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Vitamin Graveyard

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Do you have a “vitamin graveyard?” You probably do but just never called it that. You’ll find it on your kitchen countertop or along a shelf in your medicine cabinet. Maybe it’s your bathroom window ledge.

I’ve discovered that many of my patients have supplement accumulations like this. Perhaps yours began with the recommendation of a friend or a health food store clerk. Maybe you responded to a persuasive mailing that promised relief from some worrisome symptom that you’ve now completely forgotten about. Or perhaps a late-night infomercial reassured you that some fearful disease could be prevented if only you had your credit card ready. So you start taking whatever it was and then a few weeks later you add another, then another. And now you have one yourself: a vitamin graveyard.

Time to clean house and get rid of your vitamin graveyard. Here’s how:
• If the bottle has a layer of greasy dust on it, toss it immediately.
• Read the expiration date and toss everything that’s expired.
• If you can’t remember what the supplement is for, consult Dr. Google. If after your research, you wonder aloud “Now why did I buy that?” toss it.
• If you’ve gotten over whatever you bought the supplement for, toss it.

In my opinion, you’ll likely need:
• A high potency multiple vitamin/mineral product to compensate for your dietary shortcomings. If you remember to take this every day, the amount of B complex a high potency multivitamin contains will be enough for your Triple Whammy needs.
• A high potency antioxidant combination.
• Fish oil, which, along with your B complex, will help ward off stress and reduce your heart disease risks.
• Vitamin D (1,000 to 3,000 I.U. per day), because we seem to have a nationwide epidemic of low vitamin D levels. Scientists have recently uncovered numerous diseases associated with low vitamin D.

You can add, as needed:
• Supplements used to prevent specific health conditions that you may be at risk for. Examples include calcium for osteoporosis prevention; detoxifiers if you have a family cancer risk; Co Q 10 and magnesium if your family is rampant with heart disease; and glucosamine/chondroitin for arthritis.

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