Q: Do we really need to take supplements every day?

A: A healthy diet is always the basis for good health, but because nowadays it is not easy to get all the health boosting nutrients you need from your diet, taking supplements may be extremely beneficial.

With the dominance of supermarket shopping, there’s no way of knowing the freshness or nutritional content of our food. Even if you eat all the right foods modern agricultural and production processes remove much of the nutritional value.

For example, almost 80 per cent of zinc is removed from wheat during the milling process to ensure that bread has a longer shelf life. Part of the problem is that the soil food is grown on today is so lacking in nutrients due to overuse and commercial farming methods, so that even foods we regard as healthy, like vegetables, may not contain the nutrients you expect.

According to joint research by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, between 1940 and 1990 vegetables lost 76% of their copper content, 24% of their magnesium and 27% of their iron quotient. From the vitamin point of view, it may be so long since an orange was picked that by the time you eat it has lost most of the vitamin C you bought it for in the first place. 

A recent a Which Magazine report found that one pack of sliced green beans contained only 11% of the vitamin C it should have done. It’s clear that many of us are simply not getting all the nutrients we need to ensure optimum health and fertility from our food. This was confirmed by a National Diet and Nutritional survey published in 2003 which looked at adults aged 19-64 showed that only 15% of women and 13% of men actually ate the five-a- day target for fruit and vegetables.

With vitamins and minerals, 74% of women failed to achieve the Reference Nutrient Intake In an ideal world a healthy diet would provide all the nutrients we need but we don’t live in an ideal world and I do suggest that you take a good quality daily multi vitamin and mineral as an insurance policy instead of high doses of individual nutrients and take one appropriate for your age. So if you over the age of 45 take one designed for leading up to the menopause, through it and beyond (like MenoPlus) or if you are aiming to get pregnant take Fertility Plus for Women.

The mineral magnesium is important for every organ in your body, particularly your heart, muscles, and kidneys. It also contributes to the composition of your teeth and bones. Most importantly, it activates enzymes, contributes to energy production, and helps regulate calcium levels as well as copper, zinc, potassium, vitamin D, and other important nutrients in the body.

In addition, magnesium levels seem to diminish during the menopause at the same time that oestrogen levels start to drop. Oestrogen enhances magnesium utilisation and uptake by soft tissues and bone and this could explain the resistance of young women to heart disease and osteoporosis — as well as the increased prevalence of these diseases when oestrogen production ceases. For this reason, topping up your magnesium during the menopause may help to relieve some menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and insomnia and decrease your increased risk of osteoporosis and heart disease.

Magnesium is available in many foods. Green vegetables such as cabbage are good sources of magnesium because the centre of the chlorophyll molecule (which gives green vegetables their colour) contains magnesium. Some legumes (beans and peas), nuts and seeds, and whole, unrefined grains are also good sources of magnesium. Refined grains are generally low in magnesium because when white flour is refined and processed, the magnesium-rich germ and bran are removed. Eating a wide variety of legumes, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables will therefore help you meet your daily dietary need for magnesium; however, most women simply don’t get as much magnesium as they should from their diet.

Certain medical conditions can also upset the body’s magnesium balance. For example, intestinal flu with vomiting or diarrhoea can cause temporary magnesium deficiencies. Certain stomach and bowel diseases (such as irritable bowel and Coeliac’s disease), diabetes, pancreatitis, hyperthyroidism, kidney malfunction, and use of diuretics can lead to deficiencies. Too much coffee, salt, or alcohol intake as well as heavy menstrual periods, excessive sweating, and prolonged stress can also lower magnesium levels.

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency may include agitation and anxiety, irritability, nausea and vomiting, abnormal heart rhythms, confusion, muscle spasm and weakness, hyperventilation, insomnia, poor nail growth, and even seizures. When someone is deficient in magnesium, sleep often tends to be restless, agitated and disturbed by frequent night time awakenings.

Because most women don’t get enough magnesium in their diet supplementing with magnesium is advised. Magnesium works best when it’s balanced with calcium. Because magnesium improves the absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract, taking calcium and magnesium together, particularly around the time of the menopause can help prevent bone loss and ease menopause related symptoms such as hot flushes and insomnia.

Bear in mind that all forms of magnesium are not equally effective. For example, when we take magnesium in the oxide or carbonate form, we then have to produce sufficient stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) to absorb it. When magnesium is in the form of magnesium citrate, it is bound to citric acid which are easily assimilated and require little acidification prior to absorption. (The multivitamin and mineral I use in the clinic for women around the menopause is called MenoPlus and contains good amounts of magnesium in the citrate form).

Recent research has indicated that in addition to calcium, magnesium and vitamin D, other vital nutrients that play a key role in osteoporosis prevention are antioxidants.

Experts now believe that increased intake of fruit and vegetables and the antioxidants they contain, like vitamins C and E may improve bone health and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

A study published in the September 2003 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation proposed a new theory of how oestrogen loss causes osteoporosis by concluding that a deficiency of the hormone lowers the antioxidants in osteoclasts (the cells that promote bone absorption), which increases their activity. Researchers, from St George’s Hospital Medical School in London, concluded that the mechanism of oestrogen deficiency in bone loss is that of lowering the antioxidants in osteoclasts which sensitises them to signals that promote bone resorption.

These observations clearly support dietary recommendations for eating more fruit and vegetables (which also make the body more alkaline which is a key factor in prevention of osteoporosis – see my book ‘Osteoporosis – the silent epidemic’) and while the findings need to be confirmed by larger longitudinal studies which are currently underway, they do highlight the potential of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables to modify the risk of osteoporosis.

They also suggest that taking antioxidants may reduce the risk of osteoporosis when a woman approaches the menopause, one of the primary health concerns associated with this stage in a woman’s life.

The implication is not only that bone loss may be prevented but that it may also be treated with antioxidants. While further research is needed, it’s a significant breakthrough in Western medicine. Indeed, boneset — a plant believed to be high in antioxidants — has been used by Native American peoples for centuries to treat and speed the healing of broken bones. The growing friendship between natural medicine and Western science just may produce treatment options in the coming years we never would have thought possible. (A good antioxidant ‘mix’ I use in the clinic is Nutriguard Plus).