Vitamins: A natural boost
Sometimes we all need a bit of a boost, and vitamins are a great way to boost our diet.
Vitamins are a popular topic for Alden Jallorina, M.D., a physician with Premier Healthcare, which is why he chose to present the seminar, "Vitamins: What You Need to Know" to Senior Select members.
Vitamins are defined as organic, unrelated substances that are needed in the human diet,
Dr. Jallorina says. Research on vitamins began during World War II when the United States government began to examine them to determine precisely what the human body requires. The government wanted to ensure troops fighting all over the world received the nutrients
they needed.
Dr. Jallorina reviewed numerous studies on various vitamins conducted over the years and found that a multivitamin with some additional vitamin D is the best combination for the average adult. He advises women to also take calcium daily. The daily requirement for premenopausal women is 1,000 mg a day and 1,500 mg a day for postmenopausal women.
"It's not only important to know what to take but how much to take," Dr. Jallorina says.
Dr. Jallorina encourages patients to take about 800 to 1,000 International Units (IUs) of vitamin D a day. Vitamin D is found in foods as well as in sunlight. Spending 20 minutes outside in the sun equals 20,000 IUs of vitamin D, which has been found to lower risk of hip and other fractures. Vitamin D has also been found to improve muscle performance in strength and speed.
If you're outside for 20 minutes, don't worry about getting too much vitamin D as the sunlight also destroys any excess vitamin D in the system. However, if you choose to soak up
vitamin D through sun rays rather than a vitamin pill, remember to do it early in the morning or late afternoon to prevent sun damage to your skin, Dr. Jallorina cautions.
When choosing a multivitamin, Dr. Jallorina says you don't have to select the most expensive to get the nutrients you need. Look at the label for the recommended daily allowance, and pick a multivitamin that provides 100% of the recommended daily allowance for the most vitamins possible. It doesn't matter what time of day vitamins are taken, but there is evidence that calcium is best taken at night, Dr. Jallorina says.
"The multivitamin is not going to be the fountain of youth," Dr. Jallorina says. "If you want to feel younger, you have to exercise."
Along with vitamins, Dr. Jallorina recommends strength training with weights for 10 to 20 minutes a day along with an aerobic workout such as walking or bicycling for 10 to 15 minutes daily.
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About the doctor |