Nutritional Diet Vitamin Supplements

Question: Why the contradictory information about nutritional supplements? Are they really a rip off? My doctor says that nutritional supplements - Vitamin D, B, Omega 3, Kelp - are a rip off. He said that these are not necessary and people get the nutrients they need through their diet. he feels that these supplements are purely placebo and in some cases can actually cause liver damage. On the other hand, lots of research that I've read online indicates that people need the supplements and that lack of them are what causes various other illness. What do you know about taking supplements? Why is there such a contradiction in the information about them? Just to clarify, I'm not trying to lose weight. I was just interested in being healthier and taking supplements for that. Thanks!

Answer: The internet and your doctor are right. Vitamins are not necessary if you are eating a proper diet. Your doctor must be one of the few out there that are eating properly. Now, what is properly. In general, you need to eat fruits and vegetables everyday and twice a day if you can. You must also eat fish at least 3 times a week (Omega 3s). If you live in the Northwest US like I do, I will not get enough vitamin D because of less sun light so I must take that vitamin. It is hard to find whole grains, eat eggs often, and more so sometimes a take Vitamin B. So, it is up to the individual to get their balance diet which may need vitamin supplements. Now the next part is your vitamin source. You can go to the store and buy synthetic vitamins but I would not. Take organic natural vitamins. Organic are gentle on the stomach and have a higher absolution rate. I would go with Nutrilite. They have organic farms in Washington State and California and were the first supplement company. As far as an organic multivitamin, take Nutrilite Double X Vitamin/Mineral/Phytonutrient. As you can see, it is more than a multivitamin. It also contains minerals and phytonutrient. There is also Nutrilite Daily Multivitamin/Multimineral if you are wanting something simple. Go to http://Arcameda.com and click on vitamins then Multivitamin to get more information on these. They have organic vitamins for everything. If you have any further questions, go to my profile to email me. Hope all is well.

Question: Do we really need all these vitamin and herbal supplements? With all the markets and health being flooded with vitamin and herbal supplements, I would like to ask do we really need all these supplements? And if yes which ones because theres literally thousands and one wonders which are actually key? And if exercise and having a nutritional diet really key!!!!!

Answer: NO! Not IF we eat a well balanced nutritionally sound diet! :)

Question: Close Lucky Vitamin Home About Us Help Track An Order 0 Items: $0.00 View CartCheckout 0 Items: $0.00? Close Lucky Vitamin Home About Us Help Track An Order 0 Items: $0.00 View CartCheckout 0 Items: $0.00 View CartCheckout Your shopping cart Code Item Quantity Price Your shopping cart is empty. Subtotal: $0.0 CheckoutUpdate Quantity» Continue Shopping * New Products * Categories * Brands * Ailments * Clearance * o The LuckyVitamin Blog o The LuckyVitamin Forum o Shop By Homeopathic Ailment o Shop By Ingredient Specialty o Download a Catalog o Health Library and Encyclopedia o LuckyVitamin eNews Archives o Browse Twin-Pack Specials o RSS Feeds o Customer Testimonials o LuckyVitamin Rewards Program Search Products Search Blog Search Forums Search Health Library Why Join? Create an Account Forgot Password? Login * Nutritional Supplements * Vitamins & Minerals * Sports Nutrition * Herbs * Diet & Weight Loss * Men's Health * Women's Health * Baby & Child Health * Sexual Health * Nutritional Bars * Homeopathy * Detoxification & Cleansing * Personal Care * Exercise & Fitness * Aromatherapy * Flower Essences * Pet Care * Health Foods * Water Purification & Storage * Teas * Health Aids * Housewares & Cleaning Aids * Professional Supplements * Gift Ideas Click To Read The Lucky Vitamin Blog! Brands * NOW Foods Clear List About NOW Foods NOW's Mission The NOW mission is - To provide value in products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives. NOW Foods is an award-winning and highly respected manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements and natural foods. In 1948, with the natural food and supplement industry in its infancy, entrepreneur Paul Richard paid $900 for the purchase of Fearn Soya Foods-a Chicago based manufacturer of grain and legume-based products. This began a six-decade legacy of providing health-seeking consumers with high-quality, affordable nutrition products. History of NOW In 1968, NOW Foods was founded under the belief that good health was not a luxury available only to the wealthy. For the past forty years, NOW has made it their life's work to offer health food and nutritional supplements of the highest quality, at prices that are fair and affordable to all those who seek them. Today, NOW Foods is one of the top-selling brands in health foods stores, an award-winning manufacturer, a respected advocate of the natural product industry, and a leader in the fields of nutritional science and methods development. And while NOW has grown considerably over the past four decades, one thing has never changed - NOW's commitment to providing products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives. NOW Commitments * Customer Focused and Information Driven - NOW believes that their products, services, and the decisions they make should be primarily influenced by the desires and needs of NOW customers. The decisions that NOW makes should be based on accurate information and therefore NOW places a high value on knowledge and learning within their organization. * Quality and Value Oriented - Acting in the best interest of NOW customers, NOW endeavors to produce the highest quality products at competitive prices. NOW's first priority is to maintain quality where it counts the most - in the products. NOW's exceptional cost-conscious team of employees then focuses their energies on driving costs down. Nurturing this competency of value drives NOW's ability to provide high quality products at the very best prices. * Natural is Better - NOW is convinced that natural products are better than their synthetic counterparts and produce better results in human health. Therefore, wherever possible, NOW strives to provide products that contain natural ingredients because they are better for their customers. NOW Science NOW's experienced professional and technical staff formulates their products to be of the highest quality. NOW has a group of biochemists, chemists, nutritionists, and food technologists who review current science and nutritional parameters, and formulate our products to be effective for the intended use. NOW's structure/function claims are based on science for active ingredients, and on nutritional science for nutritional content. Serving sizes are based on doses from clinical studies and other published data. NOW's contemporary formulas are designed to meet the health and wellness needs of today's consumers. NOW uses ingredients that have been tested for effectiveness in clinical trials and laboratory studies. The heart of NOW science is third party independent research. NOW investigates and review clinical studies and other lab studies:" ":test Sorry I'm bored :(

