The scoop on multivitamin mineral supplements

Recently a reader wanted to know my thoughts about multivitamins. He wondered: are there any benefits in taking a multivitamin daily or is it a complete waste of money? Have tests been done to know if the body actually absorbs these vitamins like we do from real food?


The answer to the basic question, are multivitamin mineral supplements good for our health, is complicated. We can safely say that multivitamin mineral supplements appear to have no serious adverse effects but, to date, there is not enough evidence to support their efficacy in preventing cancer and chronic diseases in adults. 


According to Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University and author of What to Eat, the science surrounding supplements is never straight-forward. Similar to other areas of nutrition research, it’s difficult to do. 


Nestle explains when researchers conduct observational studies and compare the overall health of people who take supplements to those who don’t, the ones who take supplements appear to do better. But when scientists perform clinical trials, a more rigorous study design, the results are quite different. Clinical trials rarely show much benefit from taking supplements. 

Like many nutrition researchers, Nestle believes the most probable explanation for the different results is that people who take supplements are healthier to begin with. If you take supplements you are most likely well-educated, physically active, a nonsmoker, a light to moderate drinker, and financially-secure. 


Nestle, who also wrote Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (University of California Press, 2002), calls it as she sees it: the supplement industry has a tendency to ignore or even attack inconvenient research results. Supplement trade associations and companies work hard to convince us that our diet is deficient in nutrients and want us to believe supplements are the answer to our health problems. 


Supplements are big business. Nutrition Business Journal, an executive publication focusing primarily on the nutrition industry, estimates Canadians spent $1.83 billion on vitamins and other supplements in 2006. 

Health Canada takes the position that we likely don’t need a multivitamin mineral supplement if we are eating a well-balanced diet according to Canada’s Food Guide. Unlike supplements, food contains carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fibre that give us energy and help control our blood sugar. While a multivitamin mineral supplement can provide an average of fifteen of the more than fifty essential nutrients our body needs, it won’t give us phytochemicals, the powerful disease-fighting compounds that occur naturally in fruits and vegetables.


But not all of us have stellar eating habits. For one reason or another, we don’t eat a wide variety of healthy foods or get enough food energy. A limited food budget, dieting, food allergies, multiple food dislikes, or strict vegetarianism can put us at increased risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In these cases, a multivitamin mineral supplement, with rationale nutrient levels, would most likely be beneficial.


Those following restricted diets should consider seeing a registered dietitian who can assess their nutritional intake and provide guidance on improving eating habits and possible supplement use.
You don’t have to pay big bucks for a multivitamin mineral supplement . Expensive brand name products are no better than generic store brands. To answer the reader’s second question: your body doesn’t know the difference between a nutrient from food and a nutrient from a supplement (no matter how much it costs). 


Always look on the supplement label for the eight digit product licence number preceded by the letters NPH or DIN-HM, which stand for Natural Product Number or Homeopathic Medicine Number, respectively. This is proof the supplement was reviewed and approved by Health Canada in terms of safety, effectiveness, and quality. 

Want an easy, healthy meal idea?

After feasting on too many treats over the holidays, I’m all about eating light and healthy meals right now. But easing up on the fat and calories doesn’t mean I’m depriving myself of delicious food.


Years ago, while taking cooking courses at Dubrulle - Vancouver’s beloved culinary school - I learned of an easy French cooking technique that produces flavourful and nourishing meals. 


Preparing food en papillote [pah-pee-YOHT], entails steaming lean cuts of chicken, fish, seafood, or vegetables in packages made of parchment paper, which is available in gourmet kitchenware stores and well-stocked supermarkets. Aluminum foil can also be used. 


Steaming is the ultimate low-fat cooking technique but it has the reputation of producing humdrum diet fare. Cooking en papillote creates food with clean, vibrant flavours. The parchment packet keeps fragrant aromas in close contact with its edible contents. 


