Hi. I have been thinking about a question I have, and this post got me to
write.

I used to take lots of supplements, now I almost never do. Several years ago
B-Carotene was touted as the anti-oxidant that cured all ills, from cancer
to aging. Then it was found through long term trials that it had no apparent
benefits, and actually raised cancer rates in some groups, like smokers.

Now I have just recently read that selenium appears the same, no benefits
and may raise prostate cancer rates.

In fact, multivitamins have no measurable benefits and may raise cancer
rates.

In personal experience, I found that Vitamin A, D, C, all seem to have
various ill effects on my body, from causing toothaches to making old
injuries ache. I quit taking them as soon as I figured it out, and then
tried again with the same results several times.

So for me I have never noticed any health benefits and have several
negatives from supplements.

Is this just me? I used to read about that stuff with great interest and
took the ones I thought had the best scientific backing. Now I don't believe
much of any of it.

I wonder if the theory of anti-oxidants has any validity at all. Are fruits
and vegetables good for us because they contain anti-oxidants, or for some
completely unrelated reason. PH balance, maybe? Something we do not even
know about yet? Or maybe they are not even really so great for us, and the
small correlations we see between diet and health are spurious, caused by
unknown factors.

It strikes me that the evolutionary diet gurus like Audette and Cordain may
be more right than even they know. The animal body, our bodies, may simply
be too complex and chaotic for any supplements to do us any good. No one
supplement, nor even the most complete multivitamin/multisupplement can give
us what we need. Only varied and complex foods can, and throwing off our
balance with mega-dose supplements hurts more than it helps.

I don't want to take this argument too far. If you have scurvy, a vitamin C
tablet will help you. If you have beri-beri, a B vitamin will. So in some
select extreme conditions supplements are useful. I suppose if I was in a
terribly deprived situation where I had nothing good to eat I would take a
multivitamin. But not otherwise.

Your thoughts? I am not meaning to denigrate you who take supplements. These
are honest questions.


added additional vitamin C
> supplement; added a supplement by Quantum Health called Super Immune+
> Power Formula:  3 capsule serving contains 1,500 mg. Lysine; 200 mg
> Astragalus Root and 100mg Olive Leaf Extract.  I took 1 capsule 3 or 4
> times a
> day.  Issue is this -- to make sure the virus is really gone, I've
> continued
> taking the capsules even though the cold sore is healed.  I've been
> experiencing unusual fatigue and nausea -- can this be continued die-off
> reaction?  I've heard that olive leaf can cause die-off reaction but the
> amount
> I'm taking is so small -- 200 mg.  Anyone out there knowledgeable about
> herbs
> know if perhaps there is  a synergistic effect with the astragalus and
> lysine
>
>