How much vitamin supplements do I need?

Maybe the question should really be, "Do I need to be taking multivitamins?" What did people do before they discovered how to manufacture them and tell us our food is famished?

I don't know, but I read about iron overload in middle-aged women. Aren't we better off using all-natural vitamin sources?

Also, in a June 2004 article (a Scandinavian publication), it was pointed out that only groups of people who have nutritional risks need to take vitamin and minerals supplements.

Who are these "at risk" people?

Women of child-bearing age and those who eat "very little or have an unbalanced diet." So that includes (maybe) all of us on a Western-type diet. Of course, we re-define "balanced." Just look what is common on the American breakfast table. For many, it is either coffee, lots of sugary stuff (like donuts, muffins, pancakes, and pretty artistic cereal).

And the calorie intake! Wheeew! That's why we've become more than 65% overweight. Doesn't sount like the result of a balanced diet to me.

So you might be in the "at risk" group. You might need to take vitamin supplements. But what the scientists are saying is this...

Except you eat poorly or you are a woman of fertile age, you just need to eat right. "The largest health potential lies in a healthy diet."

References:
Meltzer H. M., Haugen M., Alexander J., Pedersen J. I. (2004). Vitamin and minerals supplements--required for good health? Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2004 Jun 17;124(12):1646-9.

Yes, Exercise - Go Jump Rope Kid!

We do not need anymore evidence that adult onset diabetes is now a misnomer. It's everyone's disease. One of the best ways we can help save the lives of our children from the clutches of this degenerative lifestyle syndrome is to get them active early in life.

I really admired this little man having a go at jumping rope recently. He was unashamedly persistent. It never mattered that he hardly got that rope under his feet, he knew how to work up a sweat!

In some kids, some sweat glands have gone permantly inactive by the time they reach the teen years, thus setting them up for toxic build-up and poor health early in adulthood.

So we've got to cheer this two-year-old frisky on. Should he continue this at least three days per week for the rest of his life, he could still be doing his thing as a centenarian - all other health practices being properly maintained.

And you... you're never too old to jump-start the "kid" in you. Do something. Use a rebounder if you can't jump rope. Since 65% of us need to lose weight, I'm nearly certain you need to be jumping too.

And even if you are in good shape as this little guy in the picture, your heart will love you for it. How's your exercise or weight-loss program doing right now?

Weight Control, Not Weight Loss

Frankly, I prefer to hear about efforts to have weight control than wishes for weight loss. The former seems more permanent and realistic to me.

Just think how bulging this weight loss craze has become. And it's getting worse. Why? Because our modern lifestyles constrain us to keep on doing the things that make us fat.

I can just list a few situations and you will be guilty on at least one count - even if you are not overweight. (Some of us are so genetically lucky!)

• Missing breakfast and snacking (or grazing, it seems) throughout the day
• Not getting regular exercise
• Taking in more calories than our physical activity level demands
• Eating the wrong foods

However, if we get these habits under control our lifestyle now becomes one of weight control,rather than the reactive weight loss measures many of us have to take, resulting in the economic fattening of pill and potion pushers (a.k.a. drug makers.)

Let's practice weight control instead of relying so much on quick weight loss fixes. In most cases, they don't make you lose it permanently. You have to put your hand in your pocket and go back again and again.

Can sleep deprivation cause diabetes?

Will your habit of staying up too late cause you to develop diabetes? Scientists think so. In fact, that's what research is showing, and I find it quite easy to believe.

The following is true of me: I am diabetic, I habitually stay up late, I am not overweight, and all other medical metrics (cholesterol, bp, etc) are quite normal. I have had this habit for nearly two decades!

Plus, I haven't been exercising for nearly that long. That spells type 2 diabetes, right? Research shows this kind of lifestyle dismantles the body's ability to handle glucose.

Ok, I better go to sleep. It's 12:06 AM. I shall do better tomorrow. Somehow, I fear that my diabetes project and my facination with the benefits of sauna may have to have a lower place on my priority list now.