Are nutritional supplements really a rip off? What's the truth?

Question

My doctor says that nutritional supplements - Vitamin D, B, Omega 3, Kelp - are a rip off. He said that these are not necessary and people get the nutrients they need through the food they eat. he feels that these supplements are purely placebo and in some cases can actually cause liver damage.

On the other hand, lots of research that I've read online indicates that people need the supplements and that lack of them are what causes various other illness.

What do you know about taking supplements? Why is there such a contradiction in the information about them?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to lose weight. I was just interested in being healthier and taking supplements for that. Thanks!

Answer 1

You answered the question yourself, a lack of nutrients causes a disease. However, the reality is that few of us have such a deficiency. A healthy diet contains all the goodness the body needs and usually more to spare.

Your doctor will have asked you how you feel and may have examined you. If necessary he will do some tests (but only if necessary) and with this information work out if you are deficient in something. Be reassured, you are not suffering from acute kelp deficiency. Some people (elderly people, severe dieters or people with bowel diseases) may become deficient in some nutrients. Similarly, some menstruating women may become low in iron. These deficiencies will cause symptoms and then you should see your doc to assess whether supplements may help.

In general however, the supplement market is a multibillion dollar industry, poorly regulated, poorly understood by its pedlars, occasionally dangerous (XS vit D + A cause liver failure) and usually wholly unnecessary. (An interesting aside is the frequency of contaminants in these supplements).

If you think you are deficient get checked by your doc and only take what she thinks you need.

(Student and researcher of natural therapies)

Answer 2

although some supplements are not necessary. In today's world of heavy pollutants, unhealthful foods, depleted soils, a fast food restaurant  every corner and bad water, air and lack o exercise all placed in our high stress world, this greatly diminished the chance that one is getting all they needs from food.

he last person in the world to ask fro advise on this is an allopathic MD. the average one knows less on this topic than you do. they receive almost no training on nutrition,. vitamins. minerals, herbs etc and what they do get just addresses specific vitamin deficiencies like beriberi.

what your body does not need are substances not designed for it like a lot of drugs and this is what you get when you go to a doctor.  I do not recommend a nutritionist either as they are trained in this same crappy environment as doctors.  Go to a naturopathic or info on diet and health and wellness...saving the doctor just for things that are not generally helped alternatively (unless the naturepath is very skilled) like shock and accidents and things like your leg cut off.  

I can guarantee the average person knows more about nutrition, herbs and supplement than the doctor..this is because of all the paperwork and busy schedules, doctors themselves admit they have little time for outside reading but the medical library..the up top date journals function because of the high price pharmaceutical ads..often taking up to half of the pages and if they publish anything favorable to safe, inexpensive nontoxic modalities of healing, they are threatened with lawsuits or loss of advertising dollars..they have in the past set the percent and followed through on fighting anything that might cut into their profits by not advertising anymore after a medical journal publishes a study or something helpful about a cheap, natural treatment and gotten medical journals put out of business..thus most will not publish this info and thus the doctor never reads it and the average consumer is more informed on this topic.  I got this information from an allopathic medical doctor who cured herself of breast cancer using natural means and did an informative video called cancer doesn't scare me anymore..here she talks about why doctors reject this info and about follow the money..she was severely ostracized after publishing her information at the hospital she worked at and by her colleagues.

trust me the doctor is not right on this.  Still you do not need all these new things always coming out,.  I trust the master herbalist doctor Richard schulze who had 20 years clinical practice healing the very sick and dying.  He suggests colon cleansing with a good products every season and doing various cleanses once a season and a vegan diet.

Some of these cleanses include liver and gall bladder cleanse, kidney-bladder cleanse, immune boosting, lung cleanse. skin cleanse, blood cleansing etc...many of these are on his website herbdoc.com or by goggling the words patient handbook schulze here he has how to do the five day kidney or gall bladder cleanse..his herbs are outstanding see his website herbdoc.com for why his herbs are best and also he has a good intestinal cleanse one and two, a detox formula for blood cleasning and echinacea plus which I would take with astragalus one a year or so for immune boosting.  Other cleanses are found in Linda page's book detoxification sold on ebay or at healthy healing . com

the key is getting the toxins out and the nutrition and oxygen in via good diet, superfood (also sold at herbdoc.com) and exercising and deep breathing.  Also do the 20 steps to a better life see it at herboc.com

then you will not need many supplements.  super food is superior because it is nature and not man-made and contains every nutrient you need but I personally would take omega three fats either as flax seed oil or by eating deep sea fatty fish three times a week (salmon/mackerel/herring/sardines are the richest source..walnuts and purslaine are the only other land food with this to my knowledge).

