I've been taking vitamin supplements for years now. In the…

Hello, I would like to help you with your question concerning vitamin supplements. There are certainly some brands that are of a higher quality than others. When it comes to vitamins, you usually get what you pay for. So paying a little more for a quality supplement as opposed to the "store brand" is usually a worthwhile investment. Would you like me to give you general suggestions or did you have specific issues that you would like the supplements to address? Dr. Zeoli

It is a good idea to take a multivitamin, at the very least. Taking a calcium and trace mineral supplement is also a great thing to do to help prevent bone loss. A fish oil supplement is great for preventing many different diseases. Extra vitamin D and vitamin C are also wonderful for treating and preventing a variety of illnesses.

Taking a beta blocker such as Bisoprolol can cause a depletion of the nutrient Co-enzyme Q10. This would be a great supplement to add to your vitamin program.

The "one-a-day" type vitamins such as Centrum typically do not provide enough of any particular nutrient to make them worth the effort. Please read my short article about why the RDA is not enough, I will paste it below...

The U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (USRDA) of vitamins and minerals was calculated to be the minimum amount of trace nutrients needed to prevent symptoms of a catastrophic deficiency. For example, someone who does not get the USRDA of vitamin C will develop symptoms of scurvy after a while including bleeding gums, degeneration of the connective tissues, and eventually death. Other diseases caused by catastrophic vitamin deficiency include rickets (vitamin D), beriberi (vitamin B1) and pellagra (vitamin B3).

Since nearly everyone in the United States gets 100% of the USRDA of most nutrients frequently enough to prevent these kinds of illnesses, they have mostly passed into obscurity. The modern physician never has the opportunity to treat scurvy anymore. However, the acute symptoms of vitamin deficiency have been replaced in our society by chronic degenerative diseases and these are ubiquitous.

Cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are the main killers today. Other common chronic conditions include fatigue, emotional and psychological problems, symptoms of the gastrointestinal system, and infections that do not respond to antibiotics.

The goal of using nutritional supplements is to optimize the intake of nutrients so that common symptoms can be avoided and chronic degenerative diseases can be prevented. Unfortunately, the most common “one-a-day” type vitamins that people take do little to help prevent disease or relieve symptoms. They contain only the minimal amount of nutrients, and this is inadequate to promote optimal health and well-being. Additionally, every person has a unique need for certain vitamins and minerals based on their constitution, diet and lifestyle status, health concerns, stress levels, genetics, and other factors.

Here is a link that shows an example of a high-potency vitamin supplement, it costs a bit more but it is worth the money: http://www.iherb.com/Thorne-Research-Meta-Fem-240-Veggie-Caps/18680 Just compare labels with your Centrum and you will notice a big difference.

Here is a link that shows a quality Co-enzyme Q10 supplement: http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas-Ubiquinol-QH-Absorb-100-mg-60-Softgels/7883

I hope that this information is helpful for you. Please let me know if you have any additional questions and I will send the answers as soon as possible. If not, please hit the Accept button so that I can receive credit for my work.