They line the shelves in health food stores like little soldiers. Small brown bottles. Labcoat white jars. Some you recognize, like calcium, vitamin E, beta-carotene. But what about that other stuff, like CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, blue green algae, and colloidal minerals-what are they for?
As you push your cart through this paradise of promised health, you have to wonder: What do I really need for a fit, long life? Nearly every day, you read a news story touting the benefits of one supplement or another. And nearly every day, it seems, a new name appears on the "hot" list. Health food stores offer a staggering bounty of possibilities. No wonder you're confused.
Well, we've been in those aisles too. But we also hunted down experts, reviewed studies, and got the goods on many of the nutrients and other nonherbal supplements-which range from sex hormones to dressed-up pond scum-you may have heard about. Here are a few you may want to toss in your shopping cart-and a few to steer clear of.
Put these in your basket
You exercise; you eat well; you just want a little extra insurance
to help keep disease at bay. Since you're un-likely to get optimum levels
of all the essential nutri-ents from food alone-you'd have to eat too many
calories-you're wise to think about supplementing. First, we recommend
picking up a good multivitamin / mineral supplement, plus separate supplements
of vitamins C, E, and calcium.
But new research is emphasizing the health benefits of three more nutrients often in short supply in your diet and in good multivitamins. Consider taking the following minerals as separate supplements:
Magnesium. Single dose multis don't go above 100 milligrams (mg) of this mineral. And the foods in which this is most abundant-whole grains, soy-beans, and nuts for example aren't eaten with the regularity that would ensure adequate intake. But magnesium is important: The diseases it could protect you from are all killers: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis. It may also help relieve migraines. Aim for a total of 350 mg from both your multi and a supplement. (More than that may cause diarrhea.)
Chromium for diabetes. It's hard to get the Daily Value (DV) of 120 micrograms (mcg) of chromium from food alone. Even many multis come up short. But chromium's absolutely vital to help your body process glucose for energy. Low levels of chromium may increase your risk of adult-onset diabetes, and studies suggest that 200 to 1,000 mcg of chromium can improve your symptoms if you have the disease. But more studies on long-term supplementation still need to be done. Don't go above 200 mcg without checking first with your doctor.
Selenium. This antioxidant is showing great promise as a cancer fighter. One 10-year study of 1,300 people found that those who took 200-mcg supplements cut their rate of cancer overall by 39% and their rates of lung, prostate, and colon cancers nearly in half. Don't exceed 200 mcg total, including the amount in your multivitamin.
Caution: People with abnormal kidney function should check with their doctors before supplementing with minerals.
Worth a look
These nonnutrient supplements are the headline grabbers. While preliminary
research looks good, they're not for everyone. Many health experts want
to see more studies before recommending them.
Glucosamine and chondroitin. Your body makes these two substances to help build and protect cartilage, the shock-absorbing cushion that caps the ends of your bones. The commercial combination of the two has been touted in The Arthritis Cure (St. Martin's, 1997), a best-selling book by Jason Theodosakis, MD. Prelimi-nary studies, mostly European, have shown it reduces pain and slows down cartilage loss in osteoarthritis, the wear-and-tear kind that causes aching, deteriorating joints. Alternative health practitioners and even some mainstream docs in the US have also reported some success with the combo.
The word "cure" is an overstatement, though. In Hendersonville, NC, orthopedic surgeon Amal Das, MD, is analyzing data from a study he recently completed. "The combination was significantly effective for pain relief in people with mild to moderate arthritis," he says, "but not for severe arthritis."
How much: Follow label directions. You can get the two supplements either separately or as a combination. But be careful what you buy: A University of Maryland study found a few products that contained far less glucosamine or chondroitin than labels claimed. Two combination products that passed the study's quality tests were Cosamin DS and Joint Fuel. If you try them, tell your doctor. Give the supplements eight weeks to work-it often takes that long. If you don't see any improvement by then, stop using them. So far, both glucosamme and chondroitin appear safe.
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA). A relative newcomer to the market, ALA is an antioxidant your body normally makes on its own. It helps break down food into the energy needed by your cells. Supplementing may be helpful if you have or are at high risk for diabetes, because your energy metabolism is impaired. Prelimi-nary studies suggest ALA prevents the nerve damage in the lower legs that often occurs as the result of diabetes, possibly because of its protective effect on the smaller blood vessels.
How much: The effective dosage in one recent study of people with diabetes was 800 mg a day for four months. No adverse effects were reported.
Coenzyme CoQ10 is another antioxidant manu-factured by the body, where it goes by the name ubiquinone. This supplement claims many healing powers. Right now, however, the CoQ10's potential benefits appear limited to helping you if you have or are at risk for congestive heart failure, which occurs when your heart is too weak to pump blood to your lungs and the rest of your body. It may also be good for gum disease, a leading cause of tooth loss.
How much: One study found that 150 mg per day protected some people with congestive heart failure. (People using that amount were hospitalized 38% less than people on placebos.) And 50 to 60 mg a day helped reverse gum disease.
Caution: While CoQ10 appears safe, congestive heart failure and gingivitis are not do-it-yourself diseases. They require a doctor's care.
Walk on by
Some supplements remain mysteries yet to be solved by further research.
And some, based on a lack of evidence so far, don't justify the expense.
Shark cartilage. While you can't write off this tabloid supplement
yet, it's too soon to start taking shark pills to ward off cancer. Promoters
speculate whether shark cartilage can prevent cancer by blocking blood
vessel growth in tumors, depriving them of nutrients to grow. But there
are no well controlled studies to support this. And forming new blood vessels
isn't always a bad thing, points out Alan R. Gaby, MD, professor of nutrition
at Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. It's useful when your cardiovascular
system is trying to move blood around blockages, for example, or during
pregnancy, or for wound healing. Dr. Gaby also doubts that popular oral
supplements of shark cartilage can even make it into the bloodstream, because
their active in-gredient is a protein destroyed by digestion.
Blue green algae. This supplement comes in more than 1,000 different strains that grow in lakes and oceans. The algae available as a supplement generally began life in a lake as pond scum. It does contain protein, B vitamins, and minerals. But algae leaves a lot of nutrition experts cold. You can get plenty of those same nutrients from food and a multi, notes Dr. Gaby. There have also been reports of toxicity, contamination, and illness associated with some algae.
Chromium for weight loss. Theoretically, it could work, says University of Massachusetts health sciences dean and researcher Priscilla Clarkson, PhD. "Chromium enhances insulin action. And insulin aids fat metabolism. That means chromium could potentially burn fat. But that theory hasn't yet become fact." Studies showing that supplemental chromium takes off the pounds have been weak or inconsistent.
Chelated supplements. Chelation is simply a tech-nique for binding minerals with another substance that's supposed to enhance mineral absorption by the body. But actual studies proving better absorption are few. Specific use of the word chelated on a mineral supplement is often just a marketing buzz word, says Dr. Gaby, to make you think it's better than the rest.
Prevention April 1998