WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Healing Hour: To Supplement, or not to Supplement?

Episode Date: April 4, 2024

In this episode of The Healing Hour, Adriana and Erika answer your questions about multivitamins.

Hello and welcome to The Healing Hour on Radio Free Hillsdale, where we bring you your weekly dose of healing. I'm your host, Adriana Azarian. And I'm your co-host, Erica Kaiva. And today we have a very fun episode planned for you. We're going to be discussing multivitamins and supplements. Yes, this was brought to our attention by a listener. Yeah, so shout out to that listener, you know who you are.

Yes. For sending us your question. We're so appreciative and we cannot wait to answer it. Oh, we're excited to get into the. this. Before we get into this, Erica and I want to share with you something we did this week to help us heal. Yes. So our weekly healing adventure was making friendship bracelets together. Yes. We had Dominican sisters visiting campus this week and they were making friendship bracelets. And so I said, Erica, we have to do this together. And we did. And it was so fun. It was so good. And it had been a

really busy week for me. I'm sure it was for you as well. And I was really happy to be. And I was really happy to be able to take that time away from school and just hang out with a friend. Exactly. I think when it comes to, I mean, school is very stressful and stress wreaks havoc on your health. So it's really important to take time to do things that you enjoy and lower your stress levels and take care of yourself that way. So true. So true. So that was our weekly healing adventure. We hope we've inspired you to meditate on what was your healing adventure this week? Everybody has one. Yes. Well, shall we dive into the question now? Let's do it.

All right. All right. Our listener says, in this week's show, you recommended that people take a multivitamin daily. However, I've also seen research that says multivitamins don't do much of anything. So what's the story? Signed, a listener. And he was kind enough to send us an article from Hopkins Medicine. And it's called Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins?

So the lead-in, it says, half of all American adults, including 70% of those age 65 and older, take a multivitamin or another vitamin or mineral supplement regularly. The total price tag exceeds $12 billion per year. That's a lot of billions of dollars. That's a lot of billions of dollars. However, it's looking like some researchers are saying that that money might not be well-sped. Oh, no. Have a look. So there was a study in which the researchers concluded that multivitamins don't reduce the risk for heart disease, cancer, cognitive decline, such as memory loss and slowed down thinking, or an early death.

What do we think about that? I think it's important to recognize that a multivitamin is not meant to be the end-all, be-all of help. It's supposed to round out whatever you're missing in your diet. and unfortunately in America, that's probably for the average American, a lot of nutrients and a lot of minerals. I don't see any harm in taking a multivitamin. I do think that it is beneficial to get in those missing vitamins. Personally, I don't really take a multivitamin, though, Erica.

Really? I don't. Actually, I found in my dorm today a bunch of multivitamins that I just stopped taking. And I thought, oh, that's fun. I think I'll take one, just for the vibes. in anticipation of this episode. But I actually take a lot of supplements and antioxidants, probiotics, and kind of individual vitamins. Yeah.

Because when you take a multivitamin, oftentimes your body can't absorb all those vitamins at once. And I'm not a doctor. I'm not a naturopath. I don't know exactly like what the optimal amount of vitamins you should be taking are. but I do try to prioritize vitamin D and vitamins D and C. Vitamin C because of the antioxidants. And there's a lot of really good research and a lot of people who take it actually for like cancer.

I think it's kind of growing in popularity amongst those battling cancer right now. And vitamin D because we live in Michigan. Yeah, I also take vitamin D. I take one pill every single morning. Really? Two if I'm feeling sick. I don't know if this is. I don't know if this is a placebo or what,

but when I feel like I'm getting sick and I start taking the vitamin D, like it makes me heal faster. That's, yeah. Sunlight is important. Yeah. And you need to get your vitamin D from that. And if you're not getting a lot of sunlight

because you're in Michigan and it's a tundra, vitamin D supplements help with that. That's very true. Also, vitamin D deficiency is linked to a higher risk of getting cancer. So maybe multivitamins as a whole aren't going to make much of a difference, but if you're concentrating on certain vitamins, individual supplements over others, that could be worth looking into. Yeah, because it should be worth noting it does say here that this is research on multivitamins. So I'm assuming that means if you take the pill and it has a bunch of different vitamins packed into it. Whereas there's a lot of research that you could get into if you're interested about what the effects of different.

multivitamin supplements are. Erica, can I ask you a question? Go for it. Did you take Flintstone yummy vitamins when you were little? I did. Yes. That was an integral part of my childhood. Those were so good.

They were. Actually, I, well, I took Flintstone gummies, but for a long time, I took Disney Princess Gummies. I love that. Yeah. And they tasted really good. Like, they was like candy. Mm-hmm.

So it's probably good for me because I was not a healthy eater as a child. So I think it did something for me because I'm still here. Yeah. My dad used to have us take omega-3 supplements because we didn't like fish. Yeah. We've grown out of that now, but that was something I remember for my childhood. I should probably do that because I don't eat fish. Yeah.

Yeah. That could be for a different episode. That could be. Yeah, it would be good. Not because fish isn't healthy. It's just a personal preference. And I remember when we were experiencing the plague, I was COVID.

