Vitamins?

[janetmschulte]

I'm sick for the 2nd time in about a month. People keep advising me to take vitamins, load up on echinacea, etc. However, I think all of this herbal healing is a giant waste of money. My anatomy professor is a trained surgeon, and he claims it's all bogus.

Does anyone have any experience to the contrary? What are your thoughts?

[Dave Gray]

You need to cut down on vitamin "D".










Slut.

[Brian Fein]

I have taken echinacea, zinc, and vitamin c when i had a cold and got better by the next day.  Maybe coincidence, but maybe not.

My philosophy is "what's the worst that can happen?"  It can't hurt to try.

[SportsChick]

Part of it could be adjusting to the NE climate changes.

A little extra vit. C wouldn't hurt (just have an extra glass of OJ)

[YoFuggedaboutit]

A women's health multivitamin, once a day, wouldn't hurt either.  I take a men's health one every day and rarely get sick.  And they're not that expensive either if you buy the generic brand. 

[janetmschulte]

Part of it could be adjusting to the NE climate changes.

A little extra vit. C wouldn't hurt (just have an extra glass of OJ)

I think this has played a factor for sure. The NYC air and tons of people and germs everywhere! I hope I get used to it soon! 

[SportsChick]

You will, and be sure you're getting enough sleep and washing your hands often. (or have a little bottle of the sanitizer stuff)

[Dphins4me]

I'm sick for the 2nd time in about a month. People keep advising me to take vitamins, load up on echinacea, etc. However, I think all of this herbal healing is a giant waste of money. My anatomy professor is a trained surgeon, and he claims it's all bogus.

Does anyone have any experience to the contrary? What are your thoughts?

How do doctors make their money?   Not by having patients not come see them.  I'll tell you that.   I'm not surprised your anatomy professor thinks its all bogus. I'd bet he was never taught nutrition in school or very little. 

Remember healthy people do not come see the doctor.   

Do you know its a federal law that only prescription drugs or surgery can fix something?  Why do you think that is?  Money.  Plus I'd say all prescription drugs come from the basic herbal stuff anyway & have you not seen the side effects of prescription drugs?

This comes down to a basic what you believe.  IMO God gave us what we were suppose to eat ( veggies ) & man gave us fast food.  Who knows more?  Man or God?   Its all what you believe.

Your body is no different than a car.  Put crapping gas in a car & it will run like crap.  Put crappy food in your body & it will run like crap.

I know first hand that better food means better health.  I spend the first 39 years of my life dealing with breathing trouble & was taking medication to relieve the systems of asthma.   

I got off fast food, soda, tap water, sugar & chemically enhanced food & started eating more raw veggies, juicing & drinking distilled water & I no longer have systems of asthma.  Not taking any medication.  Not only that but I lost 20 Lbs.

Also, my kids eat a very healthy diet & have only been sick once in the last 3 years.  They are 4 & 6 & in Daycare/School.  Their sickness was strep throat & walking pneumonia.  Not some run of the mill colds.

Plus I got a friend who was having trouble with things, got him eating better & his problems cleared up & he lost 50Lbs. by simply cutting soda's & sugar.

Get you a whole food vitamin & eat better. 

Second, if you are eating fast food stop.  That shit is deadly.

All you have to do is look around at the food man is selling you & look at the health & appearance of people around you.  Type 2 diabetes has sky rocketed

Its not an overnight fix, but if you do it then you will be a believer.

[Phishfan]

^^^Lay off tap water. Bottled water is the devil, unless you are playing sports or working a job site, then it is convenience.

[Spider-Dan]

Dphins4me, have you been reading some of Kevin Trudeau's books (e.g. Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About)?  Seriously.

There was a time when "eating all natural foods" was widely prevalent in the world and there was no Big Pharma infiltrating our lives with countless artificial drugs: anytime before 1800 works.  Feel free to look up the health statistics for that era.

Funny how people are all anti-medical establishment until they get a compound fracture, bladder infection, lung cancer, etc.  Then one of two things happens:

1) you go get some of that evil 21st-century medicine
2) natural selection

P.S. The difference between "alternative medicine" and real medicine is that alternative medicine doesn't work; if it did, it would become part of real medicine.  That's how science works.

[bsmooth]

I'm sick for the 2nd time in about a month. People keep advising me to take vitamins, load up on echinacea, etc. However, I think all of this herbal healing is a giant waste of money. My anatomy professor is a trained surgeon, and he claims it's all bogus.

Does anyone have any experience to the contrary? What are your thoughts?