also eat more produce of all kinds and more raw foods (produce, raw nuts and seeds and sprouted grains and legumes eaten raw.  a great cookbook for eating more healthy raw foods (she also has cooked foods) is dining in the raw./.get it on ebay or amazon.

do all this and you should have great health..if you can't afford his stuff buy his save your life video on dvd on ebay and in it he gives the formulas in the manual and shows how to do the tinctures and formulas yourself and this saves about 80% of the cost..use organic bulk herbs or wildcrafted or fresh if making your own tinctures to save money,

also add lots of fresh juices made in a juicer to your daily routine..drink only good water (steam distilled, filtered, reverse osmosis and lots of home juiced with a juicer, fresh juices with once in a great while 100% bottles (drink the fresh within 15 minutes of making as the enzymes do not last and they are essential), herb or green tea (iced or hot), and real soup broths. once in a while you could add red wine

so in conclusion to be healthier do the following

1. colon cleansing once a season using intestinal cleanse one and two from herbdoc.com

2 a different seasonal cleanse every season

3 daily exercise work up to one hour a day

4 deep breathing

5 follow herbdoc.com  schulze's 20 steps to a healthier life

6 take care of emotional needs and be more positive, loving and grateful

7 add fresh juices to your day..the more the better (if diabetic dilute half and half with water)

8. drink only the things on the list

9 go vegan or as close as you can..many a little yogurt organic, organic free range chicken once a week or so and a little wild caught fish once or twice a week if some animal food is desired.  any dairy should should soy or veggie or at least organic (no milk it sucks) other meats once in a blue moon and only organic or natural meats with no pesticides or hormones.

10 some source of omega three fatty acids and reduction of omega 6 oils

1 no junk or packaged foods (possible exception some of the things at health food store, canned fish and canned beans and frozen veggies without added sauces

12 more produce and variety eat the rainbow of produce daily (chose something from red, orange, yellow, blue-purple, green and white-brown group every day)

13 more raw foods, more fresh picked from the wilds or garden and more sprouting

14 .start learning more about nutrition and shopping in co-ops, health food stores, health sections of supermarkets and farmer's markets

Answer 3

Listen to your dr it is important for your body to metabolise foods naturally.......otherwise you are just wasting your money......natural foods are best......supplements may be used  but when they ARE needed....most often people go on them becos they think they need them.......when in reality they dont

Answer 4

if u want to know more visit www.bodybuilding.com and go to supersite forums and look at the supplements catagory

but ur doctor is wrong i use supplements and im the best linebacker in my high school

Answer 5

There is a huge gap between the medical profession and holistic medicine. MDs know medicine, but they do not know it all, even though they profess authority in peripheral subject matters. A statement should be founded by scientific evidence, and if it is not.. the doctor should not be stating it.

Each persons diet is different, and yes some may lack the proper nutrients they need for a number of reasons. And, for these supplements may help. Any topic you want to read on , is basically on the internet... and research articles are availabe as well.

Answer 6

Your doctor is right, unless you have an actual deficiency I don't think there's any real point to supplements.

If you want to be healthy (and who wouldn't :D) I'd concentrate on a healthy diet (lots of fruit & veg, lean meat, low salt etc) and exercise (go jogging/to the gym/find an exercise partner).

Answer 7

Some brands are definitely a rip off.  A lot of them have fillers that will actually do more harm than good.  On the other hand there are good companies out there.  I am a shaklee distributor and my entire family uses these supplements.  Shaklee has been around for over 50 years and they have 75 scientists who research every product to deliver the best quality with no added fillers.  Check out www.shaklee.net/kandi.

Hope this answers your question.

Answer 8

Listen to your doctor.  To be an MD you need years and years of careful training that's monitored by national organization to make sure that everything is above the board.  To be an "herbalist" you just make things up.  Most of them have a marketing degree and a criminal record.  Nearly all supplements, except a basic multi-vitamin, are a complete rip off and total waste of your hard earned money.