Dr. Mirkin: A Follow-up to: Eat Real Foods Instead of Popping Pills at Her Active Life

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Dr. Mirkin: A Follow-up to: Eat Real Foods Instead of Popping Pills

Posted May 3, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Alexandra M. Haller

Section: Her Health, Her Nutrition, Diet Myths, Healthy Eating

food Dear Dr. Mirkin: Would you please explain how vitamin pills could affect lifespan, as you reported in last week’s issue?

The issue of vitamin supplements is far from settled. Most doctors take multivitamins themselves and recommend them to their patients. However, I continue to believe that it is better to get vitamins in whole foods than in pills.

Most vitamins are parts of enzymes that start chemical reactions in your body. Each chemical reaction produces end products that are changed by further chemical reactions from other vitamins to other products that benefit your body. When you take a vitamin that has been isolated from the hundreds of other substances found in foods, that enzyme causes a chemical reaction that accumulates a disproportionate amount of its end products. If the substance that acts as an enzyme for the next chain of chemical reactions is not available, you can accumulate end products that may be harmful.

For example, people who take niacin to lower cholesterol show a marked elevation of homocysteine, a major risk factor for heart attacks. Homocysteine levels are raised by a deficiency of B12, folic acid and pyridoxine. When you eat your niacin in whole grains, all of those components are present, along with many others whose functions we may not yet understand.

Several of you asked for a link to the study I mentioned last week; it has been added to the issue. Click here.

This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and used with permission. Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, click here.

Image courtesy of davidszondy.

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Tags: beta-carotene, cancer, death linked to vitamins, heart attacks, mirkin, multivitamin, nutrition, pills, selenium, vitamin c, vitamins

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25 Responses to “Dr. Mirkin: A Follow-up to: Eat Real Foods Instead of Popping Pills” (Leave a reply)

Here said:

vitamins are always good, except when they are bad
May 12, 2008 at 12:23 AM
All Muscle Building from USA said:

Somebody off the street wouldn’t understand that, but sometimes a pill is the best feeling you can have.
May 12, 2008 at 04:22 AM
Home Health Care Equipment said:

I understand and I completely agree
May 21, 2008 at 02:32 PM
Aakarshan said:

Hi doctor!
May 29, 2008 at 07:22 PM
fitness said:

excellent, appreciate the insight.
June 11, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Patrick said:

Great article! It’s amazing how many people think that a vitamin A supplement is the same as eating a fresh carrot.
June 18, 2008 at 11:34 PM
health forum from usa said:

This is so true, People are too quick to pop pill but don’t know the side effects to them. All you need to do is eat portioned meals 6 times a day and you should be fine. Watch your calorie count as well
June 26, 2008 at 02:06 PM
the vitamin shoppe store said:

I have to agree with the article. Very informative. I will bookmark this one. Thanks
July 8, 2008 at 02:31 AM
hinduja said:

Vitamins are always good for health, they do fight and restrain our body from germs. Worth reading, good piece among the other articles. Can anyone tell me which content has much vitamin A.?
July 13, 2008 at 02:27 AM
joe carter said:

thanks for sharing that info pal, btw, few more days to go and 2008 Beijing Olympics would officially start. excited too? ;)

have a read for the Beijing Olympics Medal Tally 2008 Update Results thanks a lot.
July 30, 2008 at 05:34 AM
How to get a bigger butt said:

Nice article. Getting your daily vitamins from your food sounds more natural way to get them.
August 5, 2008 at 04:39 PM
Milly said:

The only pills I pop are my centrum vitimans.

;D
August 5, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Mike Berns said:

HI there , such a informational site, this will really help a lot to athletes who were joining the Beijing Olympics, and other future sports highlights, Beijing Olympics Winners are tallied as of now.
August 11, 2008 at 04:22 AM
Joan said:

Is it Fine written. Positive certainly comes short, but read on one breathing. Tnx
August 11, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Randy Howling said:

I agree with that, I am taking iron vitamins but my stomach keep on refusing to digest it, You see there are effects which is not suitable in your body in which it rejects it, natural intake of food with rich vitamins is very essential, Like the Athletes in the Olympics, it is better for them to take more food than poopers or vitamins. Beijing Olympics Complete Medal Tally 2008
August 11, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Bowtrol said:

Whole food supplements are always desirable over popping processed pills
August 24, 2008 at 03:00 PM
Green Fitness said:

The basic fact is that whole foods are the only way to drive any benefit from vitamins. Example you cannot take a vitamin C pill and expect the same benefits as eating an orange. It is not just the vitamin C that is in the orange. The orange contains many other vitamins and nutrients that when all combined as one work to help the whole system. There are many things that science has yet to discover and they cannot simply extract all the benefits that a whole food will give you.
September 10, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Gout Remedies said:

Natural remedies are far better than taking pills, eat brightly covered fruits and vegetables
September 11, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Butt exercises said:

Natural vegetables and fruits are definetly a far more better way to get your vitamins than just eating pills.
September 13, 2008 at 06:41 PM
free health cards said:

Though vitamin pills do have benefits, someday when we dont take this pills and our body relies mainly on pills for the body’s vitamin replenish, there could be side effects on us, it will be good to eat natural foods for our body’s vitamin supply. free]http://trippingtime.blogspot.com/2008/09/free-health-cards.html’’]free health cards[/url]
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September 20, 2008 at 10:06 AM
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September 22, 2008 at 09:33 AM
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September 29, 2008 at 04:54 AM
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September 30, 2008 at 04:22 AM