I just had my 75th birthday. Everything I wrote 4 years ago (below) is still true, and some other actions and supplements have been added/altered. New information will be in [square quote marks].
This month, I will be 71 years old. I weigh exactly what I weighed playing Division I freshman football and 4 years of Top Five nationally ranked tennis team at Rice University. My measured body fat is always below 15%. I have been a lifelong athlete and still play competitive tennis. Beyond tennis 2-3 times per week, I work out at a gym 2-4 times per week, mostly weight lifting with some stationary bike work. I have been a mostly vegetarian (some fish, some dairy—ice cream!, some cheese, mostly goat) for over 40 years. Never smoked, and the only Rx ‘s I take are testosterone and it’s metabolic counter, finasteride which prevents conversion to dihydrotestosterone. Based on those aspects of my life, I am healthier than 99% of men of similar age.
I want to be as healthy as I can for as long as I can. Most people would share similar goals, I would expect. No one wants to be debilitated by cancer, or heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s—these are the diseases that most older Americans must face and eventually die from. So, in addition to the health habits and results I mentioned above, I take many nutritional supplements. I have taken supplements since I was 11 years old. My father was a very early proponent of vitamin and mineral supplements. Many Americans, more than 50%, maybe 60%, take some sort of supplement. While any supplementation is probably better than no supplementation, it is best to know what each potential supplement might do for someone.
Here is what I take, and why, in the order I would recommend to an average relatively healthy adult. Specialty nutrients for specific conditions will come later. I do not expect any reader to blindly accept what I write as absolute truth. I hope that any inquisitive or skeptical person would investigate further what I outline here. Starting places online include: Life Extension Foundation at lef.org; Vitamin D Council at vitamindcouncil.org; and Dr. Mercola at mercola.com. Each of these sites publishes information on health and disease and the natural influences of nutrition and supplements that is based on research references any reader can investigate further.
MY BASIC SUPPLEMENTS SUITED FOR ANYONE/EVERYONE
I take a high potency multi-vitamin that includes all of the B-complex in amounts several times higher than the Recommended Daily Value (RDV), 500 mg of C, 100 IU of E, 5,000 IU of A, 2000 IU of D3, 200 mcg of selenium and chromium, 15 mg of zinc and lesser amounts of several other nutrients. I use Life Extension Two/Day (all of my supplements are Life Extension, because they simply report all the research documenting supplement effectiveness in their magazine, and no other company is better. (Several supplement companies are top quality, including Douglas Labs, Thorne, Pure Encapsulation, and Vitamin Research Products). The multi-vit covers a lot of nutrient bases, and provides the absolute essentials for health. Note I did not mention calcium, magnesium or iron in the 2/Day. That is because iron is usually not needed for men and may be a trigger for heart disease and arthritis, calcium requires a large volume of material to be effective, ditto for magnesium. Life Extension expects those 3 to be separately supplemented as needed. For instance, I take no iron or calcium. [Life Extension 2/Day multi has been selected as the best multi-vitamin by an independent scientific board for 5 of the last 6 years, due to it’s potencies and completeness and ease of use, only 2 per day as opposed to 4 or 6 of some others].
Vitamin D3 is vitally important for good health and 90% or more of the US population is somewhat deficient. I take 5-10,000 IU extra per day beyond the 2,000 in the multi. D3 is needed for about 2000 genes to function properly, so its importance can not be overstated. I take it for its anti-cancer properties (prevents 50% of most cancers) and its brain protection, everything from anti-depression to anti-Alzheimer’s. Its roles are too numerous to mention in this article. Blood tests will tell you your levels, and don’t be satisfied with what the medical authorities call “adequate” of 25-30 ng/ml. I suggest 50 ng/ml as a minimum. My values have been 65-115 ng/ml. Remember that vitamin D3 is actually a hormone, produced by your body as a result of exposure to strong direct sunlight. Hence, we have evolved with it as part of our basic metabolic needs. We now get minimal sun exposure due to lifestyle; we live and work indoors, we wear clothes, we ride in cars, and due to short-sighted health advice, we avoid sunshine and wear sunblocker. Guess what, the more sunshine/ultraviolet light a person is exposed to, the LESS organ cancers—those kind that kill you—that person is likely to get. Yes, too much sun exposure can cause squamous cell and basal cell cancer, but the evidence on melanoma is mixed (more indoor workers get melanoma). For the most part, most skin cancers are a minor annoyance dealt with in a 30 minute dermatologist visit. [Research indicates that moderate and frequent sun exposure without a burn actually protects against melanoma. The rate of melanoma in Maine is higher than in Florida!]
