*Supplements

SUPPLEMENTS  The statements made here are backed by scientific research.  However, it must be remembered that many of the following statements do not have FDA approval, nor do they necessarily have the support of a consensus of physicians. 

Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are essential for life but in lesser quantities than macronutrients. The primary source of micronutrients should come from the food you eat. If you are eating properly, you will be getting many of the essential vitamins and minerals you need. However, many of today's foods are not as rich as they once were in vitamins and minerals. Therefore, dietary supplementation is an important addition to your diet. The doses we recommend for the following micronutrients are for the average adult patient.

Many doctors still ascribe to the notion that if you eat right you will get all the nutritional requirements that your body needs. My reply to them is: Eat right?  Where?  Burger King or Taco Time?  Let's get real. The average American has a diet that is far from balanced.  Even when we try to eat right we may have trouble achieving optimal nutritional intake as opposed to just getting by.  The government's recommended daily allowances are basically the amounts that you need to keep from getting a vitamin or mineral deficiency disease.  It does not address the optimization of health.  Medicine too often lives in an academic vacuum.  We depend on good science to guide us, but too often the science that we doctors are fed comes to us through commercial interests or unrecognized poor science.  Don't get me wrong.  As a physician I have a lot of respect for the good science that we have, and we do have a lot of it. But, old misconceptions die hard. Many things that doctors say are based on long standing "legend" and blind faith of what has been said before.  Unfortunately, many of these notions never had a basis in science to begin with.  However, if you say something long enough it takes on the air of credibility despite its fallacious beginnings.

The pages that I have put together on the variety of supplements contained here within are based on research of the scientific data that is available.  In many instances I have provided links to articles that back up what I am saying.  Medical science is an evolving science. We are far from writing the final chapter in this book, and some of the statements contained could very well be subject to change due to the never ceasing advances being made.  My statements are not a complete expose on the scientific data available, nor is it meant to be.  I have presented (and will continues to update) a sampling of what is out there.  You need to be aware that studies that refute some of the studies I have presented do exist.  However, I feel that these statements have been made within the scope of good science.

Sometimes what we buy in the store is not always what we were expecting.  This is especially true for supplements which are not FDA inspected nor tested for quality or potency.  It pays to stick to major reputable brands.  A great resource to check on the quality of the supplements that you are buying is: http://www.consumerlab.com  They independently test samples off of the shelf, not samples submitted by the manufacturer.  Unfortunately, their data base is in the early stage of development, but it is growing all the time.  There is a caveat, however.  If a brand fails their testing they do not publish its name.  They only publish the names of products that pass their tests.

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