Supplements discussed at UNMC

An antioxidant specialist spread the word about the biological effects of lipoic acid supplements on aging last week at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Dr. Balz Frei is the director and Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University and is a proponent of the minerals lipoic acid and carnitine supplementation, particularly in middle-aged and older adults’. Frei talks about the benefit of carnitine.
“So the carnitine supplement helps you increase the use of fat and to convert the fat into energy.”
Dr. Frei also recommended people take a daily multi-vitamin with multi-minerals.
“A multi-vitamin-multi-mineral, with the daily value of most vitamins and minerals to make sure you get the recommended dietary allowance of most vitamins and minerals. And again, this is just as a health insurance. It’s not a substitute for a healthy diet.”
Dr. Frei says people should know what they are taking and make sure to research each supplement to make sure the body is getting what is needed.
“In general in this country there is a focus on over-supplementation and we hear a lot about this vitamin will kill you and that vitamin will make you sick and I think that’s really a disservice to the public because if you look at the intake of vitamins and minerals in the American diet, there is a lot of deficiency, not over-supplementation.”
Dr. Frei says there are some vitamins that are an absolute must.
“So I recommend that you get a total of 1,200 milligrams of calcium, and 2,000 international units of vitamin D from a supplement. It’s almost impossible to get that from your diet.”
Dr. Frei conducts research on oxidative stress and inflammation in aging and heart disease. Oxidative stress is the lack of oxygen in the body that makes us age and develop chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease among others.