Research on vitamins, minerals and antioxidants shows that:
  • They can help to lower your cholesterol. [73]

  • They may help lower your blood pressure. [74]

  • They may help protect you from heart disease. [75]

  • According to a 1994 study at Johns Hopkins University; "Just regularly taking vitamin supplements in general, but particularly vitamins A, C and e, slashed the risk of...skin cancer by an astonishing 70% [76]

  • They may also protect against Parkinson's disease. [77]

  • They can make your children smarter. Studies show that children taking supplements become smarter than those not taking supplements. [78]

  • There are even supplements that may help improve your memory.

  • There is a mountain of evidence no, a mountain range of evidence - that supplements can be beneficial to our health.
Again, Dr. Michael Colgan reports:

"The evidence is now irrefutable that the right use of the right antioxidants can prevent and even reverse many forms of cancer heart disease, atherosclerosis; adult-onset diabetes, and a host of other diseases whose primary cause is excess (free radical) oxidation, including cataracts, lung disorders, liver disorders and degenerative diseases of the brain." [79]

Myth #3. Vitamins can be dangerous in large doses.

Just how safe are supplements?  As compared to what? Let's compare vitamins to prescription drugs. Guess how many people die each year as a result of doctor-prescribed prescription drugs.  According to the FDA, 150,000 people die each year! You are reading correctly.  Now, guess how many people die each year taking vitamins. In the last ten years, one person - from an overdose of niacin. According to Dr. Michael Colgan:   "Used in any sensible amounts; vitamins and minerals are about as toxic as apple pie.

Of course, if you're currently being treated with prescription drugs or under a doctor's care, you should always check with your physician to see how your treatment may react with your supplements. But for the vast majority of us, vitamins are extremely safe.

... but taking all those pills is such a hassle.

Some people are not worried so much about safety.  They just think that taking vitamins is a plain nuisance. They say things like, "They're such a hassle ... so many pills and bottles. I just can't remember to take them all," or "I can't swallow them. They're too big," or "They taste nasty or they upset my stomach or they give me diarrhea."  When I hear this, I just look at them, chuckle
and say "If you think you've got diarrhea now; wait until you're on chemotherapy".  Or, "If you think taking pills is a hassle, try; quadruple bypass surgery."   I've read what the research says, and I'm not going a single day without my vitamins and minerals. I don't care what I have to do ...   crush them up and drink them with my orange juice, set the alarm on my wrist watch to remind me ... whatever it takes. I don't miss a single day. After what I've read, I believe my life depends on it.

Myth #4. All nutritional supplements are the same.

When I began my research, I had no idea that there was such a vast difference between brands of nutritional supplements. Actually, vitamin supplements can he divided into two major camps: cheap grocery store brands, which are patterned after Government Recommended Dietary Allowances (or RDA), and the second group of vitamin supplements, which contain many times the amount of the RDA of each nutrient.  These more advanced vitamin supplements are based upon the latest research, which proves that much higher dosages of vitamins and minerals may be necessary; to protect us from the deadly seven.

According to Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the creator of the jogging craze in the seventies, from his recent hook, The Antioxidant Revolution:

"There was a time when I joined most other mainstream physicians who opposed taking vitamin supplements in any amounts, much less in relatively large doses.   Along with the majority of the medical establishment I believed that you could get all the vitamins and minerals you needed through your daily diet. But my research into freer adicals and antioxidants has forced me to change my thinking - as well as my personal health habits.  Today I take a daily "antioxidant
cocktail", a minimum multivitamin combination of 400 IU of vitamin B, 1000 mg of vitamin C, and 25,000 IU of beta carotene. Furthermore when I am scheduled for a heavy physical workout or for some other situation that I know will produce oxidative stress,   I increase those
amounts accordingly. The latest research shows that to build strong protection against free radicals, you need to take in far larger amounts of antioxidants than the official Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) provides. If you regularly consume five to nine ample servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each day you may begetting enough vitamin C and beta carotene.  But you simply cannot get enough vitamin E from the foods you eat." [81]

According to Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the creator of the jogging craze in the seventies, from his recent hook, The Antioxidant Revolution:

"There was a time when I joined most other mainstream physicians who opposed taking vitamin supplements in any amounts, much less in relatively large doses.   Along with the majority of the medical establishment I believed that you could get all the vitamins and minerals you needed through your daily diet. But my research into freer adicals and antioxidants has forced me to change my thinking - as well as my personal health habits.  Today I take a daily "antioxidant
cocktail", a minimum multivitamin combination of 400 IU of vitamin B, 1000 mg of vitamin C, and 25,000 IU of beta carotene. Furthermore when I am scheduled for a heavy physical workout or for some other situation that I know will produce oxidative stress,   I increase those
amounts accordingly. The latest research shows that to build strong protection against free radicals, you need to take in far larger amounts of antioxidants than the official Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) provides. If you regularly consume five to nine ample servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each day you may begetting enough vitamin C and beta carotene.  But you simply cannot get enough vitamin E from the foods you eat." [81]


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