supplements

Don't get hoodwinked into giving up your vitamins

How dare you!

Mainstream researchers are absolutely livid at you -- ticked off because you've refused to cave in to their relentless fear-mongering.

For years, they've been telling you vitamins don't work, and some have even claimed these essential nutrients can HURT you.

But a new study finds you and millions like you are ignoring this alarmist nonsense and taking your vitamins anyway.

And that has them steamed.

"There is either insufficient or no evidence to support uses of MVMM [multivitamin multimineral supplements] or supplements to prevent chronic disease," they fumed in the new study.

Yet nearly a third of Americans take one daily anyway.

If there's no evidence, how could that be? Easy: There IS evidence -- and you've seen it.

You know, for example, about the study earlier this year that found long-term use of multivitamins cuts the risk of heart problems in men by 44 percent. And last year, a study found multivitamins with minerals cut the risk of heart disease in women by 35 percent.

They've even been shown to cut the risk of certain forms of cancer and help support the brain.

So of course you're going to take your multivitamin.

Overall, the percentage of Americans who use multivitamins is down slightly since 1999, but there's a reason for that: Many people are starting to turn to individual supplements.

The use of vitamin D supplements, for example, has quadrupled, with 1 in 5 Americans now taking them.

Fish oil supplements have enjoyed an even bigger jump in popularity, up nearly 1,000 percent -- with more than 1 in 10 Americans now taking omega-3 capsules.

The researchers behind this study are so angry over this they're calling in the health police.

"Physicians can help remind patients that there is no benefit of obtaining vitamins from a pill rather than from conventional food," Harvard's Pieter A. Cohen, a known enemy of supplements, wrote in an editorial that accompanied the study.

He's even calling on lawmakers and "regulators" to step in, and crying about the supposed risks of supplements.

Cohen consistently raises alarms over low-quality and dangerous supplements such as the stimulants used in shady weight-loss supplements, as well he should.

No one in natural medicine recommends that garbage.

But he acts as if a problem with one shady supplement means ALL supplements have problems... which is just plain silly.

If we learn, as we did a few years back, that a diabetes drug is killing patients, we don't tell everyone to stop taking all drugs.

We get people off that one drug (and even then, the FDA is generally in no hurry to act).

So as with anything else, do your homework. Read the research like the studies you'll find right here in House Calls, and talk to a holistic medical doctor so you can make informed decisions about what you need and the best ways to get it.

And don't let these mainstream alarmists scare you away.

Don't touch that aspirin!

It's been dubbed the "wonder drug," a cheap tablet that can supposedly prevent heart attacks, and it's used by so many that you almost certainly know someone taking it right now.

Maybe you're even taking it yourself.

But "aspirin therapy," as it's known, isn't very therapeutic at all. It's actually quite dangerous, with mainstream science showing that it hurts far more often than it helps.

I was once dismissed as "radical" for getting my own patients off aspirin therapy and onto safe and proven forms of heart protection. But now, my "radical" views have been affirmed by the FDA, because the agency has just admitted that aspirin for primary prevention is a dangerous myth.

Primary prevention is the prevention of a first heart attack -- protection for those who are at risk or even people who are simply concerned that they may be at risk -- and it's why so many doctors urge everyone over the age of 40 to start popping the pills.

Hopefully, that will come crashing to a halt now, because the FDA has finally acknowledged to same science I've been telling you about.

One study last year, for example, found that you're twice as likely to be hurt by aspirin than helped -- because aspirin therapy can cause serious and even potentially deadly internal bleeding, especially in the stomach or brain.

The new advice isn't perfect. This is the FDA we're talking about, after all, and they still recommend daily aspirin to people who've already had a heart attack -- but I think even that's much too risky for most patients.

Along with causing serious and potentially deadly internal bleeding, regular aspirin use has been linked to hearing and vision loss, allergic reactions, sexual dysfunction and more.

It's so dangerous that if you're on aspirin now, you might be tempted to stop, and I don't blame you.

But don't -- because stopping suddenly could cause "aspirin rebound," which can actually increase the risk of the very heart attack you're trying to avoid.

Instead, work with a doctor who can safely wean you off the drug and onto natural options for heart protection, including fish oil, magnesium and coenzyme Q10.

If you're in Southern California, you can make an appointment to see me at my clinic outside San Diego. I can go over your medical history, run some tests and together we can determine the best way to protect your ticker, whether you've already had a heart attack or just want to make sure you avoid one.

Not in the area? I'm also available for telephone consultations. Call 855-DOC-MARK to schedule yours.