Magnesium is the mineral needed for more enzymatic reactions than any other, and there is an 80% chance you are deficient. Magnesium acts contra to calcium in many metabolic functions—think of calcium to tighten and magnesium to loosen. Magnesium is a muscle relaxer and a nerve modulator and helps maintain normal heart rhythm. I began using it as a night-time powder in 6 oz. warm water to relax blood vessels and prevent “restless legs” and night-time leg cramps in my patients. Magnesium is one of the few nutrients that will give a person a near immediate drug like effect (niacin is another) if you take too much. As a muscle relaxer, it has an effect on the gastro-intestinal tract, which is a long string of muscles. Take the right amount and you will have a very comfortable bowel movement in 3-6 hours. Take too much and you will have diarrhea for longer than you want. Magnesium is important to the cardiovascular system because it relaxes arterial muscle and allows more blood flow through the larger lumen. This reduces blood pressure. I have achieved a short-term 10 point drop in my systolic and 8 points in diastolic BP by use of magnesium supplements. My blood pressure is normally 120/80 or less. [Today was 119/79, and I can manipulate it with supplements to 108/66 sometimes]. Magnesium also has anti-cancer properties and is important in mental function. Life Extension has a special magnesium compound that crosses the blood brain barrier and improves short-term and long term memory, and may have Alzheimer’s prevention capabilities, magnesium L-threonate. marketed as Neuro-Mag. This is the form of magnesium I am starting to take, 144mg/day.
Omega 3 fatty acids, comprised mainly of EPA and DHA are literally good for every system of your body. They are particularly important to the brain and nervous system. approximately 1/3 of your brain by weight is DHA. Like D3 and magnesium, Omega 3 is important for brain function and is a mood stabilizer. Omega 3 is good for skin, joints, lipid balance and as prevention for excess inflammation and pain. I suggest 1500 to 2000 mg total per day. [I now take krill oil as well as Omega 3, as krill has even better results for joint health and is effective for brain and heart also, and reduces LDL cholesterol as well as statin drugs while it raises good cholesterol, HDL, significantly, which statin drugs do not improve.]
Those are the four types of supplements that I think are minimal for nutritional support for any person. They are not to be viewed and used as a substitute for good basic nutrition from a plant based diet, but in addition to it. The basics of good health will always start with a good plant based diet, consistent exercise of both aerobic and strength building, good sleep and rest, and positive mental attitude. Supplements make the good results even better. [All still true! I have researched sleep extensively and learned that sleeping in complete darkness with no outside light coming through windows AND no light from electronic devices, computers, cell phones, etc. is very important for brain health and to prevent hormonal associated cancers. Research indicates that a high percentage of breast cancer is associated with light at night—LAN or ALAN, artificial light at night. I believe prostate cancer is also associated with LAN].
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS FOR SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
An herb, curcumin, is an extract of turmeric, one of the spices used to make curry. Curcumin has been found to be a powerful anti-inflammatory substance. Inflammation has in recent years become the poster child for the trigger of all degenerative diseases: arthritis, diabetes, dementias, heart disease, cancer, and even as a factor in obesity. If a person can minimize their inflammation, they can minimize their odds of those diseases. The most specific test for inflammation in your body is C-reactive protein. Curcumin is one of those nutrients that will reduce C-reactive protein significantly. Mercola.com has stated in an article that he thinks curcumin is as powerful if not more so than Vitamin D3 as a cancer preventive factor. Curcumin has shown protective effects against Alzheimer’s. I suggest you search mercola.com and LEF.org for specifics about curcumin. I have taken it for several years to minimize the inflammatory response in my arthritic joints when I play tennis. It has allowed me to greatly reduce my use of all NSAIDs. NSAIDS chronic use is a major cause of ulcers as well as kidney disease.
I have a Rx for testosterone as my normal levels had fallen to below acceptable levels a few years ago. The research on testosterone’s benefits for older men (and women) is indisputable. A medical study that found it had no benefit for prevention of heart disease never got the blood levels even into low normal range that has been shown to provide those benefits. Again, LEF.org has the full story and many references to positive testosterone research. (My wife takes bio-identical hormones, estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone from a compounding pharmacy.These work wonders for her.) I and my wife also take DHEA, a precursor hormone to many other hormones including the sex hormones mentioned. I take 100 mg per day, she takes 25 mg as much more than that may have masculinizing effect on women.
