I take a multi vitamin every day. How would I know if I need more than what is in the multi vitamin? Should I be taking silver, kelp or any of the hundreds of supplements? How does anyone know which ones they are lacking?

Hey Clare - - only you know you like nobody else can...take a look at THIS site - it will give you oodles and oodles of information as to which supplements/herbs are good for what ails you (or what doesn't) - it will also give you some guidelines and help to make things less confusing.

I prefer supplements to modern "drugs" - but not everybody is of that opinion - I guess it's all a matter of what works for ya!!

Here is some specifics about vitamins... what they are useful for in the body and when to take them.

Some data about Supplements.

More data you might find interesting.

Thanks.

selenium is a very important supplement.

Before you go an even take a daily supplement, consider your diet first.

Are you eating plenty of fresh raw vegetables and fruit? Or are you eating canned, frozen, cooked veges and fruit - or none at all?

How is the rest of your diet, are you a carb freak eating starches? Do you have a balance of the major food groups? Or is sugar and fat your two major food groups with caffeine as a secondary one?

Vitamins are found in food, so to are your minerals. It is far, far easier to eat what you need (for the body) than to try to figure out the dosage of what you may be lacking.

Not only that most of the vitamin you take will pass through the intestines without being absorbs. In many cases the processed form of the vitamin is from a source which is not readily digested by the human body.

Vitamin C is readily digested in oranges, it is not readily digested in pill form.

Herbs and Minerals and vitamins as a treatment for a medical condition is a horse of another colour.

EXAMPLE: I do take a daily vitamin (Simply because I know my eating habits are not up to par) However I do not take extra doses of Vitamin C until I feel a cold coming on - and then I stop the daily vitamin because I know that certain vitamins cancel each other out.

Though there are many good sites on the subject, you can not beat the books in this case. There are hundreds of books on the subject, what you need to do is go to your local library and check out and read those books.

Consider it as a good chance to figure out which book(s) you are impressed with or find to be very informational. Then you can buy a copy for your own library.

The subject is a large one, and does require a good deal of reading. It also means that you have to learn which vitamins and minerals do what, and also know how they interact with each other. That means a good deal of study.

Cheers

David