Real Vitamin and Mineral Book

by Shari Lieberman

Complete source for current information on boosting the immune system, fighting illness, and maximizing health. Explains how age, nutritional value of food, the environment and other factors affect our bodies' absorption of nutrients.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction

299 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Nathan Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book. I've been looking for a long time to find a nutritional reference that explains specifically what each vitamin/mineral does in the body, and how they interact. This book does a good job on both topics (albiet not concise enough for me). I started my own vitamin cause-effect spreadsheet based on the book (for quick reference).

[Caroline576Gibsond]

Vitamin D is fat-soluble. It is best absorbed with fatty foods and accumulates in fat tissue. Large amounts of vitamin D are found in animal foods: oily fish (salmon, catfish, mackerel, sardines, tuna), fish eggs, egg yolk, and dairy products. Its main role is to help absorb calcium and phosphorus from food. But not all people get enough vitamin D. That is why many take special supplements. I am one of those people who additionally buy this vitamin. I order it using the Iherb voucher code https://herb-promo.com/en/ . It's a great deal, a necessary supplement at a good price is always a great deal.

[Mrs Reddy Katzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm super enthusiastic about this book, ive read four books like it ad it really is the BEST ONE* it's scientifically researched & packed full of information. i have used it to adjust my diet according to what nutrition i need daily and am taking a suitable multivitamin I LOVE THIS BOOK *

[Hannah Taake · Rating 3 out of 5]

An insanely good amount of information although I do believe that it is slightly outdated and would like a 5th edition to come out.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The supplementation recommendations in this book are excellent and not based on outdated information as they are in some other books. The amounts of each vitamin and mineral recommended in this book are not needlessly low and they tally reasonably well with what the best authors of health books recommend.

The author recommends for the average reader:

Vitamin A: 5000 - 25 000 IU
B1: 100 - 500 mg
B2: 100 - 300mg (500 mg for some)
B3/niacin: 500 - 1000 mg
B5: 100 - 500 mg (900 mg pantethine in cardiovascular diseases, and even larger doses for Lupus upwards of 2 g)
B6: 25 - 300 mg (500 mg for some)
C: 5 - 10 g (for healthy people)
Folate: 1 - 5 mg (the higher amounts in cardiovascular disease)
Manganese: 15 - 30 mg
Chromium: 200 - 600 mcg
Selenium: 200 - 600 mcg
Zinc: 50 mg
Boron: 3 - 6 mg

(These figures are from my own messy handwritten notes and so some errors may possibly exist. Please do not take these figures for fact, do your own reading first! This is also not a complete list.)

I would disagree with the claim that this book is the definitive guide to supplements as I found the information in the books Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution: Nature's Answer to Drugs and also books by Abram Hoffer such as Orthomolecular Medicine For Everyone: Megavitamin Therapeutics for Families and Physicians to be vastly superior, and the same is true of books on supplementation and detoxification aimed more at those battling serious illness by the brilliant Dr Sherry Rogers and Dr Lawrence Wilson. But perhaps this is just down to personal preference.

I also disagreed with the author's recommendation of a low fat food pyramid, the high dose of calcium recommended, and the recommendation to eat low fat dairy foods (which are full of skim milk powder containing oxidised cholesterol and also possibly whey protein) instead of full fat ones.

(One other quibble: I wish that all the comments about 'CFS' in this book (and almost every book on diet and health, it must be said!) could have been omitted, as every diagnosis of 'CFS' is a misdiagnosis and talking about 'CFS' as if it has a distinct cause and reaction to treatment is unhelpful and potentially harmful to patients who need instead to be given correct diagnoses and treatments appropriate to whichever of any number of hundreds of different diseases they actually have. This book recommends EXERCISE for 'CFS' which is just so dangerous and potentially life destroying for some of the 'CFS' misdiagnosed group. See Dr Hyde's book Missed Diagnoses Myalgic Encephalomyelitis & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Second Edition for more information on this issue.)

The advice to minimise grains, eat two moderate protein serves daily, plus eat 6 cups of vegetables daily and two serves of fruit was very good. This book contains only basic information on diet and further reading on this topic is a good idea if you're very committed to health.

Those books listed previously are my supplement 'bibles' that I go back to again and again, while this book I am content to have just read once and to have taken a few pages of notes from. But overall this book does a great job in giving people a good guide in how much to take of each vitamin and mineral to maintain or improve health as well as what makes up a healthy diet, and so I do recommend it. It is far better than the vast majority of books available on this topic.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

[Irene Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend lends me this book for the purpose of creating a class report about vitamins. This book taught me a lot of valuable things that nurses and doctors sometimes doesn’t provide, probably because they’re busy. This book contains information you can use which can be applied to everyday living. Substantial explanations are provided to help readers avoid over doses and other medical illness. Once I’m done with this, I’m off to my 2nd alternate book by Martin Gover,The Best Multivitamin eBook- what that means, what to look for, and a whole lot more

[Kryssy G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I started this book the middle-end of December and JUST finished it this morning. Still counts as 2009, right?

I felt this book was very informative and one of the best I looked at in B&N. I saw it got great reviews too. However, I found the worksheet to just not be what I expected. According to my symptoms and precautionary diseases I'd want to take vitamins for, I'd be taking almost a quarter of the vitamins she has listed. The worsheet needed to be explained a little more clearly rather than in 3 or 4 paragraphs. Maybe I am tired still and it didn't sink in, but it wasn't what I expected.

[Puja · Rating 3 out of 5]

borrow this one from my roommate... very interesting to learn about what those big words on the side of my food/beverages do to benefit me. for instance, according to this... B vitamins should help with my carpal tunnel.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book as a reference and I find it very informative. It is useful because I apply some of the advice for myself and oftentimes for friends. Really neat!

[Jeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for determining what your needs are for supplemental vitamins and minerals. Especially liked the reference abstracts and work sheet areas.

[Suzanne]

Crazy informative. And a little depressing.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book everyone should have for reference at home. I consult it often.