Introduction

Do you need to take vitamins and other nutrients? In what amounts should you take them? Which supplements are the most effective? What should you take for a specific illness or chronic problem? Answering these questions is a fundamental aspect of good health and longevity--but there are so many countering viewpoints regarding nutrients and nutrient supplementation that it can be hard to know what to do. This book will provide you with the critical information necessary to find the answers that are right for you.

Various health committees have attempted to provide nutritional guidelines. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Science, for example, developed its recommended daily allowance (RDA) and its reference daily intake (RDI). However, these dietary suggestions, which are often strictly adhered to by well-meaning individuals, are designed to prevent disease. They are not designed to help people achieve optimal wellness--which should be the goal.

Furthermore, the RDA and RDI were developed without considering that each person requires a different amount of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. To fully promote your body's health, your nutritional intake must reflect such factors as medications, vitamin interactions, soil depletion, need for more antioxidants, stress, age, lifestyle, and genetics. Therefore, you cannot trust that your healthy friend's nutritional plan will necessarily work for you. Dr. Linus Pauling first described this phenomenon in 1968.

Proper determination of what your body needs is imperative. Almost 75 percent of your health and life expectancy is based on lifestyle, environment, and nutrition. Just as importantly, these factors also greatly influence the number of years you spend healthy. This has been proven by studies which show that “not only do persons with better health habits survive longer, but in such persons, disability is postponed and compressed into fewer years at the end of life.” An article in the New England Journal of Medicine illustrated this point. After examining diet, lifestyle, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in women, the author concluded that the majority of type 2 diabetes cases are preventable with the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

Similarly, researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated, “Suboptimal vitamin states are associated with many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. It is important for physicians to identify patients with poor nutrition or other reasons for increased vitamin needs.” They suggested that, “Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone…it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements.”

What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs, and More provides the information you need to know about nutrients--including signs of deficiencies, how to treat various diseases and disorders, and the dangers of certain interactions. It will allow you to make informed decisions, optimize your health, and live your life well.