A major study just reported an ever decreasing cancer risk with multivitamins, showing a 75% reduction after 15 years -AnnIntMed; Oct. 1 '98.  Just like it takes decades to cause cancer, it may take decades of supplementation to prevent it ...

Few have a financial interest in cheap non-patent supplements except you, your family and your insurer but supplements are taxed and no credit is given on insurance premiums.  The bulk retail price for a life-time supply of folic acid --an Alzheimer's disease, cancer, birth defect & artery damaging homocysteine risk reducing vitamin-- is under $10 or 0.02¢ per day (no profit there!).

In women, the high-alcohol with high-folic acid (B-vitamin, soy, beans, liver) group had a 4.5 times lower cardio death rate than the no alcohol - lowest folic acid group (JAMA; '98-2-4).  A different study found an almost halved cardio risk at the highest intake of nuts, lowering further when a multivitamin or vitamin E supplement was added (BMJ; '98-11-14).
 

Heart-healthy lowering of homocysteine is fast, cheap and easy. The effects of all 4 agents (folic acid, B6, B12 & betaine**) are additional and according to some studies may lead to near 50% reductions in heart, blood vessel & Alzheimer's disease risks (ArchNeur; Nov '98; Here's more on A.D.)  Even if in real life only half of these reductions can be realized, these would be major health advances (see also JAMA; '97-6-11 & here's the AHA).      In addition and for pennies per day, there is zero risk!  Add vitamins C and E, fiber, minerals, omega-3 oils and eat low processed foods** and you'll reduce your statistical chances of early vascular ill health to a fairly low level independently of your genetics.  Homocysteine lowering is especially important for the about one third of us with a genetic tendency to higher levels:      For some reason, half of those with heart problems have "desirable" levels of cholesterol.  Could low mineral, antioxidant and homocysteine lowering micronutrients cause that difference --or does your MD, heart specialist or lipidologist [yes, a "blood-fat-specialist"] have a better theory?   Since half of you reading this website are or will suffer from heart and blood vessel diseases, this is a question worth asking.  --**) Betaine & choline are about 0.5% and 0.25% respectively of wheat bran and wheat germ -leaving refined flour with only about 0.06% (Cereal Chem; 1-'67: 48-60).  Both nutrients have similar vitamin-like roles that are crucial for artery health.  [Choline turns into betaine (-TMG) which turns into "vitamin B15" (-DMG), at each step reducing toxic homocysteine and otherwise protecting your blood fats and liver.]      Nutrient information like this is not likely to come from a cardiologist or lipidologist.  For example, the 30 page & 404 references Jan. 21 1999 Consensus Recommendations for Heart Failure from the American College of Cardiology focuses on drugs.  The only mention of any nutrient is: "Physicians should monitor [which is difficult] and correct any deficiencies in potassium and magnesium, since these may cause ... arrhythmias [irregular heart beat] ...".    Similarly, a different 1999 consensus panel's Guide to Preventive Cardiology for Woman states: "Diets rich in antioxidant ... nutrients and folate are preferred over supplements." (J Am Coll Cardiol; May 1999: 1751-5).  They don't say why you shouldn't do both.  In fact, folate happens to be a vitamin that is better absorbed from supplements, while vitamin E from food plus your multi won't give you the about 200 IU's linked with a 40% lowered risk of heart disease.     A caveat about such consensus panels --or websites: as Dr. JRA Mitchell once reported, "What passes for knowledge is often no more than well-organised ignorance." and "The alternative to scientific experiment is the expert committee.  Unfortunately, just as one cannot be sure of the relationship between risk factors and disease, we cannot be sure of the relationship between the opinion of the committee and the truth: the opinion of the committee will depend on who is selected for it."

