Vitamins and Minerals for Health

Dear Dr. Suzy,   

Q. I'd like to know more about vitamins and mineral supplements before spending my hard earned money on them.  What is the difference between vitamins and minerals and what do they do?

A. What exactly do vitamins and minerals do?   Vitamins play a role in converting food into energy and living tissues. They also help regulate the chemical reactions that protect the cells, and are essential for the release of energy in the body. Minerals are also necessary for the transformation of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into energy. Minerals are an integral part of the process of building and maintaining the structure of the body.                              

Notice that the word “energy” is a key component of both of these definitions. Although vitamins and minerals are not a direct source of energy (as are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) these substances are crucial components in metabolic processes resulting in energy.

Ideally, you should try to obtain the vitamins and minerals that your body needs through your daily diet, since food is the most efficient source of these nutrients. By eating a wide variety of high quality, fresh, whole foods, you increase your chances of obtaining all the vital health promoting nutrients.

Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, very few people manage to meet their optimal specific nutritional requirements through food alone. One reason is that the soil that our food is grown in is often depleted, due to the overuse of chemicals and fertilizers.  Vitamins and minerals are also lost during the time it takes to transport food to the grocery stores, where your fruits and vegetables often sit for extended periods of time, causing them to lose even more nutrients.

Cooking also robs some food of valuable nutrients, although steaming generally retains more nutrients in your vegetables than boiling. The enzymes found in fresh fruits and vegetables are necessary for the proper digestion of food.  These vital enzymes can be destroyed when they are heated, preventing the release of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that are a crucial component in the energy producing process.  Stress and smoking can also deplete the body of vital nutrients. 

It is difficult to consume the exact combination and variety of foods necessary for optimal nutrition and peak energy. For these reasons I believe that supplementation is beneficial in providing your body with all the elements needed for optimal health.

However, it is a dangerous misconception that taking supplements is an adequate substitute for a poor diet. Taking vitamins does not make it acceptable to eat more processed, packaged food. Neither is it a good idea to use supplements in a prescription type manner while ignoring health related symptoms. As you know, there are no instant shortcuts to health, and pure health does not come in a bottle. The bottom line is there is no substitute for the nutrients found naturally in a balanced diet of a wide variety of fresh, wholesome foods.

Pay special attention to the food sources of vitamins and minerals, and keep them in mind the next time you do your grocery shopping. Remember, the daily decisions you make as you travel down your path are what transform information and knowledge into powerful actions. Something as routine as grocery shopping can change the direction that your life is headed in.

For example, when shopping for groceries, you should be aware that the term “enriched” does not always mean that a product is better for you than the original. When a product is enriched, something valuable was usually lost in the processing, and synthetically replaced or added.  

For this reason, try to avoid products made with white or bleached flour.  Whole wheat, rye, oat bran, or buckwheat flour are much healthier choices.  When shopping, look specifically for bread that is labeled 100 percent whole wheat.  Whole wheat bread has more than three times as much fiber, magnesium, chromium, vitamin E, and B6 than white bread. Pasta is a great source of complex carbohydrates, however, traditional white pasta lacks the vitamins and minerals found in whole wheat or spinach pasta.                                                                                               

The body produces a limited number of vitamins. For example, vitamin D is manufactured in the skin during exposure to sunlight. Certain vitamins and minerals work best when taken together. Vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron, and vitamin D helps calcium and phosphorous to be absorbed.

Vitamins are divided into two categories:  fat soluble and water-soluble. Certain vitamins, such as A, D, E, and K, are considered fat-soluble.  These vitamins are transported by the fats in the bloodstream, which is just one of the reasons why a healthy amount of dietary fat is needed for optimal nutrition. 

Since vitamins A, D, E, and K are easily stored in body tissues, excessive intake of fat soluble vitamins can build up to toxic levels in your body. Water-soluble vitamins such as the B Complex vitamins, and vitamin C, are excreted in the urine and other body fluids. For this reason, they must be constantly provided through diet or supplementation.

Although it is possible to experience side effects from consuming too much of the water soluble vitamins, it is less likely to occur than over consumption of the fat soluble type. Do not assume that because something is good for you, more of it must be better for you. Please be aware that taking mega doses of vitamins, even the water-soluble type, is a common practice with potentially dangerous side effects. Vitamin B6, for example, can cause nerve damage when taken in excessive doses, and taking mega doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) over an extended period can contribute to kidney stones.

Supplements are best absorbed when taken with food.  The higher quality the food is, the better the absorption.  For this reason, it is most beneficial to take supplements after meals and space them out as evenly as possible throughout the day.

One of the wonderful things about humans is that, like snowflakes, no two people in the world are exactly alike. We are all biochemically unique individuals and have varying nutritional energy needs. For this reason, no two individuals have exactly the same daily vitamin and mineral requirements for optimal health.

