Choosing right suppplements

Question
Hello,

I been taking Centrum Supplement for the past year or so, however recently I found out that "Centrum" is a piece of garbage that has only "synthetic" [not natural] vitamins. Is this true? If so, can you recommend me a natural Multivitamin/multi-mineral supplement?

Also, I am started to take a natural Vitamin E at 400IU. Is this a good idea, since I heard that too much Vitamin E taken in a long period of time is harmful to your health?

Thanks,
Ray

Answer
Dear Ray,

The problem of "natural" versus synthetic supplements seems to be in the field of health beliefs rather than knowledge. On one hand, clinical studies operate with the synthetic ones and still the evidence supporting health benefits of them is vast. However, most of the studies deal with pure stuff, in appropriate dozes, and keep their levels in the blood under control: You know that this is not the case when it comes to any of OTC supplements.

On the other hand, the researchers do not know everything about the natural sources (will they ever?) and though the synergism is a recognized phenomenon, I seldom read an article taking it into account. For example, there was a sensational news that simple Calcium did wonders in melting fat in fat cell cultures. When tried as a chemical on human beings, the effect failed to appear. However, the required doze of Calcium given in the form of yogurt worked! A mystery? A proof that a natural form of CALCIUM works when the chemical doesn't? Or, there's something more to yogurt that worked, for example, CLA (diary is rich in CLA, see liks below)

Reading

Michael Geary抯 opinion: 95% supplements is a waste of money
http://atkinszone.com/exercise/2008/08/opinion-95-supplements-is-waste-of.html

The Book of Supplement Secrets
http://atkinszone.com/success_stories/2008/08/book-of-supplement-secrets.html

Vitamins A, B, C, D, and K
http://atkinszone.com/fat_loss/2008/09/vitamins-b-c-d-and-k.html

Nutrients for Better Learning
http://atkinszone.com/did-you-know/2008/09/nutrients-for-better-learning.html

Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals: what's missing?
http://atkinszone.com/did-you-know/2008/09/antioxidants-vitamins-minerals-whats....

CLA
http://atkinszone.com/did-you-know/2008/08/cla-supplements.html
http://atkinszone.com/faq/2008/02/balanced-diet-and-abdominal-fat.html

Tanya Zilberter

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