Scientia Press

If you eat a healthy diet, you probably don’t need to take supplements at all. Still, there are solid arguments for taking at least a few supplements; and in special categories such as pregnancy and over-65 years of age, you are well-advised to take specific supplements.[1]

Here is a list of suggestions with attached rationales. Clearly, you need to adjust this list to your circumstances and consult with a medical practitioner, especially if you have a specific condition or are considering megadoses.

Six Key Supplements Continue reading »

Many nutrition experts confidently recommend the Mediterranean Diet. Its vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, olive oil, limited dairy products, and other natural foods provide a full range of nutrients even while minimizing or eliminating red meat and processed foods considered detrimental to health. But the question of whether one can gain further benefit from adding supplements to protect against hidden deficiencies or optimize health and performance remains open.

Certainly, turning to supplements would seem to violate the spirit of the Mediterranean Diet. Shouldn’t we trust Nature to provide us ample, complete nutrition in the form of food when we make the right choices? Didn’t the original models of the Mediterranean Diet–the Cretans of the 1950s–do very well without supplements? Shouldn’t we avoid excessive or even paranoid concern about hidden deficiencies and rather bask in the Mediterranean sun (or its local equivalent) while tasting the savory concoctions of Mediterranean chefs? Continue reading »

The Mediterranean Diet offers a healthy, tasty, aromatic array of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, wild greens, fish, olive oil, and red wine while sharply reducing intake of milk products, meat, processed foods, sweets, and caffeine. The MD prevents cardiovascular disorders, reduces the incidence of cancer and diabetes, and—it appears—curbs neurodegenerative processes. It is strange, therefore, that, in spite of the pressing need to confront the global obesity epidemic, the MD has received relatively little attention in regard to its potential for weight loss.

One reason may be that the centrality of olive oil in the MD seems flagrantly at odds with the need to reduce body fat. Another reason: the MD threatens the profits of the dairy and meat industries, the processed food industry, the beverage industry (except for red wine), pharmaceutical companies, and commercial dieting companies. So it is often ignored in discussions of approaches to weight loss. A third reason: the MD is not really a diet at all in the sense of a way of reducing energy intake in order to reduce weight. It is rather a traditional cuisine—a mode of ordinary healthy eating. And it contains no agreed-upon prescriptions regarding portion size or the exact balance of various ingredients. Continue reading »