Veggie Blog

Vitamin supplements are a big business, and shelves in stores and websites are full of choices. The old version of this post claimed that liquids are the best form, that tablets need special binders to dissolve, and that vitamins are “great for athletes” looking for energy. None of that is backed by good evidence, so I have replaced it with guidance from the National Institutes of Health. Here is how to choose a supplement sensibly, if you need one at all.

Do you need a supplement?

Maybe not. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) says that some supplements can help you get adequate amounts of essential nutrients if you do not eat a nutritious variety of foods, but that supplements cannot take the place of the variety of foods that are important to a healthy eating routine. Some have clear roles: calcium and vitamin D help keep bones strong, and folic acid decreases the risk of certain birth defects. Many other supplements need more study to determine whether they have value. Our guides to vitamins and your health and vitamin deficiency explain who is most at risk of falling short.

What forms do supplements come in?

According to ODS, supplements come in a variety of forms, including tablets, capsules, gummies and powders, as well as drinks and energy bars. There is no single best form. The main difference is convenience and taste: if you cannot swallow pills, a liquid or a chewable may suit you better. The old post claimed that liquids are best and that tablets often pass through the body undissolved, but I could not find authoritative support for either claim. Our post on liquid, chewable and tablet vitamins looks at this question in more detail.

How do you read the label?

Products sold as dietary supplements carry a Supplement Facts label that lists the active ingredients, the amount per serving and other ingredients such as fillers, binders and flavorings. Check the dose against the recommended amounts, and add up everything you take, because manufacturers may add vitamins and minerals to foods such as breakfast cereals and beverages, so you may get more than you think. ODS notes that more might not be better, and that taking more than you need costs more and might raise your risk of side effects. For example, too much vitamin A can cause headaches and liver damage.

Are supplements checked by the FDA?

Not in the way that medicines are. ODS says that dietary supplements are not medicines and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent or cure diseases, and that the FDA does not determine whether supplements are effective before they are marketed. The FDA has set Good Manufacturing Practices that companies must follow, and several independent organizations, including ConsumerLab.com, NSF International and U.S. Pharmacopeia, offer quality testing and seals. ODS adds that these seals indicate a product was properly manufactured, contains the ingredients listed on the label and does not contain harmful levels of contaminants, but that they do not guarantee that a product is safe or effective. Read the full ODS guide, Dietary Supplements: What You Need To Know.

What are the risks?

ODS says you are most likely to have side effects if you take high doses, take supplements instead of prescribed medicines, or take many supplements at once. Some supplements can increase the risk of bleeding or change your response to anesthesia if taken before surgery, and some interact with medicines. Examples include vitamin K, which can reduce the effect of the blood thinner warfarin, and St. John’s wort, which can reduce the effectiveness of many medicines. Be careful about giving supplements to children, and in pregnancy or breastfeeding, unless a health care provider recommends them.

What is the bottom line?

Tell your health care providers, including your pharmacist, about every supplement you take, and ask which ones, if any, might be valuable for you. Keep a list. Build your diet around vegetables, fruit, whole grains and protein foods first. Read about how and when to take vitamin supplements for practical timing tips, and about whether vegetarians need supplements if you follow a plant-based diet.

Balancing pH and detox to cleanse the body

Grow, glow and go. These are the three food groups that a person should eat every day, in the right amounts, to have a healthy and nutritious diet. This is the subject of one of the many science lessons in elementary school that teach children about eating a healthy, balanced diet.

From the very start, people have been used to eating all kinds of food products, as well as beverages, and without knowing it, we also take in small amounts of unwanted chemicals with them. The body has its own ways of removing unwanted toxins, mainly through the liver and kidneys, and in healthy people it does this very effectively.

Different fluids are found inside the human body, and the cells are sensitive to their pH level. The pH level is the measure of how acidic or alkaline something is. The body has its own very precise way of managing pH: the lungs and kidneys keep the pH of the blood within a narrow range (about 7.35 to 7.45). If they cannot do this properly, the imbalance affects the whole body.

Some detox programs claim that stress, tiredness, unwanted weight, fatigue, aches, pains, poor digestion and other disorders are signs that your body is too acidic. In fact, these symptoms have many possible causes. Truly acidic blood (acidosis) is a medical condition, usually caused by illnesses such as kidney disease or uncontrolled diabetes, and it needs a doctor rather than a detox.

Detox writers name three things that are supposed to make the body more acidic: taking in acids, producing acids, and not getting rid of acids properly.

Foods such as meat, dairy, processed sugar, alcohol and coffee are often called acid-forming. They can make your urine more acidic, but they do not change the pH of your blood, which your body keeps steady.

Some detox advocates also claim that yeasts and harmful bacteria thrive in an acidic body and produce even more toxins. There is no good evidence for this, and such claims should be treated with caution.

Some acids are strong, while others are weak. The body buffers acids with several systems, including the bicarbonate in your blood, your breathing and your kidneys. Acid builds up in the body only when these systems are not working properly, for example because of illness.

