Vitamin Supplements

Is it advisable for non-pregnant adults (female and male) to take pre-natal vitamin pills? Pre-natal vitamins contain nutrients at levels recommended for pregnant women. Increased amounts of folacin (folic acid), iron, calcium and vitamin C (improves iron and calcium absorption) can be present. Folic acid has been found to reduce neural tube defects (spina bifida)...

In your experience do dietary supplements actually help people, are there more positive effects than negative? Dietary supplements include vitamin, mineral, herbal and amino acid supplements. Because I am not sure to which you are referring I will respond about each. It depends on which dietary supplement a person is taking and why they are taking...

What vitamins do you recommend that will give me a boost of energy during working hours? If you want energy and to stay awake, eat more meat, fish or poultry than carbohydrates at breakfast and lunch. If you want to fall asleep, eat more carbohydrates at dinner. Also, don't eat too much food at one...

I have been discussing with doctors this issue of the vitamins, but none could give me that convincing explanation and advice as you did. What you say make a lot of sense i.e. making expensive urine. Thanks a lot. The reason I said you would make expensive urine is your body absorbs about 15% from...

I'd like to know what multivitamin contains the highest content of vitamin A, D, E, K. I would like to know where I could find this multivitamin. I cannot recommend one specific brand. In the US, multivitamins usually contain only 100% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances. Usually, only 17 nutrients (protein, vitamin A, D,...

Please post the conversion factor between an international unit of a vitamin and its metric equivalent. i.e. how many IU = X milligrams or micrograms? An international unit of a vitamin varies. I use the following table from "Food Chemistry and Nutritional Biochemistry by Zapsalis and Beck. Vitamin A, 1 IU retinol = 0.300 - 0.344...

Where can I find a dietitian who is smart about vitamin supplements? The Nutrition in Complementary Care dietetic practice group of the American Dietetic Association has an interest in the role of alternative herbal, vitamin and mineral therapies in improving health and preventing disease. Their Find a Comp Care Nutritionist feature will help you locate...

I take a multivitamin every day. I figure it balances out what I don't eat right in my diet. What ingredients should I look for in a multivitamin? If the multivitamin has only 100% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for each nutrient in the supplement, it probably won't hurt you. There are RDA's for...

What supplements/therapies would you recommend to promote wound healing and minimize scarring for my 6-year-old daughter (50 pounds). She has two 1 to 1.5-centimeter wounds on the bridge of her nose near her eye from a dog scratch. The plastic surgeon used 40 stitches to close them. Thank you. I am sorry to hear about...

Are multivitamins helpful or harmful? Depends on whether or not your diet contains enough food and variety to supply all the nutrients your body needs. If you eat more than 1600 calories and a variety of food, you may be wasting your money and making some very expensive urine. Though, taking one multivitamin per day that...