Yes. My dad got really into zinc. We're taking zinc supplements all the time. I'm glad you mentioned that because zinc absolutely changed my life when I started taking it. Yeah. I had really bad acne in high school. And as soon as I started taking, actually I was taking a multivitamin, but I had high dosage of zinc. And as soon as I started taking that, I noticed my skin cleared up pretty quickly.

And I did some research into zinc and its effects on acne caused by fungus in your body. and zinc counteracts fungus and if your acne is caused by overgrowth of fungus it can help prevent acne

and my skin has been pretty much clear ever since I've been taking zinc and you have beautiful skin I will say that that is so sweet so do you

thank you I will also say that and I don't I don't know I'm not saying that this was caused by my multivitamin but I used to suffer from really bad colds

like flu like symptoms. Every time I got a cold, which was terrible, I would be out of school for several days. But as soon as I started taking a multivitamin, I noticed that my colds got significantly, like the symptoms were significantly lighter. And I just think that's kind of an interesting thing. I mean, it might mean nothing, but I have found in my personal life that once I started taking vitamins, a lot of things changed. Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting that you should bring up the sickness because I've found that with taking vitamin D regularly, I become less susceptible like if there's a sickness sweeping around campus. Sometimes I'll just, I'll be around

people that are sick or coughing that I just won't get it. And I'm wondering if that's a result of the vitamin D. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those vitamins that does help with immune function. C, D, and zinc, I think are probably the most important ones. I would say, I mean, I'm not a doctor, but from my experience that help with preventing illness. Yeah. So I would say it's important to take into account with these researchers found that it's not a be-all and end-all because they met, but they were measuring specific diseases because that's what you do in a study, heart disease, cancer, cognitive decline or early death. But then how do you take into account like the everyday benefits that we're seeing, helping our skin, helping our immune system? These are also things to think about and dive into with research. This is true. And I think research is very important. I'm not going to deny that at all.

But I will say that, you know, everyone's body is different. And I'm not going to dismiss someone's personal experience because of research for that reason. So, you know, I don't think people should stop taking multivitamins. If it works for you, if it makes you feel good in your body, then I would say do that. if you think it's worth experimenting with, experiment with it. But if you think you're fine. And I think something that's interesting, the next thing it says in the article,

Larry Apel, MD, says that pills are not a shortcut to better health and the prevention of chronic diseases. I think that's important. And maybe that's what they're finding in the research that, I mean, if you're just taking multivitamins, that's not a substitute for eating healthy and working out. Yes. Yes. It should be a part of a larger lifestyle. It shouldn't be your only last-ditch effort to be healthy. Yeah. If you're eating all inflammatory foods and then like, well, I'm fine. I'm taking a multivitamin. That's not how it works.

Yeah. It's meant to round out a larger lifestyle that is healthy. For those tuning in, you are listening to The Healing Hour on Radio Free Hillsdale with Adriana Azarian. Eric Kauva. We're talking about research surrounding multivitamins. And what these researchers found in Hopkins, that are quoted in Hopkins medicine, is that they're generally not associated with reducing risks for several fatal diseases. However, it says the exception is supplemental folic acid for women of childbearing potential. This is iron is also good for women of child bearing potential. Well, my mom didn't take iron when she was pregnant with me, even though she was recommended to, and I turned out five. There you go. Listen, I was great. Well, it's also because

we, maybe it was because we ate a lot of meat at home, so we got our iron. So here's a good example of getting your nutrients from your food. All right. So we found an article from Dr. Rucho. the website is Dr. Russo.com. Very appropriate. And he talks about the pros and cons of multivitamins versus individual vitamins. And he

says that when it comes to multivitamins a lot of times the dosages are just kind of predetermined. It's kind of like a one size fits all, which that's not really how health works. Whereas individual vitamins, it is more expensive

because you have to buy individual bottles. of each one. But it is, it can be more, he says, more tailored to your health goals. So like we were talking about earlier with vitamin D,

vitamin C, like those are really important vitamins for immune health. And if that's what your focus is, then maybe it's best to take those because your body can't absorb, always absorb all the multivitamins at once. Yep.

So in a way, that could be a waste of money. Whereas if you're, if you're investing in vitamin that on their own can work better for you, or maybe like, you know, not on their own, but with less other vitamins, you know, can work better for you. That could be a better investment.

Although I would continue to maintain that the best investment is getting vitamins from fresh produce. Yes. And food. Yes. Because you were saying before that it can be hard for your body to absorb multivitamins all in one go. So if you're getting it from food,

I mean, it's basically made to be absorbed into your body that way, right? Right, right. Erica, what supplements do you take if you don't mind me asking? I take vitamin D and probiotics. So, probiotics, we haven't talked about those really that much on this show. Yeah, because they're really important. And I really enjoy eating yogurt at home. But it's not something that I always get at the cafeteria,

just because I have certain brands that I like. And then if I'm not able to go to Kroger, that I mean it's just it's right there it's easy and probiotics are good I have also gotten into probiotics recently yes um you tell yeah so I take a supplement a probiotic supplement I also eat yogurt and then I drink a lot of kombucha so I don't do this all at once just everyone knows I'm not like downing bacteria bacteria into my body um but it's good bacteria it's good bacteria and I think we forget how important gut health is to overall health so true And your gut health is in large part determined by your microbiome in your gut.

