Yes and I noted that at the end of my post. But from a total nutrition standpoint, no there isn't much difference (if any) at all.
We americans eat the same things as you Europeans. We just like to take in a lot more fat with it.
SLC
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Do you take any "health" supplements?
- Thread starter JW8725
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Yes and I noted that at the end of my post. But from a total nutrition standpoint, no there isn't much difference (if any) at all.
We americans eat the same things as you Europeans. We just like to take in a lot more fat with it.
SLC
I gave up without 'planning' 40 years ago. I took B12 on and off for the first couple of years but haven't done so for a least thirty years.
Such as this one:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-vitamins21-2008dec21,0,3094132.story
People should understand that, unlike drugs, dietary supplements don't have to meet any safety or efficacy standards before they are sold.
You are wrong mate. The Mediterranean and French diets are completely different to American ones. Have a google. There are tonnes of articles on this.
Also have a google for high dosages of Vitamin D too.
Actually this statement is wrong too. French eat a lot more FAT than Americans.
The article is interesting, and it does point out that the reason vitamins don't have an effect is because they would only work if people have a deficiency in some area of their diet.
Perhaps it would be useful for me to continue taking multi-vitamins whenever I know that my diet that day, or for a number of days, isn't going to be up to standard.
The way I understand it, most people won't have vitamin deficiencies unless their food intake is very low or poor, or if they've got a medical condition which limits their uptake. That's not a thing that happens in or on one day, it's a chronic situation. I suspect that even if you eat way too much junk food, your biggest problem will obesity and heart disease, not a lack of vitamins and minerals.
The supplement industry is kind of a hoax. They can claim almost anything, and aren't even required to prove that their products are safe.
I say ask your doctor. If he or she thinks you can benefit from a dietary supplement, take it -- otherwise forget the supplements, and spend your money on good food.
My metabolism is pretty high, and I work out intensely 3-4 times a week, so I have to eat 4+ full meals a day. But I'm busy, and a bachelor, so not every meal is as good as it could be. So I take a multivitamin every day or second day. There's no way I'd believe, at this activity level, multivitamins are a waste. Plus, for less than $15 I get 90 pills, which is a 3 to 6 month supply. So, I don't believe it could possibly be that much of a waste of money.
I also take Omega-3 fish oil, since I don't really like eating fish all that much. And I eat meat. I've definitely noticed an increase of fatigue when I accidentally cut back on meat. I have no idea how people can just cut it out.
I've been using whey protein after workouts for more than a year, and in the last month have experimented with taking NO-xplode, Cellmass, Muscle Milk as well. I hadn't gained any muscle in quite a few months, until I started using all of these. Now I'm up 5 pounds. But the gains have leveled off. When I cycle off of these in a little bit, I'll see if the gains remain.
I also take Omega-3 fish oil, since I don't really like eating fish all that much. And I eat meat. I've definitely noticed an increase of fatigue when I accidentally cut back on meat. I have no idea how people can just cut it out.
I've been using whey protein after workouts for more than a year, and in the last month have experimented with taking NO-xplode, Cellmass, Muscle Milk as well. I hadn't gained any muscle in quite a few months, until I started using all of these. Now I'm up 5 pounds. But the gains have leveled off. When I cycle off of these in a little bit, I'll see if the gains remain.
You do understand that the article says that vitamin supplements don't fight cancer, not that they aren't good for you, right?
Ah man, where to start?
Let's see, 1st: So whatever you are doing is working. Good for you. Which is what, exactly?
2nd: You have anecdotal evidence of exactly one doctor. Great, I'll take your word for it.
3rd: I'm impressed with your research. Every last page of it.
4th: A guy gets sued and suddenly he's an expert? That's as good as the advertising for that "Airborne" crap. No scientists here, this was invented by a TEACHER. You know that means good.
Look, there are huge problems with our society. I won't dispute that. But, take a look at our teeth. We are omnivorous scavengers. We are slow, and weak as a species. That means with bare hands we can probably get bugs and the like for our protein requirements, along with naturally growing plants. Look at the difference between heritage plants and what we've got today. We eat processed foods with way too much sugar, and our meat animals have been bred to where they can no longer survive without us.
I'm going to eat fruits, vegetables and grains with some meat. I'm also going to take a multi-vitamin.
And for the traditional French cuisine, all that fat and stuff, they have less heart disease than do Americans..
It should be understood also that the FDA isn't the saint a lot of people figure they are. Drugs cause all kinds of deaths and side effects all the time.
As with anything, moderation.
Based on what I've read and heard from trusted scientists and medical professionals, this is correct.
It absolutely is.
Exactly. It's far riskier to blindly take supplements than to not take them, in my opinion.
Excellent advice.
1) Based on your condescending response you're obviously just looking for something else to attempt to poke holes into. I'll pass.
2) I'm just sharing information passed on to me by a medical doctor. I never said I spoke to God. Should I have done a survey of 100 doctors to satisfy your requirements? Doctor's don't know everything but they tend have a fairly informed view on health compared to your average citizen.
3) Eloquent
4) I have no idea what this connection is you're fishing for here. Howard Lyman grew up in environment where he was a 3rd or 4th generation organic (as all farms were back them) farmer/rancher. He went off to school and got a degree in modern farming practices came home and overhauled the entire operation. In other words he turned his ranch into a petrochemical factory farm. I think he knows a thing or two about the production of food, beef in particular. Not according to you though, you compare him to some teacher who made some gimmicky supplement.