Anyone who has or who is in danger of future arthritis should be taking glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates. I first started taking them in 1984. As severe as the damage was to my body from my aircraft accident, I am still playing competition tennis at a high level, and as I said earlier, taking only curcumin plus ginger for the pain and inflammation most of the time.. I have Rx’d glucosamine and chondroitin together for patients as young as 16, as they were ballet dancers with less than perfect bodies for ballet (if there is such a thing). 1500 mg of glucosamine and 500 of chondroitin is the usual daily amounts.
Lycopene is a phytonutrient that occurs in tomatoes, and is naturally released by cooking them, allowing greater absorption than from raw. Lycopene is a major preventive of prostate cancer and has some significant effects for other cancers including breast. I eat as much tomato sauce as possible on my steamed vegetables to get it in my diet but also take supplements of it as part of a Life Extension prostate health formula.. 15-20 mg per day is sufficient to have a powerful preventive effect.
I take at various times some of the following, though not every day: CoQ10, 100 mg of ubiquinol type which is better absorbed and metabolized; green tea extract,725 mg with EGCG, now credited with anti-dementia/Alzheimer’s properties; and krill oil, 150 to 1500 mg, which contains astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant; krill at doses of 500 to 1500 mg will lower bad cholesterol as well as any statin drug, but also raises HDL, the good cholesterol.
[Additionally, I take L-taurine, an amino acid that helps stimulate new brain cell growth. I take it at night with my magnesium L-threonate powder and Cognitex, a LEF product with brain cell growth and protective substances—sage, blueberry/bilberry/ashwagandha/phosphatidylserine/pregnenolone/vinpocetine. Also, I take resveratrol, a very powerful anti-oxidant probably on a par with curcumin for effectiveness. I have started taking LEF digestive enzymes, most time on an empty stomach so the action is anti-inflammatory for sore joints/muscles. That product has probiotics encapsulated to augment my LEF probiotics with phages which kill unwanted bacteria and foster growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut!]
Each person should access their family history and their own lifestyle and determine what they should try to avoid most—cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, macular degeneration, or whatever. Then do some real research by reading Life Extension Foundation’s extensive library of research about supplements that work best for their potential problem. Mercola.com is a good source also, who always provides references. Doctormurray.com is pretty good though some of his information is no longer valid and he does not provide references. Vitamindcouncil.org is the most up to date on current research on D3.
Most chronic diseases of heart, cancer, diabetes, liver, obesity and dementias including Alzheimer’s can be prevented or postponed for 10-20 years by adhering to a lifestyle based on plant-heavy diet, good exercise, no smoking, minimal alcohol use, and proper rest. Really good supplementation can increase the effectiveness of those efforts by 25-75% when applied correctly. This could literally boost your total protection from these diseases to 90-95%.
SUPPLEMENTS TO REDUCE PAIN AND INFLAMMATION:
I am adding this addendum 4 years after I first published it. The previous narrative has not changed significantly except in 2 specific and personal ways. I now take several supplements aimed at brain function and health; and I take some specifically for reduction of pain and inflammation. The ones for brain are all from Life Extension Foundation (LEF.org)and include Neuro-Mag, Cognitex Elite Pregnenolone, and Focus Tea. The ones for reduction of pain/inflammation include Advanced Bio-Curcumin with Ginger & Turmerones, Krill Healthy Joint Formula, Glucosamine/Chondroitin, NT2 Collagen in addition to 10,000 IUs D3 and 1500-2000 mgs Omega 3 EPA/DHA.
The supplements for pain/inflammation increase anti-inflammatory enzymes and prostaglandins. I take these most consistently when I am engaging in extra stressful tennis activities. I recently played a 75 and Over tournament where in addition to the practice days before the start day, I played every day for 4 days (5 matches). In all, I played 8 or 9 days in a row, and probably 26 of 30 days. I was working out in the gym about 1/2 of those days. I breezed through that tournament with minimum arthritic joint and exercise induced muscle pain. To be truthful, I made judicious use of Aleve (naproxyn sodium) also, but only a minimum amount, 1 or 2 per 24 hours. In case you don’t know, Aleve is dangerous to your stomach/GI tract and significantly increases bleeding ulcer incidence. Other NSAIDS such as aspirin and ibuprofen do also (acetometaphen/Tylenol is not so benign also, and is particularly dangerous to your liver if alcohol is consumed in moderate or higher amounts).
Life Extension lists 10 different formulas for “Inflammation Management” and 9 formulas for “Joint Support”.