Over 100 million Americans buy vitamins periodically and close to 90 million buy them regularly. This spending on vitamins and minerals adds up to about $6.5 billion a year--but are they really worth all that money?

According to a study done by the consumer component of drug company Wyeth, taking vitamins for five years could boost your immune system and save you money on health care costs, with savings of about $1.6 billion to national health care costs.

Can you imagine what the cost savings would be if we could get people to eat properly? Almost all the vitamins that people spend billions on each year are available for significantly less through--you guessed it--food. By far, the best way to get your nutrients, and the best way to save on health care costs and vitamins, is by eating nutritious foods.

While some vitamins do have a place in health care, and there are several specific supplements that I even recommend, vitamin supplements are widely over-promoted, and, I believe, widely overused in the United States. This stems from the traditional health care system’s belief that a pill is the answer to ‘cure’ illness. Many people believe they can eat junk food all day and then pop a few vitamins to make up for their nutrient-lacking diet, but this is simply not the case. Certainly, vitamins may make up for some of the damage caused by an unhealthy diet, but if your main source of fuel is full of toxins, it will catch up with you sooner or later.

This is a vicious cycle to subject your body to. Most people are adamant about providing the right type of fuel for their car, but when it comes to their own body they will put in almost anything. You will be amazed at how efficiently your body will run if you provide it with healthy food, which is packed with just the right balance of vitamins and minerals--with no added cost.

Most of the new patients I see are spending more than $100 a month on supplements--some significantly more than that. Use the right food as your supplement and you will be much healthier.

With that said, there are certain clinical conditions that do warrant the use of nutrients and supplements as drug alternatives, and I use this approach frequently. However, it really is a major risk to know which ones you really need if you don’t understand your Metabolic Type. This is because the same supplement that would help one person with one disease could devastate the next person with the exact same disease. My underlying goal, though, is to minimize the long-term use of supplements--and I really don't think healthy patients should be on more than five supplements a day!

One supplement I do advise for most new patients is a high-quality probiotic, to optimize their gut flora. While most people seem to benefit from this periodically, I generally don't believe it is necessary to remain on it indefinitely.

A supplement that is near critical for patients who avoid eating all animal protein is vitamin B12. I don't advocate avoiding all meat, but it is, nevertheless, a common approach among patients. The human body is quite forgiving and can tolerate the associated abuse--highly insufficient B12 intake--for about seven years, as it utilizes the liver reserves of B12. But after those seven years, the B12 deficiency frequently causes irreversible brain damage.

Of course, I cannot suggest strongly enough the importance of supplementing your diet with high-quality fish oil. I do not classify fish oil as a supplement though, as fish oil is really a food that is necessary for all Nutritional Types. Unfortunately, most fish is contaminated with mercury so it is difficult to obtain enough of this nutrient from fish. Salmon oil or krill oil is what I recommend from both a health and economic perspective. 

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