The teeth thing doesn't jive, not only are we not built to be carnivores but also not omnivores. Along w/ a comparison of teeth, take a look into our digestive tract, jaw, stomach acidity and saliva etc.
http://www.aaarg.ca/Health.htm
http://microbiology.suite101.com/article.cfm/are_humans_omnivores
The last points you make about processed foods, sugar, state of "farm" animals I agree with. Food isn't what it used to be, including produce. Michael Pollan has written some provocative books on the subject including Omnivore's Dilemma.
Fair enough, to be honest I was expecting to receive the response you mentioned. It would have been inline what some of my friends were telling me at the time. Thats why I thought it was worth sharing.
According to "Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type" there's different diets for each type of blood. At least one is meat heavy and another is vegetarian...I believe one is primarily seafood based...there's a few others. I haven't read it but know some people who swear by it.
Thats basically about how I take it, whenever I think of it...sometimes very long stretches. Like the doctor told me, he's not recommending I need to take it, he just said take it if I want to play it safe and ease my concerns. It was the only thing that was low in my blood test and even then it was only marginally down. Nothing to be worried about apparently.
Read the entire article. It's about much more than the cancer study.
Pardon?
The point I was making was a simple and factual one. Supplement makers can make essentially any claim they wish, and do not have to test their products for either efficacy or safety. Drugs must be tested for both. If you think the way supplements are marketed is better than the way drugs are marketed, then I am puzzled by the reasoning.
As for "moderation," we don't know what that is for dietary supplements, since they are rarely tested.
Do some dangerous substances evade FDA testing? Absolutely: no testing can be 100% accurate or secure. However, you seem to be advocating that no testing is better than some testing. ...If you aren't, what's your point?
My condescending response started from:
LoL, believe whatever propaganda and rhetoric you want.
and
Now if you think you know better than doctors than go ahead and believe whatever the meat industry wants you to. I've done substantial research since then and my findings back up what I was told. I've now gone 13 years without meat and am doing just fine thank you.
I guess with the "lol" it's informative and useful, without, condescending.
Let me wave the white flag, since I thought I was responding accordingly to your post.I'm not a fan of the way we do most things anymore. It's been quite a few years since I've really looked into my own diet, but the stuff I'd like to get rid of - primarily high-fructose corn syrup, added sugars or glutens or milk - is a royal pain.
Cucumbers are coated in wax, most plants have pesticides unless you want to try organic which cost much more than non-organic. Tomatoes are picked under-ripe and gassed to ripen just before being sold. I'm really uncomfortable with irradiating any foods. Unfortunately, there isn't enough room in my backyard to grow all the vegetables I eat, so I know no matter what I do, there is always something wrong with it.
Fair enough, I stopped reading too soon. It includes, heard disease, stroke and diabetes, but all the trials they list included cancer, and there didn't appear to be any benefit. Which essentially takes us back to "eat a healthy diet".
I lived in the mediterranean, the diets aren't that dissimilar. They eat a lot of fish products, we eat a lot of fish products, they eat a lot of soups and stews, we eat a lot of them too. In Portugal we ate lots of breads, and soup stocks which were based on potato and other starchy vegetables. In the USA we eat a whole lot of potato based food.
There is a difference (and you are correct that there have been numerous studies conducted about this) is that Mediterranean cuisine is generally cooked in a lot of olive oil, while American cuisine is often times cooked in saturated fats. Thus the nutrient content is very very similar, but the heart healthy aspect is very different.
Why don't you tell me what about the European Diet you think differs from an American diet. Then we can discuss that!
SLC
The Heparin deaths shows how little control you have over what you ingest. The tainted raw materials came from China for the Heparin which killed people. The consumer doesn't know the supply chain of the ingredients used for prescription drugs, let alone supplements. Or even some of their food.
But back to supplements. Several things can interfere with vitamin/mineral absorption such as alcohol, smoking, stress, age, disease, prescription drugs, etc.
If you choose to take supplements, you can try to make your supplement choices safer. ConsumerLab.com does testing of supplements. They did have free test results on their Web site, but I just checked now and you have to pay member fees to see the results. In the U.S., you can look for the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) symbol.
But back to supplements. Several things can interfere with vitamin/mineral absorption such as alcohol, smoking, stress, age, disease, prescription drugs, etc.
If you choose to take supplements, you can try to make your supplement choices safer. ConsumerLab.com does testing of supplements. They did have free test results on their Web site, but I just checked now and you have to pay member fees to see the results. In the U.S., you can look for the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) symbol.
My condescending response started from:
LoL, believe whatever propaganda and rhetoric you want.
and
Now if you think you know better than doctors than go ahead and believe whatever the meat industry wants you to. I've done substantial research since then and my findings back up what I was told. I've now gone 13 years without meat and am doing just fine thank you.
I guess with the "lol" it's informative and useful, without, condescending.
I'm not a fan of the way we do most things anymore. It's been quite a few years since I've really looked into my own diet, but the stuff I'd like to get rid of - primarily high-fructose corn syrup, added sugars or glutens or milk - is a royal pain.
Cucumbers are coated in wax, most plants have pesticides unless you want to try organic which cost much more than non-organic. Tomatoes are picked under-ripe and gassed to ripen just before being sold. I'm really uncomfortable with irradiating any foods. Unfortunately, there isn't enough room in my backyard to grow all the vegetables I eat, so I know no matter what I do, there is always something wrong with it.
No worries, my post seems to have come across different than was intended.
Your points about food production are exactly why Lyman's books are a good read. Although he's a meat eating rancher turned strict vegan, the point of his book is about how food is produced and the harms that come from steroids, pesticides and other drugs & chemicals.
It doesn't have to be that way and if all food were produced organically the market would correct itself and it would no longer be as expensive as it currently is.