how to optimize nutr.suppl absorption

[jo]

Do you know a website, or a book where I could read about the best practices to achive an optimal absorption of my nutritional supplements? It's really annoying to think that my practice is not the optimal, and I could make a much greater use of the pills I take.
I mean questions like: Is it good to take vit B with vit E at the same time? Is it good to take this and that together?
The best thing is to take Mineral Foo with Mineral Bar at the same time.

thank you

[davids]

Do you know a website, or a book where I could read about the best practices to achive an optimal absorption of my nutritional supplements? It's really annoying to think that my practice is not the optimal, and I could make a much greater use of the pills I take.
I mean questions like: Is it good to take vit B with vit E at the same time? Is it good to take this and that together?
The best thing is to take Mineral Foo with Mineral Bar at the same time.

thank you

Hi Jo,

I cannot comment specifically, but I'll offer this fact: All of the viatmins and minerals we ingest in food and drink, are ingested at the same time.

Just a thought,

David

[NaturopathMan]

Do you know a website, or a book where I could read about the best practices to achive an optimal absorption of my nutritional supplements? It's really annoying to think that my practice is not the optimal, and I could make a much greater use of the pills I take.
I mean questions like: Is it good to take vit B with vit E at the same time? Is it good to take this and that together?
The best thing is to take Mineral Foo with Mineral Bar at the same time.

thank you

One idea would be to take these supplements with foods that are very high in the specific nutrient. For example, wheat germ oil is one of the highest foods for vitamin E so it might help your absorption of isolated vitamin E if you take it with it. Brewers yeast is high in all the B vitamins so maybe taking your B vitamins with it will help. I suggest always taking a b complex or something like brewers yeast if you are taking one individual vitamin B as they work together. I personally stopped taking the isolates and just take large amounts of whole food supplements and feel much better. Always take supplements with food unless it is a special case like individual amino acids are better on an empty stomach. Enzymes help us better utilize nutrients form foods but I don't know about isolated vitamins/minerals.

[ofonorow]

If whole foods are so good for animals, why isn't there strong science to back it up? I have stopped assuming that merely because it occurs in plants in nature, it is optimal for animal, much less human consumption. It certainly might be, but the forces of nature would "naturally" work in the opposite direction - as a defense mechanism to protect the plants. (What benefits do plants gain from being eaten, unless the seeds drop out the bottom end well nourished.. )

This is why I believe that there are so many drugs derived from plants. There are so many plant poisons, and pharmaceutical companies concentrate on plant poisons (e.g. lovastatin, See: http://www.newswithviews.com/Ellison/shane16.htm ) as the basis for their new drugs.

In regards to vitamin C, if the whole foods (or natural C complex) crowd are correct, then very small amounts of "natural" vitamin C from foods would not only protect from scurvy, but from colds, cancer and heart disease. Every vegetarian on a low junk food diet would need almost no extra vitamin C.

Back to bioavailability, do a Google/Medline search on Vinson. He is the scientist who showed that Aloe in conjunction with vitamin C can vastly improve its bioavailability. Otherwise, we have found almost no other science that you can improve vitamin C bioavailability (outside of liposomes), other than Lewin's comment that vitamin C should be taken with protein (amino acids).

[NaturopathMan]

If whole foods are so good for animals, why isn't there strong science to back it up? I have stopped assuming that merely because it occurs in plants in nature, it is optimal for animal, much less human consumption. It certainly might be, but the forces of nature would "naturally" work in the opposite direction - as a defense mechanism to protect the plants. (What benefits do plants gain from being eaten, unless the seeds drop out the bottom end well nourished.. )

This is why I believe that there are so many drugs derived from plants. There are so many plant poisons, and pharmaceutical companies concentrate on plant poisons (e.g. lovastatin, See: http://www.newswithviews.com/Ellison/shane16.htm ) as the basis for their new drugs.

In regards to vitamin C, if the whole foods (or natural C complex) crowd are correct, then very small amounts of "natural" vitamin C from foods would not only protect from scurvy, but from colds, cancer and heart disease. Every vegetarian on a low junk food diet would need almost no extra vitamin C.