Most people do not eat properly so they are lacking in important vitamins that allow a healthy body function properly and fight off colds, etc.

[Buddhagirl]

Dphins4me, have you been reading some of Kevin Trudeau's books (e.g. Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About)?  Seriously.

There was a time when "eating all natural foods" was widely prevalent in the world and there was no Big Pharma infiltrating our lives with countless artificial drugs: anytime before 1800 works.  Feel free to look up the health statistics for that era.

Funny how people are all anti-medical establishment until they get a compound fracture, bladder infection, lung cancer, etc.  Then one of two things happens:

1) you go get some of that evil 21st-century medicine
2) natural selection

P.S. The difference between "alternative medicine" and real medicine is that alternative medicine doesn't work; if it did, it would become part of real medicine.  That's how science works.

I was just popping in to say this.

What "natural remedy" or vitamins should I take to get rid of the blood clots in my lungs?
I gotta say...I LOVE my Dr. He saved my life. If I wouldn't have gone to the ER when I did I would most likely be dead. Check the statistcs on pulmonary embolisms. Scary to think that I've most likely been having blood clot issues for the past few years. (I had gone to the ER before and was told that it was a runnig injury. It was a clot in my leg.)

I was the picture of health. Ate well. Natural foods. Ran marathons. You named it. However, I have clotting issues.

Janet, you probably have to get used to the weather up there. A good multi vitamin probably won't hurt.

[fyo]

Dphins4me, you come off sounding completely nutso there with your "God gave us what we're supposed to eat" stuff. Fine, if you get sick, DON'T GET THE ANTIBIOTICS.

Or maybe God gave us the ability to IMPROVE OURSELVES, to FIND CURES for diseases, to help HEAL AILMENTS.

As with most Faith-based arguments, it can be used either way and tends to add very little insight. That's not a slight on religion, just that the argument can always be made both ways. If doctors, "men" or the pharmaceutical industry are evil, fine, argue that.

Bottom line: Eating crap is bad for you and DEFINITELY affects your immune system. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES have shown that.

Eating vegetables is good for you and will decrease your cancer risk and any number of other things. Sufficient amounts of specific vitamins and trace elements (fruits and vegetables are a good source) have shown to strengthen the immune system. From the abstract of a recent SCIENTIFIC paper (published Oct 2007 in the British Journal of Nutrition):

Micronutrients contribute to the body's natural defences on three levels by supporting physical barriers (skin/mucosa), cellular immunity and antibody production. Vitamins A, C, E and the trace element zinc assist in enhancing the skin barrier function. The vitamins A, 136, B 12, C, D, E and folic acid and the trace elements iron, zinc, copper and selenium work in synergy to support the protective activities of the immune cells. Finally, all these micronutrients, with the exception of vitamin C and iron, are essential for antibody production. Overall, inadequate intake and status of these vitamins and trace elements may lead to suppressed immunity, which predisposes to infections and aggravates malnutrition. Therefore, supplementation with these selected micronutrients can support the body's natural defence system by enhancing all three levels of immunity.

Do massive doses of e.g. Vitamin C help? Well, feel free to believe so. I wasn't able to find any articles that came to a definitive conclusion on the matter. There was a Japanese study where a "megadose" (their word) of Vitamin C helped patients recover more quickly from pneumonia, when coupled with antibiotics.

A "normal", healthy diet a decent amount of exercise (but not too much) is probably about the best you can do. Popping some extra vitamins is unlikely to do a whole lot if your diet is already varied, but who knows, maybe you're not getting enough [insert random vitamin or mineral here]. There's no reason to believe a standard multi-vitamin could do an harm - and it just might help.

[Dave Gray]

Spider Dan is my hero.  I find myself not having to post, because he's done it for me.

There is no such thing as "alternative medicine".  There's only medicine.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

A few thought....

1. I echo fro's statement....

Bottom line: Eating crap is bad for you and DEFINITELY affects your immune system.

But one common thing college students do that weakens your immune system worse, is consume alcohol.  Drinking drains your body of vitamins.  If you are downing a 6 pack every Friday night you might want to cut that out. 

2.  The weather ... you may have noticed it fluctuates.  The 70 degree days followed by 50 tends to result in a lot of people getting sick, more so than when it is just cold.   Welcome to the Northeast. 

3.  Wash your hands.  Most germs are spread by shaking hands.  And if the other person looks sick -- be rude and don't shake their hands (unless absolutely necessary e.g. job interview)

4. Sleep.  Lack of sleep weakens your immune system. 

5. Drink lots of water/juice.