supplements to replace proper eating is a poor idea. But as you say, our food doesn't always supply enough nutrients. I noticed an improvement in engery/endurance when I went back to taking mega B complex even tho I eat quite well.

here are some excellent sources of vit c that are low in sugar:

Bell Peppers 1 cup, raw 28.5 117.48 195.8 123.6 excellent
Parsley 2 tbs 2.7 10.11 16.9 110.7 excellent
Broccoli 1 cup, raw 30.9 81.17 135.3 78.7 excellent
Brussels Sprouts 1 cup, raw 37.8 74.80 124.7 59.3 excellent
Cauliflower 1 cup, raw 26.8 51.57 86.0 57.8 excellent
Kale 1 cup, cooke 36.4 53.30 88.8 43.9 excellent
Cabbage 1 cup, raw 17.5 25.62 42.7 43.9 excellent
Romaine Lettuce 2 cups 16.0 22.56 37.6 42.4 excellent
Turnip Greens 1 cup, cooke 28.8 39.46 65.8 41.1 excellent
Swiss Chard 1 cup, cooke 35.0 31.50 52.5 27.0 excellent
Tomatoes 1 cup, raw 32.4 22.86 38.1 21.2 excellent
Collard Greens 1 cup, cooke 49.4 34.58 57.6 21.0 excellent

Just don't cook the shit out of them.

WOW Andy................that's like the second great post you've made this year. It's like you're on a roll!!

I steam most of my veggies - the ones I don't eat raw. But I wish you put the column headings on that excellent post. The Canada Food Guide reccommends 6 - 8 servings of veggies per adult of my age per day. I think some of those portions are 1/2 a serving. So 3 cups of Broccoli, while delcious steamed with a citrus confit is awesome, it's really hard to eat twice a day. And it's really hard coming out, twice a day too. hehe.

My diet has to be mostly protien and fiber. I need to be really careful with carbs. So some things - like fish oils - I need more of but just can't fit in my diet. So I supplement an Omega 3 from fish oil.

Mix it up, don't eat 3 cups of brocc. But I certainly don't meet those guidelines either. I think it' fruits and veggies.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... t&dbid=109

Dr C.

When it comes to the veg servings, do what I do....cheat.

I like to blanch or steam some veg and turn them into my pesto or sauce (depending on meal).

Gets me an extra half serving per meal without me thinking I am getting an extra half serving.

I once figured out on a hot day I had 27 servings of fruit/veg. But that was 'cause I was drinking a lot of juice. I now mix my juice half and half with water, but buy the veggie/fruit juices. So on top of the veggies and little bit of fruit I eat, I get more from the juices. I know it's not ideal, but it's not too bad either.

Forgot to add.

If you have problems getting enough sun to supplement vitamin d production, get a desk lamp with a full spec bulb in it.

It will never replace actual sun light, but it will help.

For people over 50 you should definitely be supplementing D. I doubt a full spec lamp will do much of anything - that's visible spec, not UV. And once you are tanned, you're not producing vit D in that area anymore. From everything I read, every Canadian should be supplementing D at least during the winter.

A full spec (well a true full spec) should be putting out some UVA-B-C.

You don't want a lot, just enough to ensure that your system is still doing some internal production and not relying only on the supplement.

I use a bulb from AvianSun 5.0 (from my local pet supplier) that is designed for bird and reptile enclosures. It produces UVA, UVB, as well as the full light spectrum.

Manufacturers page:


I'm sure there are others out there, I just happened to see it at the pet store shortly after hearing from my sister in law about winter depression from lack of sun. She loved it, so I went back and got one for myself.

Edit to add:
Any help shortening this url would be much appreciated.

I take a daily multivitamin, fish oil, garlic, chromium and co-enzyme Q10

I've never believed in the stuff and had NEVER taken any vitamins or supplements...
...except for maybe what they add to food, even though I eat as much "natural" as I can.

Must be why my health is so good.

it's that or your vow of celibacy and dramatically lowered levels of testosterone.

I may be single... but I'm not celibate... which is probably WHY I have no health problems.

Stress... forget about it!!!