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

You must read and accept the disclaimer to use this site.

Your Questions with Documented Answers

By Dr. Roc Ordman, PhD

Dear Doc Roc,

What do you feel when you talk to a medical doctor and he says to you "nutrition is not important"...don't you get outraged! Roc, I have to say when you advise people that a multivitamin is not important I get really disturbed. I never want you to go against your beliefs, but there is ample evidence even recommendations from the AMA that a multi is vitally important...

Sincerely, a concerned reader

Dear Reader,

Please let me reassure you that I am not condemning all multivitamins, just many of them.There are important issues a concerned person ought to be aware of when selecting and using a multivitamins.

1) Most multivitamins are poorly designed. I have been unwilling to endorse multivitamins until I encountered MDR, a company that produces a twice-a-day multivitamin and makes an effort to adjust the formulation to stay current with wonderful advances now occuring in the field of nutrition. As water-soluble nutrients must be obtained twice-a-day to achieve optimal levels, a multivitamin ought to be designed to be taken twice-a-day.

2) The specific formulation of a multivitamin matters. All multivitamins are not created equal, and most have what I consider to be hazardous compositions - too much iron, too little vitamin D, too much vitamin A, etc. Most multivitamins still contain only 400 IU, which greatly increases the risk for falls, cancer, and other health hazards.

3) A multivitamin does not replace a good diet. Fortunately, studies show that people who take a multivitamin also are the ones who try to eat wisely, getting more nutrition from their diets. But sadly, some people think by taking a multivitamin they do not need to eat salads and fruit. Fruit and vegetables have thousands of additional molecules essential for good health.

So it's great to take a well-formulated multivitamin designed to be taken twice-a-day, and to eat a good diet. And based on all of the latest nutrition discoveries, I would conclude that it is also essential to take fish oil every day.

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