A growing trend—and one in which I believe I have played no small part—is that more and mom doctors are treating their padents (whenever possible) with vitamin and mineral supplements in lieu of pharmaceuticals. Over the last two decades, thousands of physicians and more health practidoners have learned how to practice such nutritional pharmacology.
"Complementary Medicine" combines the best of conventional and alternative medical care. Its basic tenet is that all the healing arts can and should complement one another. And its primary principle is to alwaysselect the safest therapies, which inevitably brings the nutritional approach to the forefront.
Kronberg, Mary Anne Evans, Gordon Lingard and many of the other people whose case histories you've read about here were my patients. In each case, I prescribed appropriate vitamins, minerals, herbs, essential fatty acids and other nutritional agents=the group I call vitanutrients.
Vitanutrients can benefit even people at the peak of health who eat an excellent diet. (Unfortunately, no matter how well we eat, our depleted soil no longer provides nH the nutrients fresh produce used to yield.) I would go so far as to. say that vitanutrients could extend one's lifespan. I'll cite just one example to prove my point: The antioxidant group of nutrients has consistently proven to protect the body from damage by free radicalˉthose destructive electrons that have been implicated in cancer and heart disease as Well as in accelerating the natural aging process. Even a person who eats the best possible food is not living in a perfect environmenL Moreover, air poHutioo, tobacco smoke and other environmental toxins assault our bodies daily. Consequently, a person can maintain good health longer by taking effective doses of such antioxiclants as vitamins A, C and E, pins selenium, glutathione, CoQ and bioflavonoids. However, actually ingesting adequate amounts of vitanutrients can be problematic. Scientific studies seeking the maximum effective doses of all the essential nutrients could lead you to conclude that you should take over one hundred vitamin pills a day. Clearly that is not practical, so I have devised a system of nutritional prescribing that I call targeted nutrition. This allows me to prescribe, and individuals to select, a variety of formulations that target certain conditions. For instance, if a person is subject to frequent colds and viruses, he might opt for an acute infection formula such as the one we at Atkins Nutritionals call Cold & Flu. This formula contains the antioxidant vitamins C and A, plus zinc, bioflavonoids and the B complex constituents. All are nutrients that published studies have shown to'make a difference in our ability to handle such microscopic invaders. The nutritional agents are not directed against a specific disease or condition; rather, they provide support, allowing the body to defend itself to the best of its ability against disease.
Which Nutrients Should I Take?
I would like to provide you with a basic supplementation plan to follow now and after you've reached your goal weight. Certain nutrients can aid in weight loss, so I have devised a basic formula that is integral to the Atkins Nutritional Approach. This formula is also perfectly approprinte once you've reached Lifetime Maintenanee. I'll list its contents, so you won't necessarily have to get them from Atkins Nutritionals (in which, of course, I have a financial involvement). You can simply provide yourself with a collection of vitamins that provide the equivalent nutritional support.
Atkins Basic #3 Formula contains all the ingredients in my basic multiple vitamin, known as Basic #1, although in somewhat different dosages (see table beginning below). Basic #1 is a good formulation when weight loss is not an issue. Basic #3, on the other hand, is designed to be taken as three tablets daily, one with each meal. Compared to Basic #1, it contains greater amounts of certain nutrientˉluding chromium, pantethine, selenium, vanadium and biotin-all of which play a role in regulating blood sugar and insulin, as well as in burning fat. We've also included additional amounts of antioxidants. Although you will certainly be able to find a good multivitamin that contains most of the ingredients in Basic #3, you may choose to purchase separately the individual substances I've just cited so you can take them in the desired amounts. Basic #3 is formulated with intestinal flora, which helps your body use the nutrients mote easily. It contains the following:
Atkins Basic #3 Formula
Three tablets daily Amount Per Daily
give you: Serving Value
Vitamin A (as ncetnte) 4000 IU 80%
Vitamin A (as natural betacarotene with mixed carotenoids) 7500 IU 150%
Vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) 360mg 600%
Vitnmin D-3 (as choleealciferol) 200 IU 50%
Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopherol succinate) 150 IU 500%
Vitamin K (as phytonadione) 5mcg 6%
Vitamin Bt (as thiamine HCL) 25rug 1666%
Vitamin B2 (as riboflavin) 25mg 1470%
Niacin (as niacinamide) 20rug 100%
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCL) 25rug 1250%
Folate (as folic acid) 600mcg 150%
Vitamin B(as cyanocobalamin) 200mcg 3333%
Biotin 150mcg 50%
Pantothenic Acid (as d-calcium pantothenate) 60rug 600%
Calcium (as phosphate/ ascorbate/citrate) 250mg 25%
Pbosphoms 76mg 7%
Magnesium (as glycinate) 125rng 31%
Zinc (as zinc monomethionine) 10rug 67%
Selenium (as sodium selenite) 50mcg 71%
Copper (as glycinate) 1mg 50%
Manganese (as glycinate) 5mg 250%
Chromium (as polynicofinate) 300mcg 250%
Molybdenum (as glycinate) 30meg 40%
Potassium (as citrate) 10rug