Answer: sure.....

Question: What can I mix in with kibble that is healthy snd won't screw up the nutritional balance of my dog's diet? I plan to switch my 62 # Setter to Innova EVO Reduced Fat for seniors dog. She is not overweight but a couple pounds less would be ideal. She will be 8 in September. I was feeding her Californa Natural and always suplemened it with 1/4 lean cooked meat with a small amout of green veggie and 3/4 th kibble and Missing Link Plus vitamin supplement with her meals. This Evo dog food has 52.0% protein whereas California Natural only has 21% protein. So adding more meat with Evo would not be wise, right? Also should I drop the supplements? Would that be overkill with vitamins with EVO? Jenivive.......Tuna is too salty and the low sodium kind has too much fat. Thanks for answering anyway. You get 10 pts if no one anwers by the end of the day.

Answer: tuna

Question: Is there any proof that a healthy diet improves pregnancy outcomes? No, I'm not trying to find an excuse to eat junk food -- I eat pretty well, always have. But I can't find any actual proof that healthy eating habits actually do much. I don't mean "as opposed to eating utter garbage and not taking a vitamin supplement." Nutritional _deficiencies_ = problems, yes.

Answer: Back in the day when obstetrics was a relatively new profession (1800's or so and I'm talking about men and "obstetrics" not midwifery) they believed that the baby was basically a parasite that fed off the mother and would get all it needed to grow from the mom. Dr's encouraged moms to gain as little weight as possible and didn't encourage or suggest dietary changes at all during pregnancy. (Doctors would even tell over weight women that they would need to lose weight during the pregnancy if only to have an easier time at getting back to the "ideal" weight post pregnancy.) As a result of this there were babies who were either born premature, very low birth rate, or even still born. There was even an epidemic of women dying during childbirth because of poor nutrition. This caused rickets and resulted in women's pelvises being abnormally shaped and babies could not be born. At the same time, women who were under the care of midwives, who, as a general practice, even today, encourage a good healthy diet and gaining weight to support the baby. These midwives were not having issues with low birth weight babies or sickly mom's not able to give birth- although, of course, exceptions occurred, but in general the midwives were having better outcomes as a result of encouraging a healthy diet and adequate weight gain. Today all Ob's and midwives know that women must gain at least 20-25 pounds (some gain more which is normal) during pregnancy to have a healthy weight baby. But studies have also found that a good nutritious diet can prevent heath problems in moms as well. Like avoiding gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia by eating a balanced diet high in protein and vitamins. So diet plays a large role in the health of you and your baby. I'm not saying to avoid junk food- but choose a candy bar with nuts so you can get your protein and eat all natural ice cream to get your calcium without all the other additives and extra sugar that other ice creams have. And of course, eat your veggies :)

