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Americans waste $28 bil a year on vitamins, doctors say


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Home Forums General Forums Food, Hydration, and Nutrition Americans waste $28 bil a year on vitamins, doctors say

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  • #2061434
    Bob Gross
    BPL Member

    @b-g-2-2

    Locale: Silicon Valley

    Pika kabobs.

    –B.G.–

    #2061495
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    "Are you standing by your $1 trillion figure as literally true?"

    Steve Jobs tried alternative treatment of his cancer

    Then it got worse so he did normal doctors (part of "$1 trillion") but it was too late

    He publically told people that was a mistake, don't substitue the ($1 trillion) doctors with the alternates

    #2061668
    Tim Zen
    Spectator

    @asdzxc57

    Locale: MI

    Salt has iodine added, milk has vitamin D, etc, unless you don't eat I don't see the point of taking a pill.

    This discussion reminds me of General Ripper talking about fluoridating water.

    #2061671
    Bob Gross
    BPL Member

    @b-g-2-2

    Locale: Silicon Valley

    "This discussion reminds me of General Ripper talking about fluoridating water."

    He just wanted to preserve the purity and essence of our precious bodily fluids.

    He was a man ahead of his time.

    –B.G.–

    #2061956
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "Since the US started adding folic acid to cereal, bread, pasta and the such, the sheer number of birth defect from a deficiency in the first weeks of conception has nearly disappeared…"

    I agree Sarah, and perhaps a bit contrary to my first post on this thread, my wife and i do occasionally take some supplements of concentrated minerals or vitamins, but i'm picky about them in various ways. I like food sourced and chelated nutrients and i don't like the uber popular multi vitamins which throw together a kabillion different nutrients all in one pill. I don't have any proof of it, but i suspect the body has an easier time of assimilating nutrients when not so mixed. We do know that some nutrients combine well with others, or conversely other combos when taken at the same time negate each other.

    I think ideally one should get most of their nutrients through a varied and nutritionally dense diet, but i don't think there is anything wrong with occasionally supplementing in a smart and discriminating manner and when not overloading the body with excess. Also, not everyone can or will have the more ideal kind of diet for various reasons so in some situations and cases supplementation of some kind might even be necessary.

    #2061958
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    So here is one that has always made me laugh:

    OB's love to harp on their clients to take a prenatal multivitamin, and those things ALWAYS are chock full of B vitamins. I could NOT get them down without wanting to hurl. So I never took them.

    How is it Vitamin B smells soooo bad? To this day the smell of it makes me green. I actually don't take Multi's, just what I need. Those B vitamins just get peed out anyways…lol!

    #2061959
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "Steve Jobs tried alternative treatment of his cancer

    Then it got worse so he did normal doctors (part of "$1 trillion") but it was too late

    He publically told people that was a mistake, don't substitue the ($1 trillion) doctors with the alternates"

    I've met and talked to people who solely used "alternative" treatments for cancer and had great success with same. But that doesn't mean that all would.

    Also, who knows if Jobs did it in an ideal way. "Alternative" is a really broad term with many, many different subcategories, theories, beliefs, applications, etc. Even diet alone is a huge and varied topic in alternative health of which there is not complete consensus on.

    Also, there is the issue of following treatment, which in some ways, tends to be tougher and require more discipline with alternative treatments. To radically change ones diet (the core foundation and key starting point for many "alternative" treatments), takes so much discipline and self will, which even in the face of death, a lot of people i've met seemingly aren't willing to consistently and seriously enact same.

    One lady i talked to at a health conference, successfully treated and got rid of cancer from radically changing her diet.

    To see the power of diet and foods on health in a entertaining, touching, and enlightening way, check out the documentary called, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." It's on netflix instant.

    #2061968
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "One lady i talked to at a health conference, successfully treated and got rid of cancer from radically changing her diet."

    Can you supply any details as to the specific type of cancer and the specific diet she followed?

    #2061977
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    Somehow, I think Steve Jobs would figure out the "ideal" treatment and would follow it carefully.

