Friendly advice

Here is an email from a good friend, Dave. We went through a very intense yoga and vegan phase together in Miami in 1999-2002. And while I still think yoga is great for many people, my views on the importance of diet on health have changed somewhat, certainly towards more moderation. Anyway, here is the email, and I'm interested in hearing other thoughts on Dave's questions.

Dear Spencer,
I'm wondering if these vitamins are duplicative and unnecessary:

1. frozen E3 Live: www.e3live.com
2. New Chapter Every Man's One Daily: http://www.newchapter.com/products/every-mans-one-daily
3.http://www.gardenoflife.com/ProductsforLife/SUPPLEMENTS/DigestiveHealth/PrimalDefense/tabid/638/Default.aspx
How much of this would you say overlaps and is unnecessary? And is it bad to take too many vitamins?
--Long time fan
Brooklyn, NY

Dear Dave,
1. frozen E3 Live: www.e3live.com

This, as you know, is a "live" bacteria extracted from Klamath Lake in Oregon. I looked up research articles and no human studies are available. There was one study suggesting it helped rats' kidneys heal quickly from chemotherapy, another saying it has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties and another saying it has pro-inflammatory effects. The short answer? You are a healthy guy and this probably is a waste of money. That said, if you feel it has made signifigant changes for the better for you, I see no reason to stop it. But it's not well researched.


2. New Chapter Every Man's One Daily: http://www.newchapter.com/products/every-mans-one-daily
Looks ok. A multivitamin is a good idea. I'm not sure about the iodine though... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-iodine.html
Read the part about iodine supplementation causing goiter (hyperthyroidism)


3.http://www.gardenoflife.com/ProductsforLife/SUPPLEMENTS/DigestiveHealth/PrimalDefense/tabid/638/Default.aspx
About this we don't know too much. There is growing support for probiotics for certain things, like IBS, chronic and acute diarrhea, prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and yeast infections, but as a daily supplement without a real reason I think it's not needed. Yogurt and cheese have some healthy bacteria, and again in theory your intestinal flora should be "balanced" anyway, as you are not suffering from malabsorption or diarrhea or pain, etc. You might take this every other week or once a month for a few days, but I think daily use is a waste of money.


As for taking "too many" vitamins, I mean, yes some things can be toxic, like iodine as mentioned, vitamin A can be toxic, magnesium can give you diarrhea, etc. You seem to eat very, very well including organic, seasonal, veggie etc, so I think you shouldn't need too many supplements. I'd say take some vitamin D (4000units/day) from Sept to April, take the multivitamin (which has b12, good for vegetarians) and if you feel good then you're not missing anything. I take vitamin D, I take milk thistle whenever I have more than 2 alcoholic beverages, I take omega 3, I take a "very green" supplement from trader joes whn I feel I have not had enough veggies recently, and that's about it. My energy level between 7am and 11pm is as good as it ever has been, and my sense of well-being often varries directly with the amount of exercise and focused relaxation/yoga/meditation I get. But that's me... I'm sure you have a sense of what works for you.