The recipe below can be adapted to a variety of ingredient combinations. Try it with fresh spinach, chopped tomato, or thinly sliced sweet peppers, fennel or mushrooms. Instead of soy sauce and honey, experiment with a splash of dry white wine, orange juice, or chicken or vegetable stock. Substitute garlic and gingerroot for fresh or dried herbs, or thin lemon slices and capers. Besides sole, other mild-flavoured, firm-fleshed fish, such as sole, tilapia, snapper or cod, work well. Use the freshest fish your wallet can handle.


Since my Dubrulle days, I’ve taught a number of my patients the en papillote method and many are surprized how quickly they can assemble dinner for themselves; ordering take-out pizza takes more time. But the real selling point tends to be realized after the meal, when clean-up involves fewer dirty pots and pans. The parchment paper or foil is simply tossed away. Now, how easy is that?


Asian Sole en Papillote
Serves 4

What You Need:
2 small bundles of baby bok choy, chopped 
4 (6 ounce/ 175 grams) sole fillets
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced into match-stick pieces
salt and pepper to taste
2  teaspoon vegetable oil
2 to 3 drops sesame oil (optional)
2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoon honey
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 green onion, finely chopped


What To Do:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut four square sheets of parchment paper, each measuring about 12 x 15 inches (30 x 38 centimetres). Lay sheets on a clean work surface and fold each sheet in half crosswise, crease with your fingers and then lay flat again. 


Divide baby bok choy among parchment sheets, mounding it on one side of the fold. Top with a sole fillet that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Sprinkle carrot over each fillet. In a small bowl combine vegetable oil, sesame oil (if using), soy sauce, honey, garlic, gingerroot and red pepper flakes. Drizzle evenly over each fillet. Sprinkle with green onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fold over parchment paper leaving a little air inside so the ingredients can steam. Fold edges around each package to seal tightly. 


Put packages on a rimmed baking sheet and cook for about 12 minutes. If the fish fillets are thicker than an inch you’ll need more cooking time. Open a package to check for doneness. The fish should be opaque in colour and flake with a fork. Transfer each package to a plate and open at the table. Serve with brown rice or quinoa and more veggies if desired.

Earth to Table: A cookbook review

Many of us are now realizing what some chefs have known for years: the healthiest and most delicious food comes from local farmers, fishermen, and artisan suppliers. 

We’re learning more and more about our modern food industry and discovering insomnia-inducing details like the high economic, environmental and health costs attached to imported food that appears cheap at the cash register. 

Local sustainable agriculture and eating is becoming the new normal. We simply want to feel good about the food we’re eating. 

Chef Donna Wadsworth has ran her Vancouver catering company, Savoury City, based on socially-responsible values since it opened over eight years ago. 

Wadsworth has created a sustainable business that is ethically and ecologically-sound. But most of all, Savoury City provides customers with flavourful healthy food – menu items are made from scratch using locally-sourced seasonal ingredients.

Jeff Crump is applying his local food philosophy in Ancaster, Ontario. Crump is executive chef of the Ancaster Old Mill and his passion for good food came from working in world-famous restaurants and doing extensive research. 

A true academic, Crump identifies investigative food journalist Michael Pollan (author of An Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and Food Rules: An Eater's Manual) and chefs Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley) and Alice Waters (of Chez Panisse in Berkley) as major influences on his career. 

When Crump started at the Old Mill in 2002 he brought with him community food suppliers and forged a strong business relationship with a nearby farmer. 

Before long, all the restaurant kitchen staffers were in the farmer’s field planting, weeding and harvesting delicious produce that would be end up on the menus. 

Crump and Old Mill pastry chef, Bettina Schormann  share their experience going back to the land in their recently released book, Earth to Table: Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm(Random House Canada 2009, $29).

Earth to Table is more than a cookbook. In many ways it reads like a novel reminiscent of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a literary piece that integrates seasonal memoirs with didactic segments and recipes.

Stunning food photography highlight seasonal ingredients that are easily found in B.C. Professional and amateur cooks will be inspired by recipes like Penne with Asparagus Carbonara in spring, Corn on the Cob with Chili Lime Butter in summer, Mile-High Pumpkin Pie for fall, and Hanger Steak with Beet Horseradish Relish in winter.

