| Get With the Program! Basics |
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| The healthiest vegetables are always green. Greens are undoubtedly healthy, but vegetables and fruits in other colors—red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple—all bring different nutrients to the table. You’ll get the most antioxidants, vitamins and minerals if you keep your plate colorful. |
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Invariably when I have a public speaking engagement, someone (and sometimes many people) will ask me what I think of some kind of “miracle” supplement they’ve heard about. It might be one of those pills that promise to burn fat or increase your metabolism or one that promotes muscle growth. I generally tell them that I put these in the “don’t bother” category. Don’t bother wasting your time or your money. There are no miracles; no pill is going to do it all for you. You couldn’t possibly get all you need to stay healthy from a pill because we don’t even know what all those disease-preventive substances are yet.
 There are supplements, however, that I do believe can help improve your nutritional status and provide proper insurance against nutrient lapses. They are a good addition to a healthy diet. Food should still be your number- one source of nutrition. There simply is no replacement for a healthy diet, especially one that’s high in fruits and vegetables. It seems that we learn something new about how these foods improve our wellbeing every other day, and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface. While ideally you’d get all the nutrients you need from food, the reality is that it’s difficult to get a high enough dosage of some of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that we know can help prevent disease. When you do supplement your diet, it’s important to keep in mind that you also get nutrients from other sources--so be careful not to accidentally megadose. These days, many foods and beverages are fortified with vitamins and minerals so if you’re not checking food labels, you may be getting more than you bargained for.
I prefer single nutrient supplements to multivitamins mainly because they give you more control over the dosages you’re taking. Multivitamins can be so varied that they can make it a challenge to get the doses that you want. Here are the supplements that I take daily and, which, if they fit into your diet, you may want to try, too. As you will see, I personally supplement in the low end of the recommended dosages and eat healthful, balanced meals. It all adds up to just the right amount.
Vitamin C - 100 to 200 milligrams.
B Complex - Make certain that it contains 400 micrograms of folic acid; the other B vitamins in the complex will vary, but should be something like this: 10 milligrams of thiamin; 10 milligrams of riboflavin; 50 milligrams of pantothenic acid; 10 milligrams of vitamin B6; 10 micrograms of vitamin B12.
Vitamin E - 400 to 800 International Units. (Make sure it’s natural d-alpha tocopherol.)
Selenium - 200 micrograms.
Beta Carotene - 25,000 International Units. If possible get a carotenoid complex that contains this amount of beta-carotene as well as other carotenoids.
If you’re over the age of 40 (to help prevent osteoporosis):
Vitamin D - 400 International Units.
Calcium – 1,000 milligrams.
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