And it's really interesting because there is research, but there is research to show that, like, weight control. People who are obese have certain kinds of bacteria in their gut. People who have healthy weights have different kinds of bacteria in their guts. And so, like the kinds of bacteria you find in, like, yogurt and probiotics, really, really. good to have. Really good to have. And your microbiome is everything. Oh, yeah. Your digestive system is called your second brain for a reason. But yeah. So probiotics, I think, are also a really big thing to be investing in. And if you can't buy capsules of it, you know, you can get that. That's the thing you can get

from food. It's good for your immune system. It's really good for your immune system. Yeah. Because you need the good bacteria to fight the bad bacteria. if there is any. So true, Erica. It's like a battle of good versus evil right in your stomach. Isn't that beautiful how that works out? That's so beautiful. It's very Hillsdale of them.

That is. So I take a few supplements myself. Tell us about them. So I mentioned that I stopped taking a multivitamin except for today only because I found the bottle and I was like, hey, I'm filming an episode today about multivitamins. I'm going to take it. That's not a good reason to take supplements, you guys. That's what I did.

But anyhow... Do you feel any different? I feel no difference at all. Okay. I take black seed oil. Really? Are you familiar with that? I'm not, no.

Okay, so black seed oil was used, like in the Near East, I think also in some Asian cultures, but basically it's used for anti-inflammatory purposes and antioxidant purposes. There's some research to show that it can help with cancer treatment as well, treating cancer, preventing cancer. But it comes from the Nigella Sativa plant. Ooh. Yes. And I personally take it just to help with inflammation only because, right, we're at college, we're stressed. We eat a lot of inflammatory foods to keep ourselves running.

and there's not much you can really do about that, but what you can do is try to help your body's response to that. So I've been taking black seed oil pretty consistently. I take it in gels, like a gel capsules, because if you take straight up oil, it doesn't taste that good. Yeah. It has kind of a peppery flavor. Huh.

Yeah. So I take that. I also take NAC, which is N-acetyl-something. Anyhow, it's a fancy name. But it's good for detoxing from heavy metals in your body because it promotes glutathione. Anyhow, but I take that to detox from heavy metals because we all have it in our systems. How do we get heavy metals in our system? I'm assuming it's not listening to too much ACDC.

That's so good, Erica. Well, there's a lot of times heavy metals in your tap water. It's also if you cook with like aluminum foil, you can get it in your system that way. because Alzheimer's runs in my family, and there is a connection between heavy metals and Alzheimer's and also a bunch of other diseases. What about in antiperspirant with aluminum chloride in it? Is that another source of heavy metal? That's right. Yeah, I would not recommend using antiperspirants because of the aluminum. There is some research to show that it can be linked to Alzheimer's breast cancer, things like that.

And I'm not saying that it necessarily does, but it is good to be aware of that sort of thing and cautious about it. Are there any brands that you recommend? Deodorant friends? Deodorant, yes. Yes. Tell us about that. I use native deodorant. Yeah.

I use native spray on deodorant. It's more natural. It smells good. There's no artificial fragrances or questionable fragrances. We should have an episode on fragrances. We should. Let's see. What else?

Schmitz. Schmidt's brand is also really good. They're more expensive, but, yeah, there is no propylene glycol, but it's more natural. And so I think it's just better for you to be applying that to your skin every day. By the way, we are not sponsored by any of these brands. I was just curious. Yes. Erica, is there anything else you want to say about vitamins and supplements? Take your probiotics. Yes, if you're not going to take your vitamins, at least take probiotics. Yeah, there we go. That could be an interesting thing to explore in a future episode. I would love to talk about that more in the future, Erica. Yeah, we too.

Get your vitamins, if not from a multivitamin, from real actual food, if you can. And if you are trying to, if you have certain health goals, you're trying to meet, take individual vitamins if you can do that, because that might be a better option than a multivitamin that maybe can't do quite as much as we thought. Yeah. And maybe as a closing reflection, I feel like a lot of the times we intuitively know what's healthy for us. Like we know what we should be eating and what makes us feel good. We know when we need to be more active or how much sleep we need to get. So I think if we just lean into that instinct

and do those things, then that's much more valuable than turning to, I suppose, and this is not to disparage multivitamins, but things that might be being marketed at us. It's like, oh, you need this. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think ancestral living is very important. And you're ancestors did not take vitamins. They got their vitamins from their food. True. And for being out in the sun. Yes. Yes. So try to imitate as much as you can. And if you feel like you need multivitamin to round that out, go ahead, take one. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Healing Hour on Radio Free Hillsdale. I'm your host, Adriana Azarian. And I'm your co-host, Erica Kaiba. Join us next week. And if you have any other questions, please feel free to email us

at Your Dose of Healing at gmail.com. That's Your Dose of Healing at Gmail.com. And we will be more than happy to answer any questions that you have. Yes, we always love hearing from you all, guys. And we hope to see you next week.