Vitamin, Mineral & Herb Remedies
Dietary supplements can be surprisingly helpful for many common disorders. There is substantial science supporting the use of herbs, vitamins, minerals and other supplements.
Can You Lower Your Cholesterol with Bergamot?
How do you control your cholesterol? Many people take a statin medication such as atorvastatin or simvastatin to keep their blood fats within normal range. On the other hand, you might prefer a more…
How Dangerous Are High Vitamin B12 Levels?
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) wasn't fully described until 1956. It is essential for the development of red blood cells. It is also critical for the brain. Myelin, the fatty sheath that surrounds neurons, d…
What Supplements Could Help Ease IBS Symptoms?
Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is a frustrating diagnosis. Doctors describe it as a "functional" GI disorder, meaning that they can't find any physiological reason for the patient's suffering. None…
Why Don’t Vitamin D Supplements Work as Ex…
If you are taking big doses of vitamin D in the hopes that it will ward off all sorts of health problems, you may be disappointed. Most research has not demonstrated that taking high doses of vitamin …
Why Don’t Doctors Prescribe Vitamin C for …
Pain gets everyone's attention. Whether it's a stubbed toe or a headache, heartburn or arthritis, pain signals that something has gone wrong. With appropriate treatment, most of these conditions are m…
How Do Herbs Interact with Each Other?
If you take multiple dietary supplements, do you worry about how your herbs interact? A number of studies have addressed herb-drug interactions. However, we suspect that herbal medicines might also af…
Can Taking a Probiotic Product Help You Sleep Be…
If you have heard about taking a probiotic product, a pill or beverage containing millions or billions of beneficial bacteria, chances are you were thinking about digestive health. Some people take su…
Is There Any Science to Support Glucosamine for …
For decades, we have been agnostic about the use of glucosamine for arthritis. Some readers praised this dietary supplement while others denounced it. Studies have arrived at conflicting conclusions. …
Give the Best Gift This Holiday: Better Health f…
The most valuable gift is good health, not a new wallet, a fancy phone, or a smart speaker. The last thing mom needs is a new gadget. How about health info that lasts for years? What is most important…
Too Little Vitamin D Could Be Deadly
Vitamin D (also known as calciferol) is one of those nutrients that is surrounded by controversy. That’s because when people get too little vitamin D, they are at risk for many serious health proble…
Spicy Supplement Solves Pain Problem
We love skeptics. These are people who approach both prescription drugs and home remedies with a healthy dose of doubt. That is as it should be. Outcomes matter. Do NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflamm…
Are You Wasting Money On Supplements Against Hea…
Doctors appear to hate dietary supplements. That is the conclusion I draw from their reaction to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Nov. 6, 2022). We have he…
Will Adequate Magnesium Keep Your Heart Healthy?
Magnesium has long been a neglected mineral. Health care providers are more likely to pay attention to minerals such as potassium, although some of the same drugs that lead to potassium depletion al…
Can N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) Help Cancer Patient?
We don't often hear about doctors suggesting dietary supplements, but occasionally a compound sold as a supplement functions like a pharmaceutical as well. N-acetylcysteine, abbreviated NAC, falls int…
Supplements to Help Ease Diabetic Neuropathy
Diabetes threatens the health of millions of Americans. In 2019, doctors had diagnosed more than 37 million people with this metabolic disorder. People with diabetes either don't make insulin (type 1 …
Could Fat from Fish Be Good for Your Brain?
The old wives used to claim that fish is brain food. Little by little, scientists are catching up to this idea. People with Higher Levels of Omega-3 Fats Perform Better on Tests: Investigators at the …
How to Ease Arthritic Knees with Natural Remedie…
Osteoarthritis puts its victims in a dreadful double bind. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are the standard pain relievers for arthritis, such as diclofenac (Voltaren), ibupro…
Can Magnesium Help Your Restless Legs Syndrome?
"Restless legs" hardly sounds like medical terminology, but it describes a neurological condition first described in the late 17th century. People with the condition describe sensations similar to som…
Will Horse Chestnut Extract Ease Tired Legs?
You can see varicose veins as lumpy twisted veins under the skin. They tend to stick up from the surface of the limb (usually the leg or foot). That distinguishes them from spider veins that are visib…
Can Quercetin Control Your Allergy Symptoms?
