Will supplements really cause you to die early?

Once again a scientific report is attacking your supplements. This time, a study says they might shorten your life! The study, released a couple weeks ago, continues to make news. But few are looking at the real truth of the report. Here’s what you need to know.

The report did an analysis of vitamin supplement intake on 38,772 older women over 22 years old. They found, of 15 supplements studied, that folic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, zinc, copper, and multivitamins increased your risk of early death. But iron was the one nutrient that led the pack. Let’s look at how the study was done. Then I’ll give you my two cents.

The first real problem was how the researchers “measured” supplement intake. They based their measurements on just a few questionnaires sent to the 38,772 women. 

Is salt really bad for you?

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re having a wonderful time with friends and family. I also hope you’re eating plenty of great food. And I hope you’re enjoying it well-salted.

What? Am I crazy? Won’t salt give you high blood pressure and heart problems? That’s what they told me when I was in medical school way back in the 1960s. They told me that patients with heart disease, especially those with heart failure, need to be very careful to restrict salt intake.

Virtually eliminate your risk of sudden death from a heart attack

Did you know that the most common symptom for heart attacks is sudden death? That’s right. Most people never know what hit them. But you can virtually eliminate your risk of sudden cardiac death. And it’s easy to do.

While this study was on women (the long ongoing Nurses Health Study), I promise you that it applies to men.

Researchers conducted a prospective analysis of 81,722 U.S. women from June 1984 to June 2010. They based their analysis on four “low-risk factors.” These four included: not smoking, body mass index of less than 25, exercise duration of 30 minutes/day or longer, and top 40% of the alternate Mediterranean diet score.