What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & More: Choosing the Nutrients That Are Right for You

by Pamela Wartian Smith

Overview

Almost 75 percent of health and longevity is based on lifestyle, environment, and nutrition. Yet even if you follow a healthful diet, you probably don’t get all the nutrients you need to prevent disease. In What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & More, Dr. Pamela Smith explains how you can maintain health through the use of nutrients.

Part One of this easy-to-use guide discusses the individual nutrients necessary for good health. Part Two offers personalized nutritional programs for people with a wide variety of health concerns. People without prior medical problems can look to Part Three for their supplementation plans. Whether you want to maintain goodhealth or you are trying to overcome a medical condition, What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & More, can help you make the best choices for the health and well-being of you and your family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780757052330
Publisher:	Square One Publishers
Publication date:	07/24/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Pamela Wartian Smith, MD, MPH, spent her first two decades of practice as an emergency room physician at the Detroit Medical Center. A member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Physicians and a board examiner, Dr. Smith is an internationally known speaker and author on the subject of wellness and anti-aging. Currently, she is the owner and director of the Center for Healthy Living and Longevity, with locations in Ann Arbor, Center Line, Rochester, and Traverse City, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction                        
The Purpose of this Book                
Mixing Supplements, Drugs, and Food

Part 1: Nutrients

1. Vitamins
 
Vitamin A / Vitamin D /  Vitamin E / Vitamin K / Vitamin B Complex / Vitamin C

2. Minerals
 
Calcium / Chloride / Magnesium / Phosphorus / Potassium / Sodium / Boron / Chromium / Copper / Iodine / Iron / Manganese / Molybdenum / Selenium / Silicon / Vanadium / Zinc
 
3. Fatty Acids

Saturated Fatty Acids / Essential Fatty Acids / Trans Fatty Acids

4. Amino Acids
 
Alanine / Arginine / Asparagine / Aspartic Acid / Carnitine / Carnosine / Cysteine / 5-Hydroxytryptophan / Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Glutamate / Glutamine / Glutathione / Glycine / Histidine / Lysine / Methionine / Phenylalanine / Proline / Serine / Taurine / Threonine / Tryptophan / Tryosine

5. Herbs

Aloe Vera / Ashwagandha Root / Bilberry / Black Cohosh / Cat’s Claw / Cayenne / Chamomile / Echinacea / Eleuthero / Evening Primrose Oil / Garlic / Gingko / Ginseng / Goldenseal / Green Tea / Hawthorn / Milk Thistle / St. John’s Wort / Saw Palmetto / Vinpocetine

6. Other Nutrients

Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline / Alpha-Lipoic Acid / Coenzyme Q10 / Enzymes / Fiber / Indole-3-Carbinol / Melatonin / Methylsulfonylmethane / Oligomeric / Proanthocyanidins (OPCs) / Phosphatidylcholine / Phosphatidylserine / Probiotics / Pynogenol / Resveratrol

