VITAMINS AND MINERALS 101
Written by COURTNEY DRAKE-MCDONOUGH
Be honest now. Do you eat all of the right things to
make sure your body gets every bit of the nutrition
it needs on a daily basis? Really? What about yesterday,
when you didn’t get a chance to have any
vegetables but did make time for that doughnut?
Don’t feel guilty. Most of us don’t have the time, inclination
or information to ensure we are eating to optimize our health.
That’s where vitamins and minerals come into play. But you
can’t just pop a multivitamin into your mouth and think you’re
covered. There are important things to consider, such as:
Who needs to take vitamins and minerals? What are they,
anyway? What should you take? What about the conflicting
information out there?
We want to tend to our health, really we do. Yet we’re confused.
For answers, we consulted a physician, a dietitian and
someone who helps educate consumers about what to buy.
Consider this your Vitamins and Minerals 101 class.
For some basic explanations of terms we often hear, we
consulted registered dietitian Julie McGinnis, a certified
herbalist with Pharmaca, an integrative pharmacy housing
both a traditional pharmacy for prescriptions and other traditional
products plus nutrition supplements, Chinese herbs,
homeopathy and natural health and beauty products. A vitamin “is something that is essential to the body every day and
must be obtained through diet or supplementation because
the body doesn’t make it,” says McGinnis. “Minerals are a
group of inorganic elements that are essential to humans and
animals for normal body function. Supplement is the blanket
term for any vitamin, mineral or other ingredient that is used
to supplement the diet.”
“Dietary supplements are neither food nor medication,”
explains Rima Kleiner, a registered dietitian and worksite
wellness prevention specialist and nutrition consultant for
Kaiser Permanente. “They are products that contain an ingredient
or nutrient meant to ‘supplement’ a well-rounded diet,
not substitute for one.”
Can’t we just eat right and get everything we need without
having to take supplements? “Yes,” says Dr. Sandy Stenmark,
director of pediatric wellness at Kaiser Permanente. “Not only
is it possible to obtain all of our nutrients from foods and
drinks, it is preferable. A balanced diet that is nutrient-dense
contains not only the vitamins and minerals that are found in
supplements but also hundreds of naturally occurring substances
that have beneficial effects on health.” This includes
fiber, which comes from consuming the actual foods as
opposed to drinking their juice or taking a pill.
While it may be preferable to get our nutrition from our
food, it isn’t always realistic. “It takes a vested effort to consume
what we would have to in one day to accomplish that,”
says McGinnis. She lists the requirements of “five servings
of fruit and vegetables, four to six ounces of lean protein,
three to five good fats, two to four dairy or dairy substitutes
and five to 10 grains. I eat well and still have trouble on busy
days getting this all in,” she admits.
“I think an easy visual to remember is that one-half of your
plate should be colorful fruits and vegetables. One-fourth of
your plate should be protein and one-fourth, carbohydrate,”
says Stenmark.
What about the drinks out there that claim to give us a
boost of healthy stuff? According to Kleiner, “Some of the
new energy and vitamin beverages are essentially multivitamins
added to diluted fruit juices (usually with lots of sugar
or sweeteners added). If you want the extra coverage that a
multivitamin provides, you are better off taking a pill or capsule
multivitamin, which provides little or no calories and
sugar.” She adds, “Multivitamins are also a lot easier on the
wallet than vitamin drinks. While healthy people rarely reach
toxic levels of vitamins and minerals from food, it is possible
to reach toxic levels from fortified foods and beverages.
Vitamins and minerals are naturally balanced in foods; fortified
foods and drinks contain significantly more nutrients
than our bodies need at one time.”
Who actually needs to take supplements? Basically, anyone
who isn’t able or willing to consume the perfect dietary
balance each day to obtain the necessary nutrients – in other
words, most of us. McGinnis suggests the average child and
adult could use a multivitamin, fish or flax oil and probiotic
bacteria (beneficial bacteria that help keep our intestines
healthy). Kleiner says that different people with varying situations
and needs require different supplements. For instance,
she says, “A woman capable of or planning to become pregnant
needs higher amounts of folic acid to prevent spinal cord
defects in a fetus. Menopausal women benefit from a calcium
and vitamin D supplement to slow bone loss, and vegetarians
and vegans likely need extra vitamins and minerals found in
animal foods, such as B12, D, calcium, iron and zinc.”
How do we know what, specifically, to buy when even
multivitamins vary in content, and the rules change about
what other supplements to take? For instance, first vitamin E
was touted as a critical supplement, but then word came that
it wasn’t as effective as originally thought and could even be
dangerous. Now vitamin D seems to be the next wonder vitamin
helping to prevent everything from heart disease to
cancer to diabetes. Will it be the next one to fall from grace?
McGinnis explains that even though supplements are not
governed by the Food and Drug Administration, the industry
has set up guidelines and Good Manufacturing Practices
(GMPs) that should be followed as part of safe manufacturing.
To ensure buying quality products, she recommends that “consumers choose a trusted store that purchases from manufacturers
that use only GMPs and provides information
about the raw materials used in the products.”
Kleiner adds that there are about 80,000 dietary supplements
marketed in the United States. “Because dietary supplements
are not well-regulated in the United States, manufacturers
may use misleading information to market their
products,” she says. “They may include inaccurate information
about the quality, effectiveness, purity and potency of the supplement.” For these reasons,
she recommends becoming your own
supplement police: “Look for thirdparty
certifications or seals of approval
from organizations such as U.S.
Pharmacopeia (USP), NSF International
and ConsumerLab.com. Even better,
check these Web sites for up-to-date
information — Office of Dietary
Supplements (ods.od.nih.gov), U.S.
Pharmacopeia (usp.org) or National
Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (nccam.nih.gov).
“Also, always let your doctor, registered
dietitian or other health care
provider know which supplements you
are taking (or are interested in taking)
since some may interfere with digestion,
medication or upcoming surgeries,”
Kleiner adds. “These individuals
will take into account your health status,
regular diet and nutrient needs
when determining how much or what
kind of a supplement you should take.
Registered dietitians undergo rigorous
clinical training; nutritionists (unless
they are also an RD) do not.”
She cautions that while nutritionists
and health food store employees may
be knowledgeable about supplements,
they may not know how certain supplements
will interact with your specific
diet, medication use and health.
One last note of caution: “If you
choose to take a multivitamin, choose
one with both vitamins and minerals,”
says Kleiner. “But limit the dosage to
100 percent or less of the Daily Values
for your age and gender. Check the
label for the serving amount and avoid
supplements in large doses.” Nutrients
that are beneficial in small doses are
not necessarily beneficial, and can even
be dangerous, in large doses.
Now that we know the basics of supplements,
we are better equipped to
give ourselves the nutrition we need
and deserve. Remember that supplements
are not a substitute for eating
well. We still need to aim to eat right
every day. But they also mean we can
have that occasional piece of pizza with
a tiny bit less guilt. Just have a big salad
on the side.
