Vitamin minefield

Experts disagree on whether we need vitamin supplements, and the confusion is driving some people to spend big money on a daily cocktail
Marian Scott, The Ottawa Citizen; Montreal Gazette
Published: Saturday, January 19, 2008
Your eyes glaze at the bewildering display of bottles. From A to zinc, the choice is endless. Should you choose single vitamins and minerals or a multivitamin? Or how about a special formula for stress, fitness, women, men or seniors?

Wouldn't it be great to know exactly which supplements are right for you? That's what laboratories that specialize in "body chemistry balancing" promise. For several hundred dollars, they claim to identify vitamin and mineral deficiencies from a simple blood and urine test.

For David and Cheryl Solomon of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., nutritional testing takes the guesswork out of the perennial question of whether they're getting the proper vitamins.

Six months ago, the couple and their three sons, ages six to 11, underwent testing by NutriChem, an Ottawa company founded by pharmacist Kent MacLeod that sells personalized nutritional supplements.

"The beauty of it is he'll customize the vitamin for the individual," says David Solomon, 38, who takes 20 capsules a day.

His wife and sons each take between seven and 10 capsules a day of custom-made supplements.

"This is not a jack-of-all-vitamins," says Solomon, an advertising manager for a community newspaper. "Until you get tested, you don't know what's right and what's wrong."

The family spends $1,000 a month on supplements. The initial test cost $600 per person. Most public and private health insurance plans don't cover these expenses.

"In the last few months I've been taking (the supplements), I feel fabulous," says Solomon, who used to suffer from chronic indigestion and also takes prescription medication for his digestive problems. He says the nutritional supplements have helped him digest food better and boosted his energy.

Solomon, who regards the cost of the vitamins as a long-term investment in his health, says MacLeod provides personalized care that is sorely lacking in the health care system.

"It's about get in, get out as fast as possible," he says of mainstream medicine. "We wait until we break down before we take care of something."

"This is the future," says pharmacist MacLeod, who founded NutriChem in 1981 and now provides nutritional testing and supplements to 20,000 families around the world. The company mails out kits for blood and urine samples, which customers return to Ottawa for testing, which in most cases costs about $500.

Many people are vitamin-deficient because of poor diet or problems absorbing nutrients from food, says MacLeod, whose customers range from middle-aged women with depression to professional hockey players. They hear about NutriChem from the Internet, referrals by alternative health practitioners and word of mouth.

"Ninety per cent of the Canadian population is not getting one or more (essential micronutrients)," MacLeod says. "There are people running around with no gas in the tank."

MacLeod got into the nutritional-supplement business 27 years ago by creating vitamin cocktails for children with Down syndrome. He later expanded his practice to include children and adults with conditions from autism to depression, high-performance athletes and people simply seeking optimum health.

Hundreds Attend Job Fair In Pittsfield

Despite the snowy weather, hundreds of people attended a job fair in Pittsfield Thursday and Friday.

It was for Global Contact Services, a company that's looking at opening up an office in the central Maine town. The company, town and state hosted the fair. More than 350 people submitted applications.

The company says it would hire as many as 200 people to work in its call center. "The company is looking for experienced contact center representatives, licensed insurance agents and people with call center management and supervision," said Kathryn Ruth, Piitsfield's Town Manager. "We're very, very pleased with the quality of the applications that we're receiving."

Ruth says the town should find out within the next two months whether GCS will be opening a center in Pittsfield.

Bush, Fed Chairman Both Back Lift for Economy

A consensus that the struggling U.S. economy needs rescue emerged on Thursday as the powerful Federal Reserve chairman backed the idea and President George W. Bush urged a quick and temporary fiscal package.
Amid worries that the United States may already be in a recession, Bush held a conference call with Democratic and Republican lawmakers in which he discussed the principles of what he would like to see in a stimulus plan.

Tax rebates, credits for business investment and extensions of unemployment insurance are among ideas being discussed.

"The most important thing is that they should be temporary, they need to be effective, they need to be things that we can get done quickly," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Bush will make remarks about his ideas for boosting the economy on Friday, said Fratto, who added that the president would discuss what types of approaches he favors but not give any dollar figures or other specifics.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee he supported the idea of a short-term fiscal stimulus measure.

A proposal in the range of $100-150 billion would help, Bernanke said, stressing that it was "critically important" any legislation be designed to kick in quickly.

The sentiment toward rapid action was echoed by legislators.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she hoped a package could be hammered out and agreed upon by mid-February. "We have every reason to think, to be hopeful ... that we can get this job done," Pelosi said.

Before the call between Bush and the lawmakers, the White House made clear Bush had shifted from weighing the possibility of an economic package to deciding such action was warranted.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said the White House and Congress were talking about a package in the $100-150 billion range.

RARE COOPERATION

Just a few weeks ago, the prospect of an agreement between Bush and the Democratic-led Congress seemed slim. The two sides engaged in fierce battles last year over issues from health care and the budget to the Iraq war.

Bush, who just returned from a nine-day Middle East tour, had indicated before the trip that he was looking at economic options but also signaled he might include in any proposal the idea of making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Such a proposal would be a non-starter with Democrats.

In a sign that reaching an agreement on specifics may still be hard to achieve, one congressional aide described the president as having taken a "hard line" in the call.

But other Democrats described the conversation in more favorable terms.

"I was encouraged by the conversation with President Bush today that there is broad agreement to act quickly and in a bipartisan manner on an economic stimulus package," said House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer.

Pelosi said Bush's acknowledgment that a package was needed was "significant progress." She reiterated her view that the plan should focus on financial help for the middle class.

As the discussion in Washington has evolved since the beginning of the year, the economic news has grown bleak, with gloomy reports this week on retail sales and housing.

There have been loud calls for a measure to boost the economy from the campaign trail, where candidates are vying to succeed Bush in the Nov. 4 election.

All three major Democratic candidates -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards -- have offered plans containing spending and tax-cut ideas.

Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday laid out a proposal for cuts in corporate tax rates and incentives for companies to invest in new equipment and research. One of his main Republican rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is also getting ready to unveil a plan.