Question: Is this a good way to lay out a Report on Nutrional Supplements? http://www.cancer.gov/Templates/db_alpha.aspx?CdrID=463726 nutritional supplement (noo-TRIH-shuh-nul SUH-pleh-ment) A product that is added to the diet. A nutritional supplement is taken by mouth, and usually contains one or more dietary ingredient (such as vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid, and enzyme). Also called dietary supplement. As defined by the National Cancer Institute a nutritional supplement is defined, “as A product that is added to the diet. A nutritional supplement is taken by mouth, and usually contains one or more dietary ingredient (such as vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid, and enzyme). Also called dietary supplement” and we will be discussing three specific ones. The three chosen are Vitamin E because this vitamin has amazing antioxidant powers, the mineral calcium because it is the trigger for the body movement within the sodium potassium pump, and the enzyme phosphatidylcholine for it is the prime ingredient for making acetylchone for nerve conduction and brain functioning. These nutritional supplements are not the only ones, yet I believe are very paramont for body functioning. This is the easy part now. Your 5 paragraph essay. I have already written your fist one, so simply restate it in your 5th paragraph. Use a thesaurus to find different words. Paragraph 2 Look up Vitamin E and explain the importance of it’s antioxidant actions in 3 sentences. The first sentence explains the whole idea you will be explaining, as the last sentence simple restates the first sentence. So now you only have three sentences (the body of the paragraph) to explain it. Paragraph 3 Look up Calcium and explain the importance of it triggering the sodium potassium pump ((which allows potassium to go into the muscles and sodium out which causes a reverse polarization of electrons) that causes the muscle to contract (flex or contract)). The first sentence explains the whole idea you will be explaining, as the last sentence simple restates the first sentence. So now you only have three sentences (the body of the paragraph) to explain it. Paragraph 4 Look up phosphatidylcholine ((pronounced: fos-foe-at-it-dill, coal-line) which is an enzyme found in the vitamin Lecithin that makes acetylchone (pronounced; ace-seet-al, coal-line) which is the prime neurotransmitter of the body that stimulates skeletal muscle cells. The first sentence explains the whole idea you will be explaining, as the last sentence simple restates the first sentence. So now you only have three sentences (the body of the paragraph) to explain it. Good luck. And remember, no miss-spelled words. This will cause you to get a far lower grade. As long as you use correct grammar, they cannot grade you down, even if what you say is incorrect. If you state a fact that is incorrect, it is up to the teacher to prove it with written documentation and very few teachers are going to work that hard.

Answer: Sorry I am way too bust right now. I have a ceiling to fix and a book to read. Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer, in case you were wondering. Gotta go. Looks good so far, keep up the good work.

Question: Do I capitalize Vitamin D or vitamin d, ginseng or Ginseng..etc? My research on this topic has convinced me that since the focus of treating ADHD is the management of its symptoms, alternative treatments such as changes in diet and nutritional supplements can provide an option for parents who are uncomfortable with prescription medication. Certain dietary changes have been said to alleviate ADHD symptoms. These changes can include the consumption of foods rich in magnesium, iron, vitamin d, vitamin b6, zinc, and omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. Nutritional supplements such as St. Johns Wort, ginseng, gingko biloba, and L-carnitine have also been said to help manage the symptoms of ADHD (Herbal Therapeutics Library).

Answer: vitamin D, vitamin B6 - capital ginseng - small St.John's wort - capital and small.

Question: Good recipes for homemade meals for dogs and cats? (I know pets also need vitamin and nutritional supplements, just as people do, so that's not a concern. They'll get their vits, I promise.) Anyone who feeds their cats or dogs a homemade diet, please share recipes, advice. Thanks.