    Except in this case it was actually the scientific study verified treatment that would have worked better, at least that's what he concluded.

    I sure hope I or any of my loved ones don't get pancreas cancer

    #2062024
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Tom,

    This was a number of years ago and my memory is fuzzy on the details. I don't remember what kind of cancer she had, but i do remember her talking about doing a lot of juicing fresh raw foods, and eating a lot of vegetables and some fruits otherwise–especially raw. She was an older lady, i would say in her 70's, but i don't remember if this was a recent experience of hers or when she was younger.

    Beyond that, i don't remember.

    #2062025
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "Somehow, I think Steve Jobs would figure out the "ideal" treatment and would follow it carefully."

    Perhaps–i do allow for that possibility, but also perhaps a bit of assumption concerning a person neither of us knew, assuming you didn't know him personally that is ;)

    #2062026
    Bob Gross
    BPL Member

    @b-g-2-2

    Locale: Silicon Valley

    "This was a number of years ago and my memory is fuzzy on the details."

    "i don't remember"

    You might try a vitamin B12 supplement for that problem. I get mine in a daily multivitamin. Cheap insurance.

    –B.G.–

    #2062037
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Eating mostly vegetarian, and at times more vegan, as i do, B-12 is one of the few nutrients/supplements i do somewhat regularly take. But not that regular ole cyanocobalamin, but rather the co-enzyme, methyl version.

    #2062041
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "i do remember her talking about doing a lot of juicing fresh raw foods, and eating a lot of vegetables and some fruits otherwise–especially raw."

    Hard to go wrong with that regimen. As to whether or not it cured her cancer, who knows? The important thing is that she beat it.

    #2062049
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    juicing is a fad that destroys much of the food value – you're throwing out a bunch of fiber that's part of why they're good – when you pulverize it, it oxidises some of the nutrients – just eat fruits and vegetable

    some vegetables are better cooked, like carrots. I eat brocolli raw occasionally, but it's better cooked. I can't imagine eating squash raw…

    I'm just reading "A Short Guide to a Long Life" by David B. Agus – pretty good

    He refers to Michael Pollan's books – also good

    #2062103
    Jeremy and Angela
    BPL Member

    @requiem

    Locale: Northern California

    Somehow, I think Steve Jobs would figure out the "ideal" treatment and would follow it carefully.

    I recall hearing it was a vegetarian/fruitarian/Ornish style of some sort. I believe he always had those leanings, so there was probably a heavy dose of confirmation bias in play. I know if I was handed a cancer diagnosis, those low-fat veggie diets are almost the very last ones I'd pick (ranking lower than "breatharian", but maybe before "standard American").

    (I lost a grandparent to pancreatic cancer some years back. It was relatively quick, but definitely not painless; the morphine drip was very well-used.)

    #2062199
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    "juicing is a fad that destroys much of the food value – you're throwing out a bunch of fiber that's part of why they're good – when you pulverize it, it oxidises some of the nutrients – just eat fruits and vegetable"

    Yes and no. Some types of juicers are better than others. The masticating juicers create less heat and destroy less nutrients than the centrifugal types, which are cheaper and more common. But yes, they do take out much of the fiber, which i agree is not necessarily a good thing. However, what juicing does do, is allows the body to more easily, fully, and quickly absorb more concentrated nutrients from the said veggies or fruits. There may be cases where some temporary juicing would be very helpful for that very reason.

    "some vegetables are better cooked, like carrots. I eat broccoli raw occasionally, but it's better cooked. I can't imagine eating squash raw…"

    I agree. Personally, i don't go by fads, diets, or dogmas but by a combo of experience, research, listening to my body, and by intuition. While i tend to eat a good percentage of raw food, particularly deeply pigmented salads and cultured foods, i'm not a raw foodist and think there are plenty of veggies and other foods out there that are quite healthy, and really need to be cooked to be optimally healthy. Like broccoli, asparagus, some of the easier to digest and nutritious legumes like lentils and adzuki beans, etc

    I also don't call myself a "vegetarian" for various reasons–i don't like getting stuck within belief systems or dogma, and giving labels to self is the first way to start on that path. I do say, i eat mostly vegetarian though, but i occasionally throw some wild caught fish in there.

