Are Your Vitamin Supplements Being Used Correctly?

By Michael Biamonte, C.C.N.

A clinical nutritionist cannot only aid one in discovering the correct vitamin or mineral requirement for an individual, but can actually discover whether or not expensive supplements are being used by the body.

Minerals work with vitamins. Vitamins act as a chemical “tug boat” to assist the mineral on its journey through our body’s chemical factories.

Vitamins or minerals taken in too high of a dose will interfere with other vitamins or minerals. Laboratory tests done by clinical nutritionists confirm that this is a highly individual matter and proper doses will be different for everyone. By performing some inexpensive urine tests, it can be quickly discovered if vitamins and minerals are not being taken in proper doses or in proper proportions to each other.

Low urinary calcium many times indicates phosphorus deficiency as phosphorus diffuses calcium and, therefore, acts as a mobilizer of calcium.

High urinary calcium many times indicates lack of vitamin D needed to fix calcium to the bone. While the above examples are generally true, other tests also taken into consideration may prove a different interpretation.

A common test is urinary sediment. The amount of sediment and what that sediment consists of can be used to determine at least eight vitamin/mineral deficiencies as well as enzyme deficiencies.

Over 50% of Americans do not eat enough raw foods and are deficient in food enzymes which greatly assist absorption of nutrients. Nutritionists who specialize in enzyme therapies will many times use nutritional supplements which contain food enzymes derived from plants to assist absorption. Which ones and the required dose can be discovered through testing. These can greatly increase absorption of nutrients. More extensive tests involving blood, urine and tissue samples like fingernails or hair can determine very accurately if one is digesting, absorbing, transporting and utilizing nutrients in the way in which they are meant.

A quick test would be checking one’s urinary PH. This can be done by obtaining litmus paper available in most drug stores and following the directions. If one has a urine PH above 6.8 or below 6.4 some or many nutrients are not being absorbed. This is because vitamins and minerals are affected by enzymes and digestive juices produced by the body. When the PH deviates too far, certain enzymes are not as active and, therefore, nutrients cannot be absorbed.

Microorganisms such as yeast, bacteria and parasites can also change the environment of the body to make absorption more difficult. Remember, you are what you eat, but you really are what you digest.