Answer: I feed my dogs a raw diet. What they get each day varies, and it needs to varied in order to be balanced. Today they'll be getting chicken, ground turkey and some chicken livers. I encourage you do actually do the research on this before buying into the OMG raw meat will cause this or that. There are risks with everything, look at commercial pet food right now, but with a raw diet if you practice safe meat handling your chances of something bad are very slim. As far as a dog choking on a bone, there isn't one document case of a dog choking on a raw bone and dying, while you can find several cases of dogs choking on kibble and dying. There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet. http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm......... http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm... http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html..... http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html..... http://www.rawdogranch.com What's Really In Pet Food http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Question: What causes bruising from exercising-I seem to bruise quite easily & don't know why.? I have recently started to used weights in my exercise routine and I do know that I am exercising correctly. Sometimes I notice that I may get a black & blue mark on the top of my hand for no apparent reason. I have also been taking tamoxifen for the past three years - but I make sure that I take vitamins and nutritional supplements also. My diet is also very balanced. I would appreciate any comments since sometimes it looks like I've been in a fight. Thanks!

Answer: Some people just Bruise easily, I'm one of them. Evey time I go to the doctors, I keep getting asked where I got the bruises from as if someone beats me. Also being active can increase bruises it gives your self more chances to hit yourself against thing. Besides that, are you using to much weights, or doing to many reps?

Question: Is there a website out there that gives nutritional diet plans for female teenagers with A.D.D.? I have A.D.D., and endometriosis. I've heard of various foods and supplements I should take that would help my attention and female-related stuff, such as cranberry juice, fish oil, dark green vegetables, non-glucose, yogurt. I've never really taken vitamins as a daily ritual, and so I'm constantly low on iron and the doctor says right now I need calcium. I just wish there was some all around health website (or a specific one), I don't care, just it would give me all around advice and links for a female teen with A.D.D. And I'd really like to find online quiz thingy that allows you to put in your personal symptoms and conditions and comes up with a personalized list or daily menu of foods and vitamins and any other supplements you should take. OH! and I care a lot about animals, so being able to get foods from resources that don't harm animals or the environment is a big preference. I'm seriously thinking about becoming a vegetarian, but I've heard of a lot of my friends getting sick from it. I'm aware that we as homo sapiens NEED meat in our diet, and if that's the case, I'd like to eat meat in the least-harmful way possible. I'm also wondering about the subject of alternative medicine and dietary supplements.God gave us everything we really need, and things like protein drinks kinda weird me out... Not that I'm totally against them... Just something natural and humane would be ultimately preferred. Also, if you know any sites that offer support for teen girls or people with ADD or ADHD, or a page that has a bunch of those kind of links, that would also be very helpful. Thank you. :) I'd just like a website. Don't really need an explanation..

Answer: there is nothing out there that is credible because diet does nothing for ADHD but here is something to consider. certain foods can have an impact on your physical well being and that can stress you out and make adhd worse. and diet alone is good for you

Question: Bad vitamin combination? Ok, so, recently I have been taking 6 cranberry pills daily for a bladder infection and they contain 20% vitamin E. I accidentally took a multi-vitamin as well that has 100% vitamin E and not even 5 hours later I had severe diarrhea, stomach cramps and nausea so according to webmd and other websites I had an overdose. I will reduce my intake of cranberry pills to one a day to keep my bladder healthy but I am also taking fish oil which is a blood thinner like vitamin E... which means I need to find a multivitamin that does not include vitamin E. Not only that but recent studies have shown that we shouldn't be taking supplements for vitamin E because most multivitamins contain too much which can cause 10% higher death risk from any cause. So, my first question is... does anyone know about a multivitamin or a combination of vitamins I can take that will not have any interactions or cause overdoses? Also, what should I not take to avoid any kind of overdose, including calcium, vitamin A and other things that could be dangerous if taken in high quantities? And if I eat a balanced diet anyway, including meats, vegetables and pasta... would I even really need to take a multivitamin? I want to keep taking fish oil, multi-probiotic pills, and the cranberry pills... so should I just omit the multivitamin? Here are some sources... http://www.nutritional-supplement-educational-centre.com/vitamin-e-overdose.html

