Which supplements are worth it and which are nonsense
 

Great find, toad. Thanks.

Wow, that's interesting, where's it from? (oop, nevermind)
The only one I take, starting yesterday, is D. I still have a cold though...

The interactive version looks slightly different. For example, Folic Acid isn't as high on the interactive version.

Found here. http://www.informationisbeautiful.ne...l-supplements/

WTF? And now it's back up there at the top when I opened my own link in a different window. I don't have it sorted differently in the two windows. I don't get it.

Interesting find, Tony.
(FWIW, I'm on omega-3, fish oil and D3 supplementation. Red Yeast Rice is effectively a statin -- lovastatin, aka monacolin K -- and would conflict with the prescription statin I am on, simvastatin.)
Yes, I should drink more green tea. I just wish it tasted better. Sigh.

Though beta glucan is quite intriguing. However, it seems to be very expensive.

The size of the bubbles are based on the number of Google hits, so it makes sense that it varies with time.

One of you guys, possibly UT, has posted a study which stated that ginger was THE ONLY natural substance that had ANY health benefits whatsoever. Now, on this new chart, I am seeing that ginger is below the "worth it" line...?

Ginger's worth it, but I'm a Mary Ann man, myself.

On the green tea front, I'd heartily recommend going to some hole in the wall Japanese cafe sort of a place and giving a smell to all of them. Straight gunpowder green tea is kind of bleh in my book, too, but I've always enjoyed jasmine teas, and I dig the smell of genmaicha.

My understanding is that they all come from the same plant, and just have different other plants in addition.


As for the charts, I feel like the top half has a lot more legitimacy than the bottom half -- that, really, to do something like this, you need to be very clear about what result is intended. Saying all vitamins are below the "worth it line" is kind of, in my mind, silly, if you aren't going to be fairly clear as to what result you are hoping for. Yeah, taking a multivitamin won't keep you from getting hit by a car, but there's some middle ground.

gvidas, it's usually called 'a balanced diet'.

don't hold me to these...... it's more about the concept...

There's an app in there.

Steak should be higher.

The Cellar's not even in there :eyebrow:

Excellent, LJ. I'm renewing my subscription.

Pico has a keen eye for the important details

Where's Jinx?

Like he's not in enough trouble for forgetting the cellar?

Where CHN, while we're at it?

I have to take one exception to the original post.

I have found that Acai helps a LOT with symptoms of Crohn's Disease. If I forget to take it at night, I pay the next day. As long as I take two at night, the rest of the day is "normal".

Pete, take note!

I did.

But.. You waited till now to tell me?

My mom swears by baby aspirin + omega-3s for her crohn's. It helped my cousin's UC, too. He was becoming steroid-refractory, and the a+o combo helped him get off steroids all together.

I'll mention the acai to mom.

How much omega 3 does she take, Pie?

I only just figured this out in the last few months...by accident!

4 softgels per day, 700 mg EPA + 500 mg DHA each = 1200 x 4 = 4.8 grams/day
Two in the morning, two at night, with a baby aspirin both times.

(This is the specific brand; they seem to have excellent testing standards.)

How did she arrive at the number of 4 per day?

2 grams is the recommendation for all us 'normal' folks -- she started with that, and doubled it when she got better results. It's Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) according to Jinx's favorite organization, the FDA.

You do have to keep an eye on blood clotting times -- omega 3s can reduce the effectiveness of endogenous clotting factors.

Yeah, keep in mind they're ok with acetone (nail polish remover) as a food additive...

It helps with all the nail polish teenage girls chew off their nails :rolleyes:

So, I went and bought a box of green tea. Man, that stuff is rank.:greenface

Very cool lists! Glad to see my Red Yeast Rice is at the top.

Don't take it if you're already taking a statin, tho.

monnie - use it to keep the kids away or something.

Red Yeast Rice - ROCKS!!!!!!

Brian

You take it in pill form? What brand etc.?

I use Super AcaiBlast in capsule form. I get it from the local GNC and also via internet (cheaper).

The Brand name is Garden Greens. I take two caps a day at bedtime. This seems to give me measurable relief from diarrhea and it only took like a week to see results. The squirts return if I miss more than one dose.

Hope it helps ya!

Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.

Interesting that they concluded that one of the subgroups not helped by D3 supplements were. . . children already getting supplemental D3! :lol:

Seems silly to note, but in a society that thinks if a little is good, more must be better, it isn't.

Our lack of sunshine or the use of sunscreen makes us deficient in vitamin D?

The old saying that lots of sunshine and fresh air makes us healthy probably has to do with absorbing vitamin D.

Suncreen simply blocks UV rays, not really related to vitamin D absorption. Older people, who probably also spend less time outside, do have more trouble absorbing vitamin D as well.

Between a few minutes/hours outside and added vitamin D in my local milk which I drink a lot I don't feel the need for supplements there..

Btw cool graph

Ah, no, it is specifically the UV-B rays that stimulate vitamin D synthesis in the skin.

It's the quantity of sunshine that's a problem. Most days/weeks, we don't get enough. Then we go waaaay overboard when we go on vacation and bake for hours on the beach, leading to pre-cancerous genetic damage to our skin.

10-15 minutes per day is enough to synthesize colecalciferol from its precursor molecule, 7-dehydrocholesterol. Alternatively, one can take oral colecalciferol supplementation.

It is interesting to note that neither D3 or D2 are biologically active in their own right; they are both metabolized in the liver and kidneys to the active form.

High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency among Inner-City African American Youth with Asthma in Washington, DC

I admit I didn't click on the link, but do blacks have a harder time manufacturing vitamin D in their skin because of their pigments?

That's my understanding, yes.

Oh good during the summer I can justify me only spending 15 minutes at the pool at a time and not getting tan. I'm vitamin D bathing :)

Vitamin D and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage.

Thanks Brian. The acai is making a difference.

That's great, PeteZ!

Glad to hear it, Pete!

I notice a difference too, as well as when I forget to take it. Pricey stuff, tho. Ain't it?