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[A1CR]

MR discusses what he considers to be a good "basic" supplement regime (2004-07-28 ):

Someone wrote:

> One of my sisters asked me which nutritional supplements she should take
> if she could only spend $75/month. Assume for this question a person is
> healthy with a good diet and exercises regularly but has the typical
> aches and pains of many middle aged and older people.

Generic "everyone should take an X supplement" advice, for essential
nutrients, is almost always wrong, as is the assumption that one's diet
is "good." One needs a computer crunch and then to figure stuff out
nutrient-by-nutrient from there. (Notable exception: vitamin D. If
you're getting 1000 IU of D from food you're eating too much cod liver
).

> >
> > My recommendations to her were -
> >
> > Krill oil - one/day for about $14/month

Depends: does she eat fatty fish twice a week? She doesn't need it. In any case,
regular fish oil is more strongly backed from a health POV (no
epidemiology or clinical-endpoint trials for krill oil). This asssumes
she's AL [ad lib, meaning non-CRON diet).

> Vitamin D/calcium citrate supplement. Supplement to vitamin D amounts of
> 800 IU/day in winter and 400 IU/day in summer.

Needs > 800 IU all year round.

> Calcium should be 1000
> mg/day if you eat dairy and 2000 mg/day if you do not.

there is no good reason for an AL person to get more than 1500 mg of Ca
from all sources combined.

> El Cheapo Multivitamin - take only on days you do not eat well so cost
> is no more than $1/month.

El cheapo multi will almost certainly contain bone-weakening levels of
preformed retinol, genotoxic synthetic beta-carotene, etc. Get a good one.

> If heavy menstruation take with iron;
> otherwise without.

Prob a sound advice, but a ferritin test would be better.

> Alpha Lipoic acid + Carnitine - http://tinyurl.com/4pm3q .

This site is quoting researhc largely performed on R(+)-LA and equating
it to the racemate. A healthy person not grinding in poverty and
suffering with diabetic neuropathy should use R(+)-LA or not use the
stuff. http://www.r-lipoic.com .

She should also use ALCAR, not carnitine.

Take 1000 mg
> carnitine and 400 mg lipoic acid in divided doses twice daily (to total
> amounts listed and you don't have to be exact).

The ratio should be ~550 mg R(+) to 1500 mg ALCAR.

If there's money left at the end (there prob isn't), add benfotiamine.
A "networking antioxidant: supplement, such as this:

http://www.aor.ca/proddetail.asp?prod_id=232

... or the equivalent, should also really be in there, but I'm SURE you
can't do basic nutrients, R(+), ALCAR, benfotiamine, and this for US$75
(let alone carnosine, the next thing)...

Oh, yeah: she should practice CR .