Answer: Hi Epeitomatrine, I think there are a few things that you may want to consider when it comes to taking supplements. First, supplements are supposed to supplement your diet, meaning that you should first try to get the nutrients from your diet because due to the complexity of foods, nutrients in a pill just do not work nearly as well. Research has consistency shown this. For example, antioxidants have been proven to be extremely beneficial when they come in the form of fruits and other foods, but when they were in the form of pills, research has shown that they body just can't make much use of it. Second, excess intakes of vitamins and minerals can be just as harmful as inadequate intakes. Therefore, you must make sure that the supplements contain more of what you're getting less of from your diet, and less or none of what you're already getting enough of from your diet. Otherwise, you may end up having inadequate intakes for some vitamins and minerals, and excessive intake for others, providing a lose-lose situation, so to say. Third, excess of a single vitamin in a pill may also affect absorption of other vitamins and minerals. Indication of your body not being able to absorb the vitamins/minerals is bright yellow urine. Foods can be heavily fortified or enriched these days, so it is important to read nutrition labels. For example, one serving of many breakfast cereals can contain as much vitamin and minerals as a daily vitamin and mineral pill, and therefore it may not be necessary to still take a vitamin and mineral pill on days when you'll have a bowl of cereal. I hope this helps! -Alvin

Question: Might energy or herbal supplements cause a drug interaction with medication for AD-HD? We are going to check with the doctor first but that may take a while since he is booked for several weeks. In the interim, we are looking for basic guidance, hopefully from someone who has had experience with AD-HD medication or is a medical professional in the know. This is for a 13 year old male who is active in sports and would like some nutritional supplements, specifically to boost energy / build strength. He has a good diet and takes a good general multivitamin supplement. We know about increasing Vitamin B in the diet. But there are other herbals and amino acids one can choose in addition to regular vitamins and minerals to help boost energy, improve strength, build lean muscle, etc. In particular, we are looking at legal anabolic activators we have used successfully in the past and which teens have used safely in their sports nutrition. One anabolic activator we are looking at does include creatine, royal jelly, chromium, yohimbe, kola nut, and various amino acids. But this was outside the inclusion of AD-HD medication, and there are several AD-HD drugs doctors can choose from beyond Ritalin which include: * Adderol * Adderol XR * Focalin * Concerta * Stratera * Dexedrine * Metadate ER * Metadate CD So as a general rule, are legal anabolic activators and/or energy supplements from the nutrition store (e.g. GNC or The Vitamin Shoppe) safe to use with teens if they are taking AD-HD medication? As I began this question with "We are going to ask the doctor", I'm not looking for a response, "Ask your doctor." We are simply making a decision as to HOW MUCH anabolic activator to order (10 days shipping time) because if it is safe for a teen on AD-HD medication, we'll order more. If not, we'll order less and still put it to good use as there is more than one athlete in this household. I'm looking for BASIC guidance, not a prescription or a diagnosis.

Answer: Okay. This is in general here. While your general vitamin and mineral supplement is going to be fine, as long as you stay within normal ranges (for example, you want about 35 µg of chromium daily), as will most amino acids - though I wouldn't bar some company out there from selling some pretty odd things as amino acids. On the other hand, most plant extracts or 'herbal' products should be avoided. Most of these have never been through any sort of safety testing, and as the toxicology is slowly worked through on a lot of these are coming out to have major impacts on such systems as the Cytochrome P450 mixed function monooxygenase enzymes. Within the last few years for example, it has been worked out that some forms of echinacea are potent blockers of not just one, but all of the major enzymes in this system, which makes it readily possible for it to induce overdose while taking normal doses of medication. Yohimbine, (the chemical) I can cite as a disastrous idea. Yohimbine is active in the adrenergic receptors, and is notorious for causing blood pressure problems. Most of the ADD drugs you list are sympathetomimetic stimulants - which could cause a variety of nasty problems with yohimbine, up to hypertensive emergencies. As a general rule, if it is a product containing your basic vitamins and minerals in normal doses, yes. If, however, it is a product that contains an exotic variety of plant extracts, or rather exotic compounds purported for altering physiological chemistry - these would not be considered safe with most prescription medications, and especially not considered safe when dealing with ADD medications. The fact of the matter is there's virtually no safety monitoring or testing of herbal products, and many of the plants that have been tested for physiological activity have turned out to have some very unwanted properties.