The medical treatment principle First, Do No Harm includes First, Try Nutrition.  Nutritional Medicine is also called orthomolecular medicine or psychiatry.  The concept that eating a well balanced diet [whatever that is] provides optimum amounts of all the nutrients you need is based on hope, philosophy or paradigm but not on science.  While a balanced & varied diet with lots of fruits, veggies & whole grains is a superb idea, no one can scientifically say that even such diet has your optimum amounts of selenium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, vanadium, silicon, molybdenum, chromium, vitamins C, E & dozens of other nutrients. 

People don't readily change eating patterns that are based on taste, habit, price, availability, religion and custom.  This, like gravity, being a reality, the taking of a few supplements is the easiest and cheapest thing anyone can do regarding the known nutrients.
 

Selenium is crucial in heart disease and cancer prevention --or put the other way, many heart conditions and cancers are partially selenium deficiency diseases.  Selenium is found in US or Canadian wheat flour at 1 to 120 mcg/100g depending on where it was grown, making it either a good or a terrible source.  Since 1984, ultra-low selenium and ultra-high heart disease Finland supplements its fertilizers with selenium. Rather than supplementing fertilizer or flour with minerals or vitamins and hoping you'll get optimum nutrients, your chances are much improved with a well targeted vitamin-mineral supplement. Sure, it looks like a pill but it's really a food concentrate. Here's the latest about an ongoing selenium study.

Dog food always contained a vitamin and mineral supplement, even the canned-meats variety.  This lack of an added supplement explains the veterinary dogma that your dinner leftovers are bad for a dog!  Animal science accepted years ago that supplements are an essential food group for dogs, cats, zoo, farm & lab animals. Farm science also proved that supplements are vital to crop health because plants may not get all the nutrients they need from the soil.

Food-pyramids of the various food groups are made by portion size and some relative importance.  On top of these pyramids should be a category of micronutrients & supplements as we are all below optimum in some nutrients because of where we live and what we eat.  In the plant analogy: fertilizers for optimum health ... 

Nutrient modification by processing is little questioned.  The same is true for the frequent deficiencies of vitamin E, omega-3 & other nutrients in the low fat 'n cholesterol step I & II diets --AmJClNutr; May 99.  Since the addition of folic acid to US & Canadian flour and breakfast cereals in 1998, many such highly processed products are promoted as sources of folic acid --NEJM; May 13 '99.  While partial re-supplementation helps, probably 90% of the world eats non supplemented refined grain and rice products --and nobody replaces the 80 - 100% of removed magnesium, zinc or vitamin E to name but a few lost nutrients.  Low magnesium alone is linked to 11% of U.S. heart mortality (Int. J. Epid; 1999). 

More-studies-are-needed is an age-old caveat.  While there will never be certainty, there are sufficient data to send the optimum - health case to the jury with instructions that, in life, a hung jury is not an option.  This website is one such analysis.  Here's one by Nutrition Science News.  Here's an other but technical analysis by >AltMedRev; '96: 132.  Any heart specialist not having read the latter, the Feb. 16 '99 issue of Circulation about omega-3's and McCully's homocysteine book has dangerous information deficiencies.

Carotenoids, of which betacarotene and lycopene are but 2 out of over 600, are best eaten in boiled carrots, tomatoes and their paste and in all deeply colored fruits and veggies.  A little oil makes them more absorbable. Here's some Swiss carotenoid info.

Bone loss (osteoporosis): eat bone.  It is surprising that not all research about low bone density first suggests to eat more bone and/or it's main ingredient, calcium. Think: when your tire has low air density, you give it air.  Lack of vitamin D is also a proven preventable factor in about ½ of all hip fractures --JAMA; '99-4-28.  Similarly, in the case of cartilage loss (osteoarthritis): eat cartilage (also called glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates) and, a lesser source, soft bone itself.  Biochemically not surprisingly, clinical research now links bone and cartilage health with artery health and heart disease survival (Morrison/Schjeide).  P.S. If you can now afford a broken hip or wrist, you could have afforded the daily 1½ g calcium, ¾ g magnesium & 4-800 IU vitamin D to have prevented this fracture --or indeed today's bad back.