I like to take separate pills because I can change the dosage on each
supplement. A pill with all the vitamins and minerals combined would be
too large to take as a single pill (calcium and omega-3 are bulky). My
SO takes more Ca than I, so that needs to be adjusted or we would need
to take different single pills.

The expense of testing for deficiencies would far exceed the cost of
the supplements, if you could find someone to do the tests. I just want
to make sure that I get a "recommended" amount of the nutrients I need
even if I goof up my diet and don't eat enough kale.

Yes, MDs have a bias in thinking that a vitamin or mineral is unlikely
to be effective in preventing a major disease such as cardiovascular
problems, and don't consider the possible benefit in avoiding minor
things like cataracts and arthritis.

I think that you should start with just a small number of supplements
and keep in mind the reason you are taking each. I will suggest one,
and let others suggest their favorites. I recommend vitamin D (1,000
IU) because if you wear sunblock and avoid sun like you should to
protect against skin cancer your body won't produce enough vitamin D.

Certainly, megadosing is a waste of money and possibly dangerous. (You
could probably easily afford to megadose).

You need to read the book "Fantastic Voyage" by the inventor and
futurist Ray Kurzweil, and his MD, Terry Grossman.  This book covers
everything currently known about using supplementation, mainstream
medical treatments, and future options (things that are in the labs and
being tested or developed) to help you avoid, or help your body deal
with, all the major common illnesses (cholesterol, diabetes, heart
disease, etc. etc.).  Designing a personal supplement program is
discussed.  This is, to date, the clearest and most thorough and
concise book on the subject.

Most MD's don't go for training in nutrition.  If you want one-2-one
professional help in evaluating where you're at and what
supplementation might be of benefit, you want to see a Certified
Clinical Nutritionist (not a registered dietician).

Meantime, consider: everyone should be taking a basic daily multi; an
Omega 3 supplement (fish oil and/or flax); Cal/Mag/D 1000 mg per day
(especially if you're not drinking any milk, and make that 1500 mg per
day if you're preg/ nursing/ postmenopausal); and eat those leafy green
veggies and broccoli, ideally raw.

Also consider: the best food you can eat is a fresh picked organically
grown plant, rinsed.

I always thought yeah I should take my daily vitamins/supplements etc
and lapsed alot until I read an interesting (and a bit alarming to me)
article about vitamins and what a reknown biochemist, Bruce Ames PhD
had to say about them ...here is a reprint I found online:
http://www.juvenon.com/pdfs/june05_ames-prescrip.pdf

joanne

latimes.com is running this story:
Benefits From Vitamins Are Few
Some supplements are deemed useful, but multivitamins neither help nor
harm, a U.S. panel finds. It says more studies are needed.
By Denise Gellene, Times Staff Writer
May 18, 2006

There's no evidence that multivitamins do healthy adults much good, but
the supplements don't seem to do much harm either, a federal panel said
Wednesday.

Concluding a three-day conference convened by the National Institutes
of Health, the panel called for further studies of multivitamins. Half
of adults in the U.S. take multivitamins, helping to push annual sales
of nutritional supplements to $23 billion.

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Dr. J. Michael McGinnis of the National Institute of Medicine, the
chairman of the panel, said the studies of multivitamins reviewed by
the group were "especially thin" and most of the clinical trials were
too short to determine the long-term effects of taking the supplements.

Consequently, he said, the panel had no opinion on whether healthy
adults should take multivitamins. "The data is insufficient to make a
recommendation for the general population," McGinnis said after the
meeting in Bethesda, Md.

Still, the panel found that some individual vitamins or minerals
appeared to show specific benefits.

One well-designed trial suggested that antioxidants and zinc might slow
the progression of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause
of blindness in the elderly, McGinnis said. Calcium and vitamin D
supplements seem to have an effect on fracture risk and bone density in
post-menopausal women, he added.

The panel endorsed consumption of folic acid by women of childbearing
age to prevent congenital deformities of the nervous system, such as
spina bifida.

Experts took a position against one supplement, beta carotene, a form
of vitamin A. They said there was no reason for the general population
to take beta carotene because studies consistently showed the vitamin
failed to prevent chronic illnesses, such as cancer or heart disease.

The panel did not look at vitamin use by children or adults with poor
diets or specific nutritional needs.

Most of the people who took multivitamins were in good health, the
panel found, raising the possibility that some people might consume
excessive amounts of certain nutrients.

Panel member Patsy Brannon of Cornell University said 1% to 11% of
supplement users may exceed the maximum levels for some vitamins and
minerals by adding pills to the nutrients in their diets. One study
found that some people consumed too much niacin, which can damage the
liver, she said.

Still, Brannon said, there was no reason for people to stop taking
multivitamins.

"If you choose to take a supplement, the simplest advice I can give is
to take one that provides 100% of the daily values," she said, adding
that such supplements would not put people with good diets in danger of
exceeding maximum nutrient levels.

Andrew Shao of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group
that represents supplement manufacturers, said he was disappointed that
the panel dismissed the multivitamin studies it reviewed as weak and
poorly conducted.

Shao said the industry welcomed further research, but added that
supplement makers could not afford to conduct the long-term controlled
studies that the panel sought because they "cost hundreds of millions
of dollars."