Back to bioavailability, do a Google/Medline search on Vinson. He is the scientist who showed that Aloe in conjunction with vitamin C can vastly improve its bioavailability. Otherwise, we have found almost no other science that you can improve vitamin C bioavailability (outside of liposomes), other than Lewin's comment that vitamin C should be taken with protein (amino acids).

It's true that plants have halpful and also harmful chemicals. The plants do often have the harmful ones to protect us. Often they have beneficial things to us that also protect them. Fruit for example, the animal eats this instead of eating the plant. In nature, animals and native people instincively know what to eat and what not to eat. We have lost these instincts. The Hoxsey herbal formula was derived by watching farm animals eat certain herbs when they were sick. I think there has to be an element of logic and not just total reliance on scientific evidence, which often ends up being 180 degrees wrong a few years later. I personally believe that nature is the best Doctor. Why are there virtually no side effects inmost herbs compared to the drugs witht he same chemical? Because they are balanced with the necessary nutrients, enzymes and buffers to utilize these chemicals. It's not worth arguing about, you either believe in the power of nature or you don't.

[NaturopathMan]

Do you know a website, or a book where I could read about the best practices to achive an optimal absorption of my nutritional supplements? It's really annoying to think that my practice is not the optimal, and I could make a much greater use of the pills I take.
I mean questions like: Is it good to take vit B with vit E at the same time? Is it good to take this and that together?
The best thing is to take Mineral Foo with Mineral Bar at the same time.

thank you

Digestive enzymes would most likely help. For example, for vitamin B-12 absorption, alot of us know that you need intrinsic factor but many do not know that if there are not sufficient pancreatic enzymes the B-12 will not be absorbed. There is a substance called salivary R binding protein that binds to B-12 that needs to be broken down by pancreatic enzymes for the B-12 to be absorbed.

[ofonorow]

I think there has to be an element of logic and not just total reliance on scientific evidence, which often ends up being 180 degrees wrong a few years later.

This comment is influenced by the psuedo science currently being practiced by modern medicine sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies. You combine this with a deliberate media campaign to distort the truth - and it looks like science has conflicting findings.

That is why I value Linus Pauling so much. Real science is capable of approaching truth in a rigorous way, unfortunately, real science w/r to nutrition ended, at least for a time, when medicine realized where it was heading if "simple, unpatentable vitamins could cure everything."

Back to nature - I have been asked to swallow quite a bit of Naturopathic training and history, but I have done what I wish more medical doctors would do - take the training with a grain of salt. I don't simply accept that everything "natural" is good for us. I do respect the early science that discovered which molecules the body requires for life and good health, and that we don't make, and that we need to obtain in our food. And I believe that bioidentical copies of these molecules are entirely natural, while pharmaceutical altered versions are dangerous. So maybe I should call myself a "Bio-identical-path"?

As to whether these bioidentical molecules we require for life are somehow made better when taken in the way they appear in plants, I am sure there are examples both ways, I simply haven't found good rationale arguments to support this notion, in general, especially with respect to vitamin C.

[desolation]

Why are there virtually no side effects inmost herbs compared to the drugs witht he same chemical? Because they are balanced with the necessary nutrients, enzymes and buffers to utilize these chemicals. It's not worth arguing about, you either believe in the power of nature or you don't.

Also interesting is that if one were to speak with certain Homeopaths they would tell you that using herbs are the same as using drugs in that many of the compounds in the herbs used are not found naturally in the body same as with pharmecuticals and the fact is that many drugs are safer than natural substances though we know the current system is wayward if not corrupt and this harbors negative feeling towards the positive use of science towards health and longevity as this technology is misused.

[zucic]

Also interesting is that if one were to speak with certain Homeopaths they would tell you that using herbs are the same as using drugs in that many of the compounds in the herbs used are not found naturally in the body same as with pharmecuticals and the fact is that many drugs are safer than natural substances though we know the current system is wayward if not corrupt and this harbors negative feeling towards the positive use of science towards health and longevity as this technology is misused.

Well, human body is probably capable to handle a waste number of plant molecules.
In fact, very primitive diets seasonaly included large number of different plants, so
there was enough time to adapt to certain chemical "phrases". This is probably what
makes us capable to survive synthetic drugs.