Vitamins, Minerals
& Weight Loss

Below is an excerpt from Part Two of

The 2004 Multi-Diet

by Anderson A. Anonymous, M.D., Ph.D.

Suggested Vitamin/Mineral Supplement Routine

You should develop a solid, convenient routine for taking supplements. This counteracts the very common tendency to begin to forget to take them after a while.

The important thing about a routine is that it be convenient. If it’s not convenient for your situation and lifestyle, then it’s the wrong routine for you and you should modify it until it is convenient. The only imperative is to somehow make sure that between food and food supplements you make sure you get approximately the RDI of all the vitamins, trace elements, and macrominerals (and the other vital factors).

One simple and convenient routine is to use the tablet form of vitamin & mineral supplements and keep them next to your toothbrush. Take the appropriate amount of each first thing in the morning. An exception is sodium because of course it’s easier (and more pleasant) to simply spread a teaspoon of salt through meals.

Note that this particular routine means that you will probably take supplements on an empty stomach. Most people do not find this to be a problem. However, if you find that it is, you can usually minimize it by making sure you eat something within about 15–20 minutes afterwards. Or you simply can take supplements only with meals.

This routine is just your starting point. Please do not blindly follow it on my say-so. If it happens to really work for you, that’s fine. If not, dump it and develop your own. And remember that no routine is a substitute for “keeping your eyes on the prize”. The prize, in this case, is making sure you have gotten approximately the RDI of each vitamin and mineral by the end of each day. Routines (and supplements themselves) are merely routes to that goal.

Vitamins & Minerals: How Much is Enough?

The Multi-Diet approach to dietary supplements is to consciously ensure that you stay reasonably “close” to the RDI amounts of all vitamins and minerals. How close is “close”? The American Medical Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs reviewed the issue in 1987 and stated that “dietary supplement” amounts could be defined as amounts between 50% and 150% of the RDI of each nutrient. Higher amounts (in the range of two to ten times the RDI) were defined as “therapeutic agents” and were not recommended without a doctor’s supervision. This supplement standard is also what we suggest as the general ideal for Multi-Dieters. However, keep in mind that potassium, because of its special dangers,  should usually be supplemented at less than 50% of its RDI.