Your liver and kidneys do the actual work of detoxification. You can support them by not overloading them, especially with alcohol, and by seeing a doctor if you suspect they are not working well.

For a healthy body, you need good food and nutrition. Rather than relying on special products, eat a diet rich in vegetables and fruit, get proper nutrition and keep your body well hydrated. This supports the body’s own detox process.

Alkalizing products are also sold in stores with the promise of balancing your pH. Your body already keeps its pH balanced, so there is little reason to buy them. If you are worried about acid build-up, the right step is a check-up with your doctor.

A detox program can be a good way to start eating better, with more vegetables and fewer processed foods, but it is the change in diet that helps, not the detox itself.

Good health does not come overnight; it comes through self-discipline and determination. Changing simple things in your daily routine will benefit you and your body more than any quick fix.

Remember, your body keeps its own pH in balance. If you have symptoms that worry you, such as ongoing tiredness, pain or digestive problems, that is the right time to consult your doctor.

Is there one food or drink that is best for lowering cholesterol? The honest answer is no. A balanced diet that draws on all the food groups works better than any single “superfood,” and what matters is the pattern of what you eat day after day. The good news is that small swaps at each meal add up. Here are some of the easiest.

Why does what we eat matter so much?

Cholesterol levels have risen in many countries as fast food, fried snacks and big portions have become part of daily life. The foods that do the most harm are those high in saturated fat, which raises LDL cholesterol, the “bad” kind. MedlinePlus suggests that people who need to lower their cholesterol keep saturated fat below 7% of their daily calories, which is about 13 grams on a 2,000-calorie diet, and eat less than 200 milligrams of dietary cholesterol a day. Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal foods such as egg yolks, shrimp, organ meats and whole-milk dairy.

Which swaps are worth making?

Milk: Choose low-fat or fat-free milk, or unsweetened soy or oat drink, instead of whole milk, on cereal and in coffee. The taste is close, and the saturated fat drops a lot.

Meat: Instead of a big steak at the cookout, pick lean cuts in a smaller portion, and fill the rest of the plate with vegetables and beans. Lentils, chickpeas, tofu and tempeh have no cholesterol at all. If you eat chicken, take off the skin and bake, grill or steam it, because frying adds fat and calories.

Fish: Fish and shellfish are a good choice for lunch or dinner. The American Heart Association suggests two servings of fish a week, preferably fatty fish such as salmon, which is rich in omega-3 fats. See the AHA page on fish and omega-3. If you do not eat fish, walnuts, ground flaxseed and canola oil are plant sources of a different omega-3 fat.

Snacks and dessert: A candy bar or a slice of cake is high in sugar and often in saturated fat, and it fills you up for a short time only. Try a handful of unsalted nuts or a piece of fruit instead. Both give you fiber, vitamins and minerals.

What should go on the plate every day?

Soluble fiber helps keep your digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol, and MedlinePlus suggests aiming for 10 to 25 grams a day. Good sources are oatmeal, oat bran, apples, pears, bananas, prunes, kidney beans, lentils and chickpeas. Include some fruit or a salad in each meal, and balance meat or fish with a generous side of vegetables. You do not have to give up potatoes, but baked or boiled ones are a better choice than fries.

How can you learn to cook this way?

Cooking at home gives you the most control. Look for recipes in a cookbook or online that use baking, steaming, grilling or sautéing in a little olive oil in place of deep frying. Cooking shows can also give you ideas for tasty low-fat meals. It is never too late to change, and every swap helps.

Keep reading: our posts on what to eat to lower your cholesterol, eating to lower cholesterol with oats, fruit, beans and healthy fats, selecting cholesterol-free foods and foods to avoid to lower cholesterol have more ideas.

Slimming teas, dieter’s teas and other “cleansing” products are sold in many stores, and they often seem natural and gentle. But most of them work in one way only: they are laxatives. Using laxatives to lose weight does not remove fat, and it can do real harm. This post explains why.

What is in slimming tea?

Many of these teas contain plant ingredients that are laxatives, such as senna, aloe, cascara, rhubarb root and buckthorn, and sometimes castor oil. They have been used for centuries to treat constipation. They are not tea in the usual sense, and the label may describe them as a “natural bowel cleanse” or a “detox” and avoid the word laxative. The calories in the cup are close to zero unless the tea is sweetened, so any effect on the scale comes from the laxative. In 2002 the FDA ruled that aloe and cascara sagrada could no longer be sold as ingredients of non-prescription laxative products in the United States, because the safety data the agency asked for had not been submitted.

Do laxatives make you lose fat?

No. The food you eat is digested and absorbed mostly in the small intestine, and laxatives act on the large intestine afterward. In a small 1983 study of seven women, two with bulimia who used laxatives for weight control and five healthy young women, researchers measured calorie absorption and found that even extreme purging, which produced 4 to 6 liters of diarrhea, cut the calories absorbed by only about 12 percent of intake. You can read the study abstract on PubMed. The lower number on the scale after a laxative is mostly water and it returns when you drink, which is why the National Eating Disorders Association calls the idea that laxatives control weight a myth.

