Finding the perfect multivitamin
Like almost anything that comes in pill-form, vitamins and supplements have always had their critics. Some people say they're a bunch of hogwash. Others (like me) think they're vital when it comes to maintaining your health and nutrient levels.
Unfortunately, no one has ever done the kind of study we'd need to prove that taking a multivitamin or supplement prevents chronic disease. All we really have is a mix of different scientific theories, with a little marketing, tradition, and evidence thrown in.
I don't know why it's so hard to figure out or to believe: supplements are packed with nutrients. When you swallow them, you put the nutrients into your body. Your body absorbs those nutrients. It doesn't get much simpler than that.
The reason there's so little evidence to present for supplements is because the people taking them aren't getting sick, or at least not as often or as badly as the nonbelievers. And it makes me downright angry that so many doctors out there are still oblivious to (or even ignoring) their benefits.
But that's not to say that just because you're taking a multivitamin you can eat whatever you want, and disregard any kind of healthy diet. Supplement doesn't mean "replacement." In fact, the definition of supplement is, "something added to complete a thing, make up for a deficiency, or extend or strengthen the whole." And I think that's an excellent way to look at it.
Even if you're already eating a good diet, there are a few vitamins and nutrients out there that are almost impossible to get enough of. With these, taking a supplement might be the only way you can know for sure that you're getting your daily allowance.
Vitamin D (at least 1,000 IU daily)
Calcium (600 to 1,200 mg daily)
Magnesium (600 to 800 mg daily)
Natural vitamin E with mixed tocopherols (200 to 400 IU daily)
Omega 3 fats (1,000 mg total EPA and DHA daily)
These are just the basics, the ones that you should consider supplementing with ON TOP of your multivitamin. They help in hundreds of important reactions throughout your body. And together they help support bone health, while helping prevent heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and cancer.
For more information on picking your supplement regimen, check out the September issue of America's Country Doctor. If you're a subscriber you can look it up online for free.
Bad for your breath, good for your cholesterol
Exercise is great, and eating healthy just as good. But you should also add garlic to your cholesterol-lowering repertoire. But there's a catch: You can't have too little, and you can't have too much -- your dose needs to be just right.
Recently a group of researchers got together to study the benefits of garlic when it comes to your cholesterol.
During their study, the researchers fed lab rats doses of raw garlic ranging between 500 mg to 1,000 mg every day (they based the doses on the rats' body weight), along with a diet intended to raise cholesterol.
After four weeks, the researchers saw that only the rats receiving 500 mg of garlic had shown a resistance to the effects of the high-cholesterol diet (including heart problems).
There's been a lot of research and speculation into why garlic might help lower high cholesterol. And for the most part, it's all been pretty vague and inconclusive. What we are pretty sure about is that garlic interferes with how your body metabolizes cholesterol, helping to lower the amount of cholesterol released into the bloodstream, and ultimately, to your heart.
The study researchers weren't quite sure why the higher dose of garlic didn't have the same benefits as the lower dose. But they said that the 500-mg dose given to the rats would be about the same as a 150 pound person eating about 12 garlic cloves (1.25 oz. of raw garlic) every day. That's a lot for even the biggest fans of Italian food.
Fortunately there are a lot of good quality garlic supplements out there. My favorite is one called GarlicForce from New Chapter. Another, Kyolic brand garlic, is also excellent. In fact, I use both myself, switching back and forth between the two throughout the year.