Crump and Schormann encourage us to make the most of seasonal fare by including how-to sections on foraging for greens, berries and mushrooms; canning and preserving summer produce; planting an herb garden; and shopping the farmer’s market. 

Serious foodies or not, readers will enjoy intimate interviews with six world-renown like-minded chefs such as Thomas Keller, Heston Blumenthal (of The Fat Duck, England), and Matthew Dillon (of Sitka and Spruce, Seattle). They offer honest and thought-provoking insights on their own experiences and philosophies regarding local sustainable cooking and eating.

Like most of the chefs profiled in Earth to Table, Crump and Schormann don’t consider themselves political activists and they’re not interested in trying to convert any of us into locavores. 

“Bettina and I want readers to enjoy the book and come to their own conclusions about what kind of food they want to eat.” says Crump during a recent visit to Vancouver. “For us it’s about quality and taste and it just so happens that preferring locally-grown seasonal food is good for the environment, keeps our money within the local coffers, and allows us to meet some really interesting people.” 

Commercial weight loss programs: What you should know

Contrary to what the diet industry would like us to believe, there are no magic bullets when it comes to losing weight. Modern science has yet to unearth any particular food, herb, dietary supplement or drug that melts away the pounds.

Instead, the mechanics of weight loss can be summed up in one sentence: when we eat fewer calories than our body burns (to fuel our metabolism and physical activity), we shed pounds. It’s that simple.

If you’ve ever lost weight following a diet regime, you either dramatically reduced your caloric intake or exercised regularly. Chances are you did both. 

But despite this reality, commercial diet programs willingly exploit our never-ending hopes of quick and easy weight loss. They promise their “special” approach is like no other; they’ll finally deliver the miraculous results we’ve been searching for. Yeah, right.

Since the dieting industry isn’t regulated most of these bull crap claims go unchecked. It’s up to us to find a safe and trustworthy diet regime.

So what do we look for in a healthy weight-loss program? Here are features that’ll point you in the right direction. The program should:

Encourage a healthy lifestyle

The key to successfully losing weight and keeping it off is making changes to your eating and exercise habits that you can live with for the rest of your life. Ninety-five per cent of dieters who lose weight will gain it back within five years, or less, because they fail to make changes that fit with their lifestyle, current health status and household budget.

Promote gradual weight loss

Too rapid weight loss, which is defined as more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram) per week, also sabotages our efforts. Our body goes into overdrive breaking down stored carbohydrate (glycogen) and muscle tissue to give us energy. We constantly feel like we could keel over from dehydration and a loss of physical strength and stamina.

Include a balanced meal plan based on real food

To allow for a steadier rate of weight loss, the program should include a meal plan that provides at least 1200 calories and advocates eating whole grains, protein, fruits and vegetables and moderate amounts of healthy fats on a daily basis. Eliminating any one food group isn’t necessary and will most likely interfere with meeting your nutritional needs. 

The meal plan should not encourage a dependency on highly-processed company food products. These nutritionally inferior items that mimic airplane food may be convenient and make for easy portion control but they never teach you to make smart choices in the grocery store or prepare meals for yourself at home. Company food products can easily set you back $85 to $140 a week and that doesn’t include the price of the fruits, vegetables and dairy products you need to supplement the meal plan.

Discourage the use of unproven weight-loss aids

This is a big money-maker for commercial diet programs: pushing diet pills, herbal supplements or vitamin B injections that have next to no scientific evidence to support their claim of burning body fat or boosting metabolism. 

Reveal potential health risks associated with their specific weight loss recommendations. 

Any reputable program will disclose health risks that may be associated with their diet approach. For example, prescription medication may affect you differently after losing weight.

Disclose all costs in easy to understand terms. 

Before making any financial commitment, do your homework. Browse the internet and call local programs. Ask lots of questions: Do you have to pay a general membership fee or an initial consultation fee? Are there additional costs for food and supplements? Walk away from any program that requires you to sign a long term expensive contract or lays a high-pressure sales pitch on you. After all, this is an important purchase that will hopefully improve your health for the future.