Whole food multi-vitamins

Yeah, there are people who swear by statin drugs like Lipitor (even the inventor of the artificial heart endorses it!) but I know it's rough on your liver and some of the common side effects are muscle aches and memory loss. Bill Maher (loved by some and hated by others on here) often preaches about all the processed food we eat and all the drugs pushed on us by big pharma that are slowly killing us. When it comes down to it, he's right in a lot of senses. Good cholesterol and good health in general without drugs, the long term effects on our bodies of which are still unknown, is obviously the best prescription for a long life. These drugs aren't natural to our bodies.

Even the much vaunted fish oil supplements are risky. There's a recent study out that shows that 75 percent of the population is helped by fish oil supplements, but 25 percent is actually harmed by them. My now former doctor pointed that out and said that you have to get a really expensive blood test done to find out which group you're in. To me, that's just more proof that diet and exercise are the way to go rather than looking for some magic pill for this or that. That's not to say all drugs are bad, ummkay. There are people with AIDS and diabetes etc. that make it another day because of drugs. (Just wanted throw in that little disclaimer.)

I will definitely pass along any good info I get from the dietitian. I tried to get my now former doctor to lead me down the right path with nutrition as well, but I later found out that physicians aren't trained in nutrition so he wasn't necessarily being an a-hole when he blew that question off. Anyway, I think this dietition might be the answer, at least in my case.

 

I take Centrum. Is it good for me? I don't know. But it can't hurt. I think.

 

I'm not going to get to crazy into this right now cause I'm tired and it's late, but I've been doing a lot of reading lately on all-natural and homeopathic meds (and doctors), and from everything I've read and gathered, taking just about any over the counter or prescription drug causes harm to the body.

One report I read stated non-prescription and prescription drugs are one of the leading causes of death in the country now. A lot of people say, and I agree, that all these medicines do is treat the symptoms of the disease, virus, etc, but do not cure anything.

Think about this for a second: If medicines actually wiped out disease, then the pharmaceutical would cease to exist and a lot of fat cats (and politicians who have stock in these companies) would lose major cheddar.

Going back to the homeopathic route, there are more and more people going that route, with excellent results, but the FDA refuses to acknowledge "all-natural" remedies as the cure for any disease because they don't make any money for the drug companies or politicians.

 

The day prescription drugs started being advertised on TV is the day I absolutely stopped trusting the drug companies. The pharmaceutical industry (along with the food industry and the automobile industry) has absolutely brainwashed America.

My parents are both on Lipitor and I obviously can't tell them what to do, but I do tell them hell will freeze over before I ever take that stuff.

It's not that I'm all that trusting of the supplement industry either, but I at least don't feel they are trying to brainwash us, and I figure a whole food product, assuming the listed ingredients are actually in there, might be something worthwhile. That's why I'm asking.

 

And the thing is, they really don't need that stuff to lower their cholesterol. When I first started taking Lipitor 5 years ago, it freaked me out that I had high cholesterol. So I stopped eating red meat, started eating more broccoli and a lot of salmon (the nasty, farm raised, red-dye injected stuff from the store that I would never touch now) and started walking around the block for 30 minutes several days a week. I got rechecked in a few months and my cholesterol had dropped dramatically. My now former doctor said it was the biggest drop he'd ever seen.

But in the years since, I've slacked off and taken Lipitor for granted. I read somewhere recently that effectively eating a hot dog and sprinkling it with Lipitor doesn't make the hot dog any better nutritionally. It's still a hot dog, which is really bad for you. But that's the mentality I've taken over the years: Eat whatever I want because the Lipitor will keep my cholesterol in check (which it does).

So I hit 35 the other day. I'd been anticipating it and dreading my birthday. Now that it's passed, I figured the only thing I can do is make my body younger through food and exercise. This specialist who was recommending the GNC vitamins (he's a psychiatrist BTW - I do take some stuff for anxiety and depression because of where I'm at in life right now and my former doctor wouldn't prescribe the drugs because he's paranoid) said your age is just a number. He said if you go to the gym, there are some 60 year olds in there who look 40 and some who look 80. It's all a matter of how you take care of yourself.

JackS - let me know what you come up/decide with on the Whole Foods vitamins. I think I might have posted asking a similar question a few months back about Vitamins and Whole Foods (along with GNC I guess) would seem like the top places to get a vitamin from. I go to Whole Foods a decent bit, though all their locations are 30-40 minutes away, so it's not where I do my regular grocery shopping.