    But seriously, check out that documentary, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" centers primarily around two different guys with the same rare skin disease who heal themselves of it via juicing veggies and fruits for 60 days and increasing exercise/physical activity.

    #2066325
    Jennifer Mitol
    Spectator

    @jenmitol

    Locale: In my dreams....

    Here is a great overview from the New York Times that summarizes a lot of the studies that have accumulated over the past 2 decades. It's not enough to say that well, it can't hurt, it doesn't cost THAT much, I might as well….

    We are learning quite a bit more (and have WAY more to learn…) but there are very few studies that show any benefit at all to vitamins (barring specific, known deficiencies) and mounting evidence that shows it can be harmful!!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/dont-take-your-vitamins.html?_r=0

    #2067050
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Interesting article Jennifer. I wish there was more detail in same though, because there are different forms of many of these different nutrients. Take vitamin E, there are a number of different forms of same, some more natural and food derived and some more synthetic and lab created.

    It would not surprise me, for example, that some taking large amounts of a more synthetic version of say Vitamin E, might experience detrimental effects from same.

    But if we say just generally, well large amounts of vitamin E causes or caused this problem, it could be misleading. It could be that the more natural, food derived versions may be easier on the body.

    However, it does make good general and interesting points. It very loosely goes along with what i was saying earlier in that taking excess nutrients, like in a multi vitamin/mineral complex form, can actually be hard on the body in ways and the body has to work hard to process and excrete the excess that it can't use. For those with an already compromised eliminitve system, it can actually cause problems (my hunch is that a lot of Americans, for an example, have a compromised eliminative system from a combo of crappy diet, stress, environmental toxins, and/or a lack of sufficient, balanced and proper exercise).

    #2067131
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    "It would not surprise me, for example, that some taking large amounts of a more synthetic version of say Vitamin E, might experience detrimental effects from same."

    I forget where I heard this:

    Vitamin E pills have more (or all) of versions of vitamin E that aren't as biologically useful.

    If you take vitamin E pill, the level of vitamin E in your body will increase. Your body will become less effective at metabolizing it because of high levels. The smaller amounts of vitamin E that are more biologically useful that you get from food, are not metabolized as good.

    So, the vitamin E pill actually makes things worse.

    I don't know how accurate this is, but I think we're just barely beginning to understand the full complexity of things.

    Maybe better to just eat food that's as close to pre-industrial as you can get. Like fruits and vegetables that were picked when they were ripe.

    #2067244
    BlackHatGuy
    Spectator

    @sleeping

    Locale: The Cascades

    "Vitamin E pills have more (or all) of versions of vitamin E that aren't as biologically useful."

    I don't take vitamin E pills, but my puppy does. Every day.

    #2067703
    sandy boyd
    Spectator

    @sandylwes

    Locale: eastern washington

    7 months ago I would have agreed that I ate well enough (vegetarian) to not need supplements…but then after a breakup with the BF of two years, I stumbled onto these supplents( BF has bipolar and it was the cause of the breakup)

    http://www.truehope.com/new/links.aspx

    He has now been on these supplements almost 6 months and he is OFF all prescribed meds which included Lithium and others…I also take these supplements now (at a much smaller dose), my mom and a few friends also take them…
    Ive noticed improved memory, better coping skills in myself, while my BF (back together 5 months!) has noticed HUGE gains and evidently will see even more improvement as he works thru this first year…he can think crystal clear now, not sedated as before, he has plans to go back to college, climb mountains, hike, bike, everything a "normal" person should be planning…

    For a good book to read, look up "Promise of Hope" by Autumn Stringam….a true story of how these vitamins came to be and how bad off Autumn really was and the desperate way her father tried to help her!!!

    Vitamins will be coming with me on all my PCT section hikes from now on!!!!

    Sandy

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