Vitamin therapy - is it right for everyone?

By Dr. Mary Riggin, LAC,  FitFM - Family Wellness

Prevention was something high on the priority list for Sally.  Her daily regimen included a hand full of vitamins, a brisk run, and a protein drink. She was focused on keeping healthy as she passed the age of 50, she didn't want to end up with some debilitating illness, or in a nursing home.

Our society has become obsessed with health.  We are crazed with the nutritional science concepts of adding various nutrients to our diet.  This may help some people who are deficient in various nutrients, but this doesn't work for everyone.  Sometimes, vitamin deficiencies are rooted in a deeper problem; and for some, supplementing is just a band-aid, or can actually make them worse.  Some deficiencies are caused by the body's inability to absorb and assimilate nutrients correctly.

Vitamin deficiencies were common for Sally, she'd been tested by various labs and the results indicated a need for various supplements.  Her solution to this was to purchase increased amounts of individual vitamins.  She did this for years.

Unfortunately, her lab tests continued to show deficiencies, she wasn't getting anywhere.

Although her activity level was high and her diet was supplemented, she knew something was still not right.    Her stomach would bloat and her energy would crash on a regular basis.  Considering the amount of vitamins she was taking, she couldn't understand why she wasn't doing better.  She'd read about the miracles of adding various key nutrients to her diet, but why wasn't she experiencing the same result?

Natural methods of dealing with health issues have included vitamins and supplementation for decades.  For many people, this is the miracle they were looking for to handle a weak immune system, lower energy, and many other health issues.  Many take Vitamin C at the first sign of cold symptoms, and they get better quickly.  The concept of nutritional therapy for treating illness is not a new one.  In fact, in Oriental Medicine, an ancient medical system dating back thousands of years, food is frequently used as the first medicine.  But what do you do when this doesn't work?

Unfortunately for some people, like Sally, the problem isn't merely the need for additional supplementation.  If it was, adding additional supplements, along with proper rest and exercise, would handle the problem.  Sally's issues were deeper; this is why her supplements weren't working for her the way they work for others.  In fact, she frequently felt worse when she'd take her vitamins, but would take them anyway as prescribed; she was told "you are just detoxing."  But was that really the problem?

Next month, in part 2 of this article, I'll discuss exactly what the problem was for Sally, and many others who don't get positive results from vitamin therapy.

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