Vitamins, Family Style: What To Take And When

One multi doesn't fit all; here's how to make sure you get what you need.

You probably have no interest in wearing your daughter's up-to-here skirt or your son's down-to-there baggy jeans. Well, fashion isn't the only area in which a "do" for one family member can be a "don't" for another -- you, your husband, your kids, and your parents all have surprisingly different requirements when it comes to nutrition, says Connie Weaver, PhD, head of the nutrition department at Purdue University.

In fact, one may need a supplement that another should avoid. Because one size doesn't fit all, here's a guide to the shortfalls that occur at different ages -- and the best ways to fill them for young, old, and in-between.

Your Preteen or Teen Needs:

Calcium
Why? "You get one chance in your lifetime to build a strong skeleton -- and that time is adolescence," says Roberta Anding, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. But kids typically get far less than the daily 1,300 mg of calcium they need.

Food Or Supplements? Food. Dietary calcium helps teens gain more bone mass than supplements do because it's easier to absorb, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a Chicago-based RD.

Try This: "Teens often skip milk in favor of soda and juice, so limit sugary drinks to one a day," says Malena Perdomo, RD. Serve milk at every meal or stock up on calcium-rich snacks like low-fat yogurt or string cheese.

Iron
Why? The nutrient is essential: Kids with a deficiency are 2 ½ times more likely to have low math scores. Girls, who lose iron during their periods, need 15 mg daily; boys need 11 mg.

Food Or Supplements? Food. Never dispense iron pills without your doctor's okay -- high doses can be toxic.

Try This: Give your teen a morning boost with fortified breakfast cereals; most pack 4 to 8 mg of iron per serving. To help absorption, pair high-iron foods with ones rich in vitamin C, such as black beans (a great vegetarian source of the mineral) and bell peppers.

You and Your Husband Need:

To Rethink Folic Acid
Why? This vitamin seems like such a do-gooder: It helps prevent birth defects, and studies suggest that it could help adults lower heart disease risk. But recently, researchers raised the possibility that excess folic acid may increase the danger of colon cancer. Answers aren't in, but some experts say that only women of childbearing age should take 400 mcg daily -- the amount in most multivitamins. Other healthy adults should pick one with lower amounts.

Food Or Supplements? Food. It's still important to get folate (the natural form of folic acid) in your diet.

Try This: Put beans and dark green veggies high on your shopping list: One cup of cooked lentils contains nearly 100% of your day's folate requirement.

Vitamin D
Why: Increasing numbers of studies suggest that it can reduce your risk of several cancers by 30 to 50% and lower your risk of death from any cause. Yet up to 74% of Americans don't have optimal blood levels of the vitamin.

Food Or Supplements? Supplements. Your body produces D from sunshine, but if you live in the northern United States, the sun isn't strong enough in the winter for you to synthesize adequate amounts. Vitamin D is found naturally in few foods.

Try This: Take up to 1,000 IU per day and look for D3 -- the kind skin makes from sunlight.

Your Parents Need:

Vitamin B12
Why? B vitamins promote a healthy immune system and may keep memory sharp. But up to 40% of older adults suffer from a B12 deficiency, found a study from New York Medical College.

Food Or Supplements? Both. Synthetic B12 in supplements and fortified food is easier to absorb.

Try This: People over age 50 should get 2.4 mcg of B12 daily in a supplement or eat at least one serving of fortified foods, the Institute of Medicine reports. If your parents take antacids or medications for ulcers or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), they'll need to tack on an extra 100 to 400 mcg a day in supplement form.

Calcium + Vitamin D
Why? Many people think osteoporosis is a woman's disease, but 2 million men have it, too. Your parents should aim for 1,200 mg of calcium daily, coupled with up to 1,000 IU of vitamin D for absorption.

Food Or Supplements? Both. Unlike teens, who metabolize dietary calcium more efficiently and probably do more bone-building exercise, older people are better off getting some of their calcium in a pill, Perdomo says.

Try This: For maximum absorption, your parents should choose a supplement with calcium citrate on the label and take separate doses of 500 mg or less at a time with food.

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Comments

[wolfgangmo]

Overall it seemed a good article although I was disappointed that you recommended both fortified food which are nutritionally deficient [if they weren't then why are they 'fortified?'] compared to conventional fresh foods or organics or bio-dynamics.

I would strongly suggest seeing a Naturopathic Doctor [see the national professional association at naturopathic.org for the real deal - other naturopaths come from diploma mills and not medical schools] if you want top notch advice on this subject. ND's are the only medical professionals who are trained in the integration of nutrition and health and don't deal with the subjects as separate. Kudo's to RD's etc. It's just a more complete approach.

Notice - I co-own a medical practice that has an ND on staff

[Swerinjer]

Try Life Extension Foundation.

[wolfgangmo]

How does one swallow a foundation? Does that take a lot of water, and if so is that bad for the environment? Do I need to file an EPA impact statement with each dose?

[foreplay]

Men don't need iron supplements, especially if they eat meat.

[JennyStamosKovacs]

Don't worry, the iron recommendation was for teens and preteens, not adult men. And my story recommended they get their iron through food, not supplements (which can be toxic if taken without a doctor's supervision).

Thanks for reading!
www.jennystamos.com

[jeanruss]

This is a really vague article. It recommends food rather than vitamins, but doesn't state that conventional food has FORTY% less vitamins than organic food. The latest research on vitamin D shows that noon is the optimum time to be out in the sun to get the most benefit and Vitamin D supplements aren't as effective as sunlight. Most synthetic vitamins are worthless. Those made with whole food and organic are the best. Some synthetic vitamins are even harmful. Any vitamin research done with synthetic vitamions is a scam and not worth going by, so when you read about vitamin research look at what they used.

[JennyStamosKovacs]

Thanks so much for reading my article and sharing your thoughts.

Unfortunately, organic foods weren't part of what my editors asked me to write about (although I have written about organic vs. conventional foods before). And what you see in that short article is only about one-tenth of the original piece. You're definitely right that sunlight is much more effective than supplements as a source for vitamin D; however, my editors wanted me to address the fact that we may need much more vitamin D than what we've been told in the past, as well as the fact that for Canadians like me and people living in the northern U.S., it may be difficult to get enough sunshine during the winter. Believe me, I'd move somewhere sunnier in a flash if I had the choice!

Thanks again for your thoughts. I appreciate hearing different points of view and am always happy to learn new information. :)

Jenny
www.jennystamos.con

[wm1066]

Thats not quite true about living in northern states and not getting vitamin D in the winter. The sun might be weaker but the white snow on the ground reflects alot of sunshine. You might not get as much exposure with winter clothes on but your face can get enough to get a sunburn.

[JennyStamosKovacs]

Thanks for reading my article--I appreciate your thoughts. It's so hard to condense all the information on a topic into such a tiny word count. Unfortunately, there's never enough room to say everything!

I'd actually like to write an article about vitamin D vs. sunshine; whether northerners need supplements in the winter etc. (I'm way up in Ontario, Canada!), but haven't found a home for the idea yet.

You're completely right about the snow reflecting sunshine. I'll definitely keep that in mind when I write about this topic again.

Thanks again!
www.jennstamos.com