Vitamins - Too Much of a Good Thing?

We all know to take our vitamins, and then we turn around and read a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that says high doses of antioxidants can increase your risk of early death. Who’s to believe? Be suspicious of both reports that say vitamins can give you 20/20 vision or add on slabs of muscle and also those that say they’ll send you to your grave. Use common sense.

The anti-oxidant study made for dramatic headlines a few months ago, but the problem with the study is that is was a meta analysis (that word always makes me leery - i first heard it in a college philosophy class so i’m especially skeptical when i hear it in relation to medicine) of 68 previous studies and many of the participants had existing medical conditions. The study did not prove that healthy people are at risk; it only showed that it’s possible for a group of people (healthy or not) to take anti-oxidants and live shorter lives. What is probably true is that there is a certain threshold at which vitamin consumption can actually hurt us. This is true for any supplement. Yes, even RPN Havoc.

Most guys (and gals) could get by with a dose of a low-concentrate vitamin every day, like Centrum. Don’t buy it when the dorky guy at GNC tells you that Mega Man is the best vitamin on the market (and if you take it, presumably, you’ll look like him).

One thing that I would suggest to those that can afford is to get some blood work done if you really want to know the specifics of what your body needs. Ask your doctor for a vitamin D test (specifically, a 25 OH vitamin D test) and see if you need the recommended daily value of 400 IU’s or, more likely something closer to 800 IUs. Vitamin D is a critical vitamin that has been associated with everything from decreased risk of bone fractures to better mood. Ask him about your cholesterol – find out what you need to do to get your HDL above 60 if you’ve got any kind of heart-disease in your family…it may help mitigate risk. You’ll also gain insight into Vitamin C, B-vitamins (if you’re a drinker, and especially a heavy drinker, these are the first to be depleted) as well as trace minerals like iron and zinc. Your doctor likely won’t be used to giving tests like this to someone who simply wants to optimize his supplementation, so you might have to take charge. He’ll be looking for some kind of reason – just tell him the reason is that you want to avoid taking the kind of blood test where there actually is a reason (as if optimizing your health wasn’t reason enough). Preventative care, sometimes, is something your doctor can’t do for you.

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