"I believe in a good source of phytonutrients, protein, omega 3 and 6 and a multivitamin," said Dr. Matthew Thomas or Iron Mountain, Michigan. Dr. Scott McGregor of St. Catherines, Ontario agrees and uses "omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D3 and a multivitamin from a reputable company (not Centrum or One-a-Day)."

Once she has established a proper nutritional foundation, Dr. Scarano continues with her four essential supplements for specific conditions. The first is a whole food multivitamin. "These supplements, full of antioxidants and phytochemicals, are required because the foods that we grow, even the organic ones, do not contain enough vitamins and minerals because our soils have been so depleted. Be sure the multivitamin you choose is not synthetic because our body only recognizes things that come from nature and no laboratory can improve on nature," said Dr. Scarano.

The second essential supplement on Dr. Scarano's list is EPA and DHA omega 3 essential fatty acids. "Although eating several meals of fish every day would provide us with sufficient amounts of EPA and DHA, most fish that we have available to us contain so many pollutants such as heavy metals, PCBs and dioxins that you cannot take in enough fish to obtain your essential fatty acids without becoming toxic. Omega 3 essential fatty acids play a role in virtually every human function including growth and development, digestion, brain and nerve function, immune function, hormone production and regulation, maintenance of skin and bones, regulation of inflammation, heart function, vision, cholesterol levels and even emotion and behavior."

Her third essential supplement is a probiotic. "Healthy bacteria make up most of our immune system and there is a huge deficiency of these bacteria in the Western world. We currently consume only about one trillionth of the healthy bacteria in our diets that our ancestors did. Research has shown that the total number of bacteria in a healthy adult amounts to ten times more bacteria than you have cells in your entire body. If these are not the right type of healthy bacteria, you can quickly become very sick."

Dr. Scarano's fourth essential supplement, and one that many of you mentioned among your essentials is vitamin D. "Humans require sunlight to produce this steroid hormone for immunity, bone strength, cell growth and neuromuscular action and regulation of inflammation. In order to get the daily requirement of vitamin D from sunlight, you would need to have direct summer month sun exposure on your arms and legs for a minimum of 10-15 minutes per day (without sunscreen). Research has shown that even those who live in sunlight are not getting enough vitamin D and thus supplementation is a must. The nutrients above are required all the time, by everyone and provide you with the tools you need to recover if you are sick or to stay well if you are well. Virtually every illness is related to a deficiency in one or more of these nutrients and while these supplements do not treat or cure illness, if you are deficient in any of these nutrients, you have the potential to achieve a higher level of wellness."

Dealing With the Real Problem

Some of you did express frustration in dealing with your patient's nutritional deficiencies. And Dr. Alan Hare of Hilton Head, South Carolina summed it up best: "As a profession, we have gone the route of allopathic medicine only we call it ‘vitamin' therapy. We have gone the route of throwing a nutritional product at the symptoms rather than support the area of weakness that lead to the symptoms."