What are the risks?

Repeated use can cause dehydration, an imbalance of the body’s minerals such as potassium and sodium, stomach cramps, nausea and fainting. A mineral imbalance can affect the heart and muscles. The body can also come to depend on laxatives, so that the bowel stops responding to normal doses and constipation gets worse. The National Eating Disorders Association lists severe dehydration, electrolyte disturbances, laxative dependence and damage to internal organs among the consequences of misuse. Women who are pregnant or trying to conceive should not take laxatives or herbal laxative teas without asking their doctor.

Who should be especially careful?

Laxative misuse is common among people who have, or are at risk of, an eating disorder. If you find that you are using laxatives to “make up” for eating, or you feel anxious when you cannot, please talk to a doctor or a mental health professional. Treatment works, and you do not have to manage it alone. Anyone who uses laxatives regularly for constipation should also see a doctor to find out why.

What works instead?

If you want to lose weight, the safest approach is a slow one: reduce portions a little, eat more vegetables, beans and whole grains, move more, and sleep enough. For constipation, fiber, fluids and exercise are better first steps than a laxative tea. For more on products that promise quick fixes, see our posts on diet pills and who should avoid them, herbal weight loss and eight habits for losing weight the healthy way. If a product promises easy weight loss with no effort, it is wise to leave it on the shelf.

The old version of this post presented a set of recipes as detox recipes, said they would “cleanse your body from toxins,” and recommended a three-day fast followed by a diet of one kind of fruit at each meal. The recipes themselves are simple vegetable-heavy dishes and they are fine as ordinary healthy meals. The claim that they cleanse your body is not supported, and the fasting plan is not something I can recommend. Here is how to enjoy the recipes and what to know first.

Do detox recipes remove toxins?

No good evidence says so. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says that a 2015 review concluded there was no compelling research to support the use of “detox” diets for weight management or for eliminating toxins from the body and that a 2017 review found that juicing and “detox” diets can cause initial weight loss but tend to lead to weight gain when normal eating resumes. Your liver and kidneys already remove waste, as our post on what your body already does to clean itself explains. The recipes below are worth making because they are vegetables, not because they purify anything. See also body detox the easy way.

What about the fast and the one-fruit diet?

The old post quoted a Dr. Kiki Sidhwa as recommending a three-day fast followed by a diet of one type of fruit at each meal: apple for breakfast, oranges or pineapple for lunch, and apples, pears, grapes or bananas in the evening. I could not verify this advice or the doctor’s credentials, and a diet of one food at a time is low in protein and many nutrients. NCCIH lists fasting and eating only certain foods among the “detox” approaches it reviewed, and notes that there have been no studies on the long-term effects of such programs. Anyone with a medical condition or on medication should ask a doctor before fasting.

How do you make the vegetable juice and the soups?

I have kept the ingredients of the old post’s recipes. Quantities were garbled, so treat them as a guide.

Green vegetable juice: one whole cucumber, four celery sticks, two to four handfuls of spinach and eight lettuce leaves, with parsley if you like. Juice the vegetables and add water and a little lemon juice. Whole vegetables keep the fiber that juicing removes. The old post suggested adding alfalfa sprouts. The FDA advises avoiding raw sprouts of any kind, including alfalfa, because bacteria can reach high levels during sprouting even under clean conditions, and recommends cooking them thoroughly, so I would leave them out or cook them.

Raw avocado soup: blend one avocado with 100 ml of light vegetable stock into a paste, then blend in two spring onions, a pepper, a cucumber, two handfuls of spinach, a garlic clove and the juice of a lemon or lime. The old post called it “alkalising,” a claim with no support, so I dropped the word. It also added Bragg Liquid Aminos for flavor. That is a soy-based seasoning that adds salt, so use it sparingly if you watch your sodium.

Warm broccoli soup: lightly steam six to eight broccoli heads for five to six minutes, then blend them with an avocado, a third of an onion, a celery stick, a large handful of spinach, a piece of fresh ginger and cumin, and season with garlic and pepper.

Is the ginger and turmeric tea worth drinking?

As a warm drink, yes. The old recipe used two cups of water, a teaspoon each of powdered ginger and turmeric, a tablespoon of maple syrup and some lemon, simmered for ten minutes and strained. It will not cleanse you. NCCIH says that for turmeric, there is not enough evidence to conclude that it is beneficial for any health condition, though it is widely used in cooking. If you take medicines or are thinking of using turmeric as a concentrated supplement, ask your doctor first, as supplements are much stronger than the spice in a tea.

What should you do instead?

Make the soups part of a normal week of vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts and whole grains. The old post’s rule of thumb, more fiber and water, is good advice. If you buy juice, choose pasteurized products, because the FDA warns that unpasteurized juice can contain harmful bacteria that make children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems seriously ill. For the full evidence, read NCCIH’s page on detoxes and cleanses, and see our guide to gentle detox habits versus harsh cleanses.