Hay fever season is looming, and many allergy sufferers may be wishing they had a way to prevent the misery of sneezing and sniffling. One reader made a serendipitous discovery: quercetin taken for gl…
Peppermint and Probiotics for IBS
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is common, affecting 7 to 16 percent of the population in the US (JAMA, March 2, 2021). This diagnosis often frustrates both patients and physicians. People experiencing…
Are Your Dietary Supplements Contaminated with D…
The Food and Drug Administration has been testing dietary supplements for years. “From 2007 through 2016, 776 adulterated dietary supplements were identified by the FDA and 146 different dietary sup…
Introducing Gaia Herbs
Before there were drugs–even before there were drugstores–there were herbs. Joe’s grandfather was a pharmacist around the turn of the 20th century. He dispensed many medicines that were herbal m…
Can You Overdose on Vitamin D?
Doctors generally assume that North Americans are so well nourished that they never need to worry about supplements. In fact, they sometimes fuss that people who take vitamin pills could overdose on …
Can You Save Your Sight With AREDS Vitamins?
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an important cause of vision loss among older people. Fortunately, researchers discovered almost twenty years ago that people with moderate AMD could slow the…
Should You Really Stop Taking Your Supplements?
Vitamin and mineral pills are still controversial, despite years of study. Many doctors have decided that you should get all your nutrients from your food. No doubt you could, if you followed a though…
Does the FDA Know What Is in Your Dietary Supple…
According to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, supplement manufacturers are supposed to be transparent. In theory, they tell the Food and Drug Administration whenever th…
How to Prevent and Stop the Itch of Mosquito Bit…
Some people are mosquito magnets. They attract mosquitoes like honey draws flies. A bunch of people can be sitting around the back yard enjoying themselves and not being bothered by mosquitoes. That…
Is Magnesium a Miracle Mineral?
The body needs minerals to function. Without adequate levels of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium we would perish. Doctors often encourage patients to cut back on sodium and increase calcium. P…
Are Calcium Pills Hardening Your Heart Arteries?
One of the biggest flip-flops in modern healthcare disappeared without a trace. For decades, doctors, nutrition experts and registered dietitians have been urging women to take calcium pills to streng…
Can You Help Nerve Pain with a Diet Rich in ALA?
Doctors often have a hard time treating nerve pain, also called neuropathy. When diabetes causes neuropathy, physicians ask patients to control their blood glucose very strictly. In addition, they may…
Should You Take Turmeric to Ease Pain?
Persistent pain can really wear you down. Consequently, when people discover something that works, they like to share the good news. Some readers report relief from months of terrible discomfort by ta…
Could Too Much Vitamin D Lead to Hair Loss?
A close-shaved scalp has become a popular hair style even among many young men. For women, though, (and also many men) unexpected thinning of the hair is a cause for alarm. One reader questioned her u…
Cinnamon May Offer a Surprising Way to Reverse P…
Prediabetes is an often-undiagnosed condition that frequently leads to the development of type 2 diabetes. In the past, scientists have found that intensive lifestyle changes or medications such as me…
Can You Prevent Alzheimer Disease with L-Lysine?
Intriguing research suggests that the dementia we call Alzheimer disease may be triggered by a common infection: herpes virus. Although the story is not yet complete, the brain's immune response to th…
Why Vitamin D for COVID-19 Saves Lives
The evidence keeps accumulating that adequate vitamin D may be really important for protecting people against the complications of the coronavirus (PLOS ONE, Feb. 3, 2022). Israeli researchers conclud…
Too Much Potassium Poses Danger
We refer to potassium as the "Goldilocks" mineral. That's because too much potassium or too little can cause serious health problems. Potassium needs to be "just right." Normally, the body handles p…
How Much Magnesium Is Enough?
We do not understand why magnesium does not get the respect it deserves. Physicians have been recommending extra calcium in supplements for decades, but magnesium is often overlooked. We think health …
Do Statins Lower CoQ10 Levels? Can Supplements C…
Doctors prescribe the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins as an essential step in treating heart disease. Many physicians also prescribe them for prevention. While many people take these medicin…
Can Vitamin C Help Combat COVID-19?
The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines reduce the likelihood of hospitalization with COVID-19, they don't provide perfect protection. In particular, the Omicron variant has evolved in a way that all…