Question: I need advice on changing my senior dog's diet, help? I plan to switch my Setter to Innova EVO Reduced Fat for seniors dog. She is not overweight but a couple pounds less would be ideal. She will be 8 in September. I was feeding her Californa Natural and always suplemened it with 1/4 lean cooked meat and vitamins. This Evo dog food has 52.0% protein whereas California Natural only has 21% protein. So adding more meat with Evo would not be wise, right? Also should I drop the vitamin supplements? Would she be getting too many vitamins with EVO? Any ideas what I can mix with the kibble to keep my dog happy and not screw up the nutritional balance of this high quality food?

Answer: I would quit giving her the meat (or at least really reduce the amounts) when you switch her to the EVO. I would also drop the vitamin supplement (unless it is a glucosimine/chondroitan supplement). I would just switch her very slowly (over at least 2 weeks) and give her just small amounts of the meat with the EVO. You can also try soaking the dry EVO with a little bit of hot water or broth (salt free or low sodium) until it becomes mushy.

Question: Acne problems any nutritional solutions vitamins? Does anyone have any experience with treating acne with supplements and diet? Not the avoid chocolate and oil junk, but what to eat and what supplemts to take? I have all the topical treatments I can take. I just want to know what is good to eat and what vitamins. Not topical products please. If I have to drink beet juice I want to know. If I have to take a certain vitamin I want to know. I do not need the old wives tales or topicals. I just want to know what is good to eat and what vitamins. Not topical products please. If I have to drink beet juice I want to know. If I have to take a certain vitamin I want to know. I do not need the old wives tales or topicals.

Answer: yup, the beet juice can be helpful, the carrot juice is a major winner for skin due to the high Vitamin A content. When I first started clearing mine up I drank about 1 quart of fresh juiced organic carrot juice per day and consumed little else. It was magic. A high quality multi-vitamin / mineral/ herb supplement is excellent nutritional advice. The magic pill is mega-doses of beta-carotene ( I take 9 large beta-carotene caps per day). ( To save money I buy these on-line in quantity) Your body converts it to vitamin A as needed, avoiding the problems of Vitamin A overdose and toxicity which is very important. I use The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murray ND who is a naturopathic doctor at Bastyr College in Seattle. This book has helped me remedy many chronic ailments. No sugar, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, etc. Fresh raw and steamed veggies, small amounts of lean protein, exercise, hot soaking steamy baths with pure castile soaps, scub the body and face frequently with separate boar bristle brushes while soaking in the hot steamy tub. (castile soap has no animal fat in it, and Kirks Castile ( available at local Kroger grocery store near the mega-corp. bath soaps, or on line by name on the company website) is excellent and only about $1 per long lasting bar, good for the whole body & face). I also use an inexpensive green clay masque (Queene Helene's Mint Julep clay masque from Walgreen's for about $3. a tube, or plain green clay from the local health food store mixed with apple cider vinegar for really thorough cleaning) frequently to assist the body in eliminating all the debris. Get enough sleep. Do this faithfully daily for even one week, and you should easily start to see your skin improve noticably.

