SUPPLEMENTS: Mind MD's advice

The confused public faces a real dilemma when you consider the amount of money spent on vitamins and other chemical supplements. Part of the problem is created by articles, usually through advertisements, promoting the value of these items as an aid to healthy living. The recent advertisement in the Coeur d’Alene Press promoted massive doses of vitamins, especially vitamin C. The excess actually becomes a burden to the body requiring such organs as a kidney to eliminate the excess.

As a practicing physician, I used to recommend to my patients that the real approach to the appropriate amount of vitamin C is to drink a glass of orange juice and eat a diet of fruits and vegetables.

The medical literature does not support the concept of high doses of vitamins and supplements. People have the impression that if they read these exaggerated stories in the paper, it must be so. Unfortunately, the public will continue to spend enormous amounts of money on these vitamins and supplements even though there is no reliable information to confirm this approach for healthy living.

After several years of retirement, I’m living a very functional and active life in spite of consuming no vitamin supplements.

If a person wants to live a happy and productive life, there is an important philosophical area to consider, which involves the importance of the mind. First, how you think is how you feel. People are often unaware of how their thought process determines how you feel mentally and physically. Secondly, attitudes are free, so we have a choice of picking the right ones.

In summary, the well-being we hope to enjoy in our lives is not dependent on the supplements we take, but rather on making the right mental choices.

WILLIAM G. TARNASKY

Hayden