Vitamins, minerals & supplements Archive

Don't be misled by well-intentioned advice. Some processed foods offer nutritional value and convenience.

Nutrition gurus often urge us to spurn processed foods in favor of whole ones. But not all processed foods are necessarily bad. "Most food needs to go through some sort of processing for it to even be edible and digestible," says Stacey Nelson, a registered dietitian and manager of clinical nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "The minute you cook something, you are processing it."

Physical therapy and weight loss can relieve knee pain and protect your mobility.

Substantial research proves the Mediterranean and DASH eating plans offer important health benefits for men.

Q. I am scheduled to have my prostate removed and am concerned about the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) after the surgery. I've heard that taking an ED drug daily during my recovery could help. Do you recommend this?

A. About half of men lose some erectile function after radical prostatectomy, which removes the entire prostate gland. ED drugs help men to have erections after surgery, but so far research has not shown that taking it daily produces better results than taking the medication as-needed—when you anticipate sexual activity.

If you feel run-down, lack of iron is probably not the cause. You can easily get enough of this key mineral in your diet.

Decades ago, advertising for the liquid vitamin and mineral supplement Geritol warned against "iron-poor, tired blood." It's a reference to the fact that red blood cells need iron to make hemoglobin, the molecule that grabs oxygen and transports it around the body.

Maintaining a healthy weight is the best way to rein in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or chronic heartburn, according to a study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology. Researchers found that GERD symptoms increased for every incremental rise in body mass index (BMI), which measures the ratio of weight to height.

In GERD, the acidic contents of the stomach back up into the lower esophagus, causing burning pain. The most effective treatment for GERD is taking an acid-reducing proton-pump inhibitor medication, such as omeprazole (Prilosec). People who are overweight are much more likely to develop GERD.

People with high blood pressure could benefit from a B vitamin known as folate if they are not getting enough from their diets, according to a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study included more than 20,000 adults in China with high blood pressure who had never had a stroke or heart attack. Participants who took folate supplements along with a blood pressure medication had fewer strokes over the four-and-one-half-year trial than those who only took the medication.

Many different medications can potentially harm the liver, so doctors sometimes do liver function tests to ensure safety. The worst-case scenario is liver failure, but when this happens, the cause is usually not prescription medications, but rather the over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen (Tylenol) or herbal supplements, according to a study in Gastroenterology.

Researchers scrutinized 5.4 million records of patients in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system from 2004 to 2010. They identified only 62 cases of liver failure, 32 of which were linked to medications. This may not precisely reflect national rates, but it does suggest that liver failure from medications is relatively uncommon.

The new recommendations for healthy eating emphasize diet over individual nutrients and overturn some long-held beliefs.

Boosting your muscle mass may trigger changes that enhance heart health.