Question: Seeing my doctor again tomorrow because I don't feel any better? I am a 21 year old woman. I eat extremely healthy (an all organic well balanced diet) with no junk food ever, take vitamins and nutritional supplements, I don't take any prescription or OTC medications at all, I exercise, get about 8 hours of sleep a night, drink plenty of water and don't drink alcohol or do drugs. About a year and a half ago, I suddenly started feeling really run down all the time, started getting acne on my face, chest and back (which I never had before), extremely swollen lymph nodes in my neck (like the size of small eggs swollen), and white firm balls of smelly stuff that comes out of my tonsils. I went to my old GP, couldn't actually see him, then passed off by his rude nurse who gave me some antibiotics and basically told me to go away. So I just delt with it, up until about 3 months ago, when my boss started noticing me falling asleep at work (I have "episodes" that last about 10 minutes where I physically cannot stay awake no matter how hard I try, then I black out, then I come to and feel normal again). I decided rather than go back to my GP's surly nurse, I would see a naturopath instead since I believe in treating things naturally anyways. My new doctor is a very nice man, he comes highly recommended, and in my opinion takes a very sensible approach to natural medicine (he isn't off in the twilight zone and uses traditional medicine when applicable). In my initial visit, he spent an hour listening to what exactly my issues were, tested me for strep in his office (negative), reviewed all my supplements (and he made some suggestions on what to change and add) gave me a b-vitamin shot, and sent me for some blood tests (thyroid function, white blood cell count, mono, iron and calcium levels). Everything was pretty normal, my iron was a little on the lower end of the normal range. He put me on a light iron supplement every other day and told me to take a different liquid multivitamin to see if that helped, and told me to come back in 2 months to discuss how I feel, and he explained that this may be a very long haul to find out what's wrong, and that he will figure out the problem before giving me any type of treatment (I like that idea). It's been 3 months, I still feel like absolute crap, my acne is worsening, my tonsils still have smelly white crap coming out and my lymph nodes still look like eggs in my throat. My appointment is tomorrow afternoon. What do I say to him? I'm in the same condition I was 3 months ago, and actually feel slightly worse (I will admit the portion of my skin that the acne isn't on, like my belly and legs, looks significantly better after taking the liquid multi so it had some effect). Are there any suggestions you all may have to ask him about? Or ideas what may be wrong so I can ask him to test me for it? I like that my doctor isn't going to treat me before he knows what's actually wrong, but I feel like hell every single day, and the sooner we can figure this out, the sooner I can feel alive again. I forgot to add, when he did the mono test, he also tested for epstein-bar virus. I was negative for both. I do not care to use acne creams to cover it up, I want to figure out what is CAUSING the acne. I do not want internal birth control either. I am getting married in October, and we want to have kids in the next few years (yet another reason I'm trying to be healthy and feel better). I think it is unnatural to do that to your body, probably damages your reproductive organs in some way, and I refuse to do so. And I certainly don't want to see any more doctors who pass off my problems with a band-aid prescription without getting to the root cause. My doctor has also told me, if he feels it necessary, he will refer me to a specialist, but he will check in with that specialist to make sure I am getting proper attention, not just shoved pills to treat symptoms without a diagnosis.

Answer: Swollen lymph nodes means you are fighting some infection or virus . The tonsils are forming tonsil stones called tonsillith's which are usually very hard stones and when broken really do stink. The can form in anyone with tonsils A friend removed one and I still remember the smell, and it was years ago. I would want to be tested for any STD's or anything that would lower immune system functioning. You may be suffering from a few small conditions and looking to connect them in to one large one that is not there. I am more concerned about the lymph nodes than anything else. They are the one sure sign of something going on that should not be. As nice as you physician is I would want a definitive diagnosis and not a trial and error search. This can be done even if you have to check into a hospital. It has been going on too long and you have real symptoms. There is no point in being alarmed as there are so many things that can cause this so don't jump to conclusions. Even parasites can cause all your symptoms.

Question: What is a good nutritional weight loss supplement? I've started going to the gym five days a week and using the elliptical machine for 30 minutes to an hour. I frequently forget to eat breakfast before going and I am usually not hungry for 4-5 hours after working out. I know that is bad but I simply forget to eat. I am hoping to lose 5-10 pounds. I do not build muscle easily (and that is not really what I am hoping to do anyway.) While I eat fairly healthy (I stay away from sugary drinks and high fat foods), I don't eat much protein. I realize that my lack of a balanced nutritional diet may be making my weight loss more difficult. To be honest I have no idea I am looking for, perhaps a vitamin, or maybe some kind of shake but I know that I want something that will assist me in losing weight as I work out.

Answer: Put a big sticky on your door that says, "EAT BREAKFAST" There's no magic pill. You need a source of protein, and a few carbohydrates for breakfast - not doing so will only slow your weight-loss, and reduce the amount of lean tissue collected on your body. This is a bad thing. Eat a few egg whites for breakfast, and a slice of whole grain toast with sugar-free (unsweetened) jam. At roughtly 150calories and 6g protein (2 egg whites), it's the perfect amount of energy for a lean-ish woman to consume early in her day. Also, take a regular multivitamin at this time, and have a big glass of water. You can do what I do as well, and eat an entire cucumber (10" or larger!) between breakfast and lunch. The potassium does wonders for energy levels while dieting.