Are Supplements a waste of Money?

By Dr. Ciro Errico

In a recent study medical doctors have announced supplements are a waste of money. How can that be true? For years doctors of different fields have given patients vitamins and mineral supplements, because it is ‘healthy’ or ‘good nutritional advice’. In my opinion the best nutritional advice any doctor can give is explaining to a patient the importance of eating fresh organic, grass-fed, non-processed, non-GMO foods. The importance of allowing the body to eat clean, and not to allow genetically modified, hormonal, or pesticide infected foods- whether vegetables, meats, or fruits.

But, it seems in the new recent study that doctors are trying to possible promote better eating, and lifestyle- hence, doing away with vitamins forces a person to take control of food, and not rely on supplements. So, here is another view. How many can honestly and truly shop at a Farmers Market daily, prepare and cook meals everyday, exercise- both mentally and physically, do chores, errands, spend time with family, enjoy alone time, and enjoy life?

Supplements are good for people when they know they are lacking a specific vitamin or mineral. A simple example would be Vitamin D and winter. During the winter less people are willing to go outside to sunbathe for twenty minutes to help increase his or her own Vitamin D production- sun light increases the body’s production of Vitamin D naturally- along side taking Vitamin K which allows the uptake of Vitamin D to increase as well. So, what does Vitamin D actually do in the body? Vitamin D helps strengthen bones, allows nerve impulses to travel optimally, and helps the immune system fight off bacteria and viruses. Now, aside from the sunbathing Vitamin D can also be found in beef liver and fatty fishes like salmon- make sure the beef liver is from a grass-fed cow and the salmon is wild caught from USA. Too much to ask for? Not sure of the source of food? Not sure about sunbathing in the winter? These may be a time when a vitamin D (along with Vitamin K) supplement may be helpful and useful until spring or summer. 

A simple and honest way of explaining why supplements should still be taken Is because not many people take the time to research his or her food, have time to prepare and cook meals every day and night, not many people can afford to spend the extra money at the local Farmers Market, and not many people enjoy cooking. Another simple and honest reason is because a person may eat two servings of fruit and four servings of vegetables a day, but is that fruit or vegetable organic or has it been genetically modified in some way? Result: ingesting a fruit or vegetable that has no quality because it may have been modified to produce quantity on an orchard or farm. Ultimately these modified fruits and vegetables contain no proper quality nutrition that can give the body vitamins and minerals it may need.     

Supplements are just that. They SUPPLEMENT the diet when nutrients are missing. How can that be a waste of money?!

Dr. Ciro Errico is the Team Chiropractor for Club Sports at CSUN and is also the Lacrosse Team Chiropractor at CSUCI and Newbury Park HighSchool. He is a treating Physician at CSI. For more info go to www.gotcsi.com