The daily values (D.V.’s) commonly used today, which were formerly known as R.D.A.s, are simply overall guidelines for the general population. They do not necessarily represent the amounts needed for individual optimal health or the amounts needed to forestall chronic disease. These allowances are the amount of nutrients that, when acquired daily, are considered to be sufficient to meet the known nutritional needs of most healthy persons, and prevent severe deficiencies.

The strength of a certain vitamin is usually expressed in micrograms or milligrams. Your specific requirements vary depending on your gender, age, activity level, overall physical condition, and body chemistry.  Taking prescription or over the counter (O.T.C) drugs can also enter into the supplementation equation.  These substances can deplete vital nutrients when taken on a regular basis. For example, aspirin can deplete the body’s stores of vitamin C. Diuretics and some antibiotics can lower the levels of potassium in the body, and antacids containing aluminum can disturb delicate calcium and phosphorus levels.

Pay special attention to the vitamin and mineral content of the foods that you eat. You will find that certain foods, such as dark green leafy vegetables, seem to be a source of almost every healthy nutrient. Surprisingly, iceberg lettuce is mostly water and has little nutritional value compared to its dark green counterparts. You will also find that, in general, foods high in complex carbohydrates are also high in valuable nutrients.

Recently, there has been a great deal of excitement about a group of nutrients known as antioxidants that fight toxic molecules known as free radicals. Beta-carotene and the vitamins C and E, are powerful antioxidants.  Free radicals are a natural byproduct of cell metabolism. They are also created in the body by exposure to tobacco smoke, sunlight, ozone, automobile exhaust, high fat diets, environmental pollutants, and lack of exercise.

When too many free radicals are circulating in the bloodstream, they can have harmful effects, roaming the cells, damaging DNA, corroding cell membranes, breaking down skin tissue, and even killing cells.  These dangerous free radicals are thought to play a major role in the development of cancer, heart and lung disease, and even in accelerating the aging process. Fortunately, antioxidants are nature’s way of neutralizing these harmful free radicals.

By making an effort to consume specific types of foods, you may be protecting yourself from the devastating effects of cancer. It is believed that some colorful foods such as carrots, broccoli, and green leafy vegetables (all rich in vitamin A) have anti-cancer properties. 

Certain vegetables, such as brussel sprouts and cauliflower, are thought to have similar benefits as well. In the following chapter, I will discuss specific dietary sources of the anti-cancer ACES: A (beta carotene), C, E, and Selenium.

As recently as a few years ago, the mysterious authority commonly called “They” claimed that taking vitamin and mineral supplements was a complete waste of time and money and only gave you expensive urine. During the majority of its history, conventional medicine has contested the importance of supplementing one’s diet with vitamins and minerals, severely criticizing “alternative” practitioners who believed that nutritional factors were crucial in preventing and even curing disease.

It has only been in the past decade or so that conventional medical groups have jumped on the bandwagon, claiming as their own something that was once only in the domain of alternative practitioners from the United States and traditional practitioners in countries such as China, Japan, and India.  Often these “alternative” nutritional beliefs and therapies have been passed down from generation to generation in Eastern medicine, some of them dating back thousands of years.

While, in the past, conventional medicine often violently opposed alternative therapies such as supplementation, a phenomenon has recently evolved that I like to think of as a “changing tide” in health care.  Most medical practitioners now recognize the importance of nutrition in maintaining health and often work together with non-medical health providers in the best interests of their patients.

In my opinion, much more cooperation is needed, however, and until more funding is allocated for research and application of non-medical therapies, the public will continue to rely heavily on the medical community for the majority of its information and scientific data. 

Some of the past controversy over supplementation stemmed partially from extravagant claims, such as those related to rapid weight loss or miraculous cancer cures, which are usually made by those with something to gain financially. As seen in so many other areas, the practical benefits of supplementation were often overshadowed by the sensationalism of a few opportunistic individuals.

There is still considerable debate in the scientific community about supplementation.  As numerous research studies are continually proving, however, vitamins and minerals play a much bigger role in maintaining optimal health than was previously believed by conventional western medicine.

Today, it is widely accepted that certain nutrients can help prevent heart disease, birth defects, cataracts, and even cancer. We now know that a proper diet, including supplementation when needed, is essential to improving overall health and even slowing down the aging process.

As you can see, the issue of supplementation is an exciting but somewhat complicated matter that should not be taken lightly. For this reason, I urge you to do ongoing research on your own in addition to reading this book, in order to fully educate yourself about the ever-changing area of supplementation. It is quite possible that you will find the answer to some specific health problems you are experiencing by researching the benefits of a certain vitamin or mineral.

For even more specific nutritional advice, talk to the health care provider of your choice. It will take some time to get the complete picture about your specific requirements and needs.  The time and energy you spend working toward this goal, however, will be well worth the return investment.