Part 2: Health Conditions
   
Acne / ADD/ADHD / Adrenal Fatigue and Exhaustion / Allergies / Alopecia / Alzheimer’s Disease / Anorexia Nervosa / Anxiety / Arteriosclerosis / Arthritis / Asthma  / Atherosclerosis / Attention Deficit Disorder / Autoimmune Diseases / Balding / Benign Prostastic Hypertrophy / BPH / Cancer / Candidiasis / Cataracts / Cerebrovascular Accident / Cervical Cancer / Cervical Dysplasia / Cholesterol / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Closed Head Injury / Common Cold / Concussion / Congestive Heart Failure / Crohn’s Disease / Dementia / Depression / Dermatitis / Diabetes Mellitus / Dry Eyes / Eating Disorder / Eczema / Enlarged Prostate / Estrogen-Related Problems / Exhaustion / Fibroids / Food Allergies / Gall Bladder Disorders / Gallstones / Gingivitis / Gout / Hair Loss / Hashimoto's Thyroiditis / Head Injury / Headaches / Heart Failure / Hepatitis C / High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) / High Cholesterol / HPV Infection / Hypercholesterolemia / Hypertension / Hyperthyroidism / Hypothyroidism / IBS / Inflammation / Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Insomnia / Insulin-Dependent Diabetes / Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) / Leaky Gut Syndrome / Leg Cramps / Lupus / Macular Degeneration / Menopause-Related Problems / Migraine Headaches / Multiple Sclerosis / Muscle Cramps / Myasthenia Gravis / Non-Insulin-Related Diabetes / Osteoarthritis / Osteoporosis / Ovarian Cysts / Parkinson’s Disease / PCOS / Perimenopause / Periodontal Disease / Periodontitis / Pimples / PMS / Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) / Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) / Prostate Disorder / Psoriasis / Pyorrhea / Rheumatoid Arthritis / Scleroderma (Systemic Sclerosis) / Sjögren’s Syndrome / Skin Disorders / Sleep Disorders / Stress / Stroke / Systemic Sclerosis / Thyroid Disorders / Type 1 Diabetes / Type 2 Diabetes / Ulcerative Colitis / Uterine Fibroids / Varicose Veins / Wound Healing / Yeast Infection
 
Part 3: Maintaining Health
  
Birth Control Pills and Nutrition / Bodybuilder’s Nutrition / Dieter’s Nutrition / Enhancing Detoxification / Enhancing Energy / Enhancing Immunity / Liver Health / Memory Enhancement / Men’s Health / Oral Contraceptives and Nutrition / Smoker’s Nutrition / Sports Nutrition / Sun Tanner’s Nutrition / Surgery and Nutrition / Weight Loss / Women’s Health
 
Conclusion
Resources                        
References
Index                                

Preface

Do you need to take vitamins and other nutrients? In what amounts should you take them? Which supplements are the most effective? What should you take for a specific illness or chronic problem? Answering these questions is a fundamental aspect of good health and longevity—but there are so many countering viewpoints regarding nutrients and nutrient supplementation that it can be hard to know what to do. This book will provide you with the critical information necessary to find the answers that are right for you.

Various health committees have attempted to provide nutritional guidelines. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Science, for example, developed its recommended daily allowance (RDA) and its reference daily intake (RDI). However, these dietary suggestions, which are often strictly adhered to by well-meaning individuals, are designed to prevent disease. They are not designed to help people achieve optimal wellness—which should be the goal.

Furthermore, the RDA and RDI were developed without considering that each person requires a different amount of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. To fully promote your body's health, your nutritional intake must reflect such factors as medications, vitamin interactions, soil depletion, need for more antioxidants, stress, age, lifestyle, and genetics. Therefore, you cannot trust that your healthy friend's nutritional plan will necessarily work for you. Dr. Linus Pauling first described this phenomenon in 1968.

Proper determination of what your body needs is imperative. Almost 75 percent of your health and life expectancy is based on lifestyle, environment, and nutrition. Just as importantly, these factors also greatly influence the number of years you spend healthy. This has been proven by studies which show that “not only do persons with better health habits survive longer, but in such persons, disability is postponed and compressed into fewer years at the end of life.” An article in the New England Journal of Medicine illustrated this point. After examining diet, lifestyle, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in women, the author concluded that the majority of type 2 diabetes cases are preventable with the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

Similarly, researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated, “Suboptimal vitamin states are associated with many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. It is important for physicians to identify patients with poor nutrition or other reasons for increased vitamin needs.” They suggested that, “Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone…it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements.”

What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs, and More provides the information you need to know about nutrients—including signs of deficiencies, how to treat various diseases and disorders, and the dangers of certain interactions. It will allow you to make informed decisions, optimize your health, and live your life well.

Editorial Reviews

What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & More -"Designed to guide readers, who are tired of the countering viewpoints regarding nutrient supplementation, with clear answers as to what vitamins and minerals they should be taking, in what amounts and which are the most effective."

Vitamin Retailer Magazine