Talk with the Doc

• My doctor says I can get all the vitamins and minerals I need from my food. What is your opinion on this?
• I used to say the same thing to my patients, back in the days before I studied healthy alternatives. It is the party line of allopathic medicine, although that is starting to change. Here's the bottom line, and I'll follow up with some info on what allopaths are now doing:
  
  There is a difference between prevention of disease and being truly healthy, and much of that has to do with ingesting adequate nutrients. Unfortunately, we all have different requirements, and the nutrition from our food is not as good as it was 50 years ago. We also have greater exposure to toxins, which places an additional load on the body for detoxification. Stress also increases the need for extra vitamins.
  
  I strongly believe that we cannot be optimally healthy without a good basic vitamin regimen with essential fatty acids. On top of that, most of us have other needs that can be addressed with supplements instead of medications.
  
  Allopathic medicine now supports giving folic acid for pregnant women, vitamin D and calcium for osteoporosis, and I recently had a patient tell me her ophthalmologist prescribed lutein and other antioxidants for macular degeneration. There is now an omega 3 fish oil by prescription for heart support and inflammation.