You must read and accept the disclaimer to use this site. Updated for monthly, 2011

Dear Doc Roc, I note that you recommend for gentlemen aged 40 - 60 years a Vitamin B6 dose of 1 mg, and no zinc. However, information contained in the essays indicate 4.45 mg of B6, and 15 mg of zinc. Is there a benefit of ingesting more B6? Your recent essay on C reactive protein suggests there may be.  All the best.  Roger

Dear Roger,

Thanks for a challenging question.  Below is the C Reactive Protein essay I wrote.  Those who are not familiar with this important marker of health may wish to do so – it is clearly as important as cholesterol.

C-REACTIVE PROTEIN - A key marker of inflammation is C-reactive protein (CRP). This compound is produced when the body feels like something is attacking it. One effect is that it causes blood clots which can cause heart attacks. Frequent reports now indicate that like LDL, the harmful kind of cholesterol, C-reactive protein (CRP) is a serious risk factor for heart attack. It is also associated with risk for diabetes.

Am J Med 2003; 115; 702-7, reports on whether taking a multivitamin would help reduce the level of C-reactive protein in people. The report must be read carefully, as it was conducted by a private institute and was sponsored by private contributions. But it was a double blind, placebo-controlled study of 87 people mean age 53 for six months.

The conclusion is somewhat misleading also. "multivitamin use was associated with lower C-reactive protein levels." This is a good thing, to have C-reactive protein levels decrease. But they went further, if one reads the results. "only vitamin B6 and vitamin C were inversely associated with C-reactive protein."

In other words, getting a high dose of vitamin C and a diet with plenty of vegetables is the main way to reduce C-reactive protein in your body, helping you stay healthy.

July, 2006 update - Inflammation has risen to the level of free radicals in its consequences for long term health and its importance in the disease process, through mechanisms caused by free radicals, and by other mechanisms independent of free radicals. An article in AJCN lists 20+ conditions related to inflammation - arthritis, diabetes, asthma, psoriasis, MS, brain degenerative diseases, obesity, heart disease, cancer, etc. One easy remedy to reduce inflammation is to increase the ratio of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet.

MY ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION:             There is controversy about what vitamin levels people need to get from pills, as opposed to from food.  And the column summaries I send monthly indicate that there are new studies that make me question every decision.  For instance, the April 2007 J. Nutrition reports that “elderly people” over age 55 may benefit from getting 50 mg of zinc daily, though other studies caution that zinc interferes with copper absorption.

Vitamin B6 is something we get in abundance from food, the average person getting 2.2 mg, and a good diet ought to provide plenty, thus providing much more than the 1 mg I feel might be useful in a supplement.   As it is water-soluble, taking extra in a supplement ought to be safe. 

Zinc is also common in foods.  The average in the US diet is 12.7mg, so a good diet ought to provide more.  I see no need to supplement that except when sensing a cold.  But the study published in J. Nutr. recently has me reconsidering that 50mg a day might be useful, as long as I get enough copper.  Those calculations will happen sometime when life provides more time, and the 50 mg zinc dosage gathers more support.

Please send me your questions at ordman@beloit.edu, Subject: Nutrition Question, and I’ll answer the most intriguing ones in this column.  Remember – you are what you eat! Till next time ********Doc Roc

Dear Roc, I don't agree with your article on the C Reactive protein..you recommend too much zinc and you don't recommend a balanced multivitamin...see below...this is what americans are eating....now tell me if you don't think they need a multi after you read this...

Breakfast; coffee, danish , maybe orange juice

Lunch: McDonalds hamburger, diet coke, fries

Dinner: chicken breast, baked potato, lettuce, thousand island dressing
White roll - Apple maybe

Dear Pat, I agree that the person who eats like your example really needs a multivitamin, and many other MDR products. I will see about editing the column to be more clear.The line about zinc and copper is thanks to your comment, that zinc does interfere with copper absorption. To the extent that we could produce some columns that have discussions like these, I think it would be great and very interesting for people to see. Nutrition columns that most people receive through our radio, TV, and news make all of the nutrition answers look simple, but most people with a little knowledge know the answers to nutrition questions are not simple. For instance, few people realize that water-soluble vitamins must be received twice-a-day, as AM/PM provides. Not to mention realizing that the level of vitamin D now known to be essentail is 1,000 IU per day, a change that AM/PM has adjusted to, while most vitamins still provide the completely inadequate 400 IU.