I had no training in nutrition in medical school 1980-1984. Things have not improved since then. While it is great news that a web site has been created by doctors to advise patients on nutrition, it strikes me as Tubby telling Little Lulu how to eat.
For example, the site claims that a healthy diet negates the need for supplements. Really? How many Americans eat a healthy diet? Do they come close to eating enough veggies, fruits and whole grains to approximate MINIMUM requirements? In case you are wondering, we need to eat 13 servings of fruits and veggies a day and 30 grams of fiber. Supplementing is recommended if you are not doing that, especially when you are addicted to sugar, and have intestinal problems compromising proper digestion and absorption of micronutrients in the gut.
Then, there is the poorly-disclosed matter of soil depletion, food processing stripping foods of nutritional value and environmental toxicity. For example, one single cigarette (or breathing polluted air,) consumes 50mg of vitamin C, the minimum daily requirement. Then, there is the matter of pharmaceutical drugs compromising cellular levels of practically every nutrient. The best example is hormonal replacement, metformin, antibiotics, acid-blocking drugs and several other drugs lowering levels of B vitamins.
But, wait a minute: when supplements turn into drugs, then they are OK. That is the case with vitamins A, B & D, omega oils, melatonin, GABA, Alpha Lipoic acid, arginine, etc. If doctors are going to dispense nutritional advise, they should do it by getting their information from sources not tainted by Big Pharma.
References
Doctor creates resource to help consumers learn about vitamins, supplements
“Reuters (1/10, Crist) reports “a new patient resource published in JAMA Internal Medicine” suggests that most people do not need vitamins or nutritional supplements because they can obtain all the necessary nutrients through a healthy diet. Reuters says the “new patient page…offers practical advice and answers to questions about vitamins and nutritional supplements that patients often bring up with their doctors.” The article mentions, “Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees the vitamin and dietary supplement industry, the products are assumed to be safe without testing, unlike prescription drugs, which undergo an approval process.” Additionally, Reuters states that “there are more than 90,000 supplements on the U.S. market that include a wide range of vitamins, minerals and chemicals” and approximately “23,000 emergency department visits each year are related to nutritional supplements.”
Eating 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily may reduce risk for early death
“Reuters (1/10, Kelland) reports research “commissioned by the World Health Organization” reveals that “people who eat lots of high-fiber and whole grain foods have lower risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other chronic diseases than people whose diets are low in fiber.” The study found that for every eight-gram “increase in fiber eaten a day, total deaths and incidences of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer fell by” five “to 27 percent,” while also conferring “protection against stroke and breast cancer.”
