For years, there has been a battle between medical doctors and vitamins because supplement manufactures have tried to convince people that true long term good health can be found through nutritional means alone, but doctors preferred the approach of prescription medication. However, in recent years I have noticed that there is a softening between these two factions, especially in the MD world and that shift in my opinion is worth exploring. In a way, this battle between nutritionist and mainstream medicine reminds me of the extremist attitudes found throughout modern day culture. Like everything else, the truth lies somewhere in the middle between the two extremes.

Fortunately, it has been a little over a year since I had to visit my family doctor for a medical problem and at that time he told me, proudly, about how he was taking mega-doses of folic acid to lower his homocysteine levels. He provided this information without a question about this vitamin being proposed by me in advance, he said the research about high homocysteine levels in the blood and heart disease have long been linked and there was little doubt that cheap, over the counter, folic acid lowered homocysteine levels in the blood stream, effectively. I have gone to this doctor for several decades and never once before has he ever shown any interest in the value of vitamins and minerals in my diet.

Within the past few days, there has been research released from a study group in the UK, which has looked at several previous studies of homocysteine levels and heart disease. While this group did not conduct a medical study of their own, they did take several large recognized studies which had already been done and tried to draw comparison between these different studies in an effort to find real patterns which might lead to correct answers. Like my doctor told me over a year ago, there seems to be scientific evidence emerging that high homocysteine levels in the blood stream do increase a persons risk of heart disease and/or heart attacks and folic acid does lower homocysteine levels in the blood.

Another vitamin, which some doctors are starting to show interest in, is B12. While I am not a medical professional or research scientist, I have read a great deal about this vitamin and apparently when it is digested into the blood stream it works hand in hand with folic acid to enriching the human blood stream with energy to not only help the person taking it to feel better, but it also works along with folic acid to build the proper number of red blood cells and enable them to divide properly so the body has the correct number of red blood cells and they are the right size to do the most good.

While the body is able to store a large supply of Vitamin B12 for future use, when it comes to ingesting B12 into the body, it is a difficult process, indeed. B12 requires a substance called intrinsic factor, which is released, in the human stomach. Some people don’t produce enough intrinsic factor, which causes little to none of the actual vitamin to be absorbed through the small intestine during digestion. While Vitamin B12 is available in supplement form, most people agree that the best way to absorb B12 into our bodies is by eating a regular supply of red meat, which is high in B12. Needless to say that since red meat is a primary source of Vitamin B12 for people, people who don’t eat red meat are more prone to eventually become deficient in this important vitamin.

While most doctors, including my own, are not running around their offices with bottles of vitamins and handing them out like candy, there is a slight difference in the attitudes of some doctors when it comes to their patient’s consumption of important vitamins and minerals all experts agree are needed for our bodies to perform at their best each day. We all need small amounts of vitamins and minerals each day, but from my point of a view a little bit goes a long way and our bodies are very good at taking that little bit of vitamin and mineral ingestion and using it to its best advantage.

Right now, the two vitamins that my doctor believes will do the most potential good for people who may be prone to heart disease are folic acid and B12. I have personally researched these two vitamins and both seem to be safe when taken at the RDA and over time might help in the fight against coronary artery and/or heart disease. It is so critical though not to take too much of any vitamin or mineral substance without your doctor telling you to do so. However, since the RDA of both folic acid and Vitamin B12 can be found in a single multi-vitamin tablet, obtaining the right amount of these two vitamins each day is a very simple thing to accomplish without taking too much of either vitamin.

Like everyone else, my family is bombarded by advertisements, on television, by pharmaceutical companies pitching their latest drug offerings to the American people. There must be big money involved in the sale of these prescription medications by these companies because their success involves getting people to visit their doctor and convincing that doctor they want to try this or that prescription for a problem they may or may not be suffering from in the first place. Medicine and OTC vitamin and mineral supplements are both important to the health of people and it is good news to hear that some doctors are exploring the potential benefits of both, which allows their patients to have a better view of what will help them solve many medical problems which effect their lives.

Once again, the key to using vitamins and important minerals to obtain a healthier life is through long term, moderate, use of these important trace materials in your life. There are no short cuts and taking too many of each vitamin or mineral will most likely do more harm than good. Take a long-range approach toward improving your health and remember that a little bit goes a long way when it comes to improving nutritional values in your daily diet.

Posted on Hutch Report Blog by Mark Hutcherson