Taking Dietary Supplements? It May Be Too Much

People who take dietary supplements to boost their intake of minerals may actually be getting too much of a good thing -- and even risk serious problems.

According to astudy published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who take dietary supplements also tend to get more nutrients from their food than those who don't take supplements -- suggesting that vitamins may be taken by the people who need them least.

In some cases, supplement users may actually be overloading on minerals, such as iron, that can cause potentially serious health problems, researchers said.

"People need to choose supplements to help meet, but not exceed, the recommended daily intake levels," said Regan Bailey, a nutrition research at the National Institutes of Health, who led the study.

Bailey and her colleagues used dietary surveys to assess mineral intake among 8,860 men and women who participated in a major government health survey between 2003 and 2006.

Men and women who reported using dietary supplements containing eight important minerals -- calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, copper, potassium and selenium -- were much less likely to be getting inadequate amounts of those minerals from the foods they ate than were people who said they didn't take supplements, the study found.

The link was strongest for women, who are more likely than men to take supplements.

Supplement users, in turn, tended to eat better and live healthier lifestyles than non-users, Bailey noted.

The NIH team also found that calcium intake often fell below recommended levels, even among professed supplement users.

Roughly a quarter of supplement users, and 71 percent of nonusers, did not receive the recommended daily amount of calcium -- 800 to 1,000 milligrams a day for men over age 51 and 1,000 to 1,200 mg per day for women of the same age. Calcium is necessary for the healthy formation of bone.

Older people were much more likely to fall short of their daily calcium requirements -- but also to exceed them.

That's because people tend to use more supplements as they age, which helps explain why nearly 16 percent of women between the ages of 51 and 70 reported daily calcium intakes that exceeded the recommended upper limit. Too much supplemental calcium has been linked to kidney stones.

Supplement users were also more likely to boost their intake of magnesium and zinc above recommended upper limits, although the health consequences, if any, of consuming too much of those minerals are unknown.

"We always would hope that the people who are taking dietary supplements are the ones who need it the most, but it doesn't seem to be true," said Cheryl Rock, a nutrition researcher at the University of California, San Diego, adding that the results were not surprising.

When it comes to over consumption, Rock added: "We have been telling people clinically for years that the daily value cut point is not your minimum requirement. Having a dietary assessment is definitely a good idea."

Ozzie Guillen says this too shall pass

You think you're tough? Bow down to Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen. He is the very definition of tough.

Guillen recently passed a kidney stone and still managed the Sox on the same day. Anyone who has ever dropped a stone will tell you that you do not feel like managing anything other than dictating your last will and testament. No, what you want to do is curl up into the fetal position and cry for your mama.

Unfortunately, sources indicate Ozzie's problems with the English language may have led to mental suggestion creating the stone. Apparently someone said to him that "managing the White Sox must be as bad as passing a kidney stone" -- and he didn't realize it was a metaphor.

Meanwhile, Chicago Cubs Manager Mike Quade must be wondering what the metaphor is for running the Cubbies -- passing a billy goat?

Let's review a few more moments from the week that was before advancing to the main courses in our Brunch that will be prepared by some of our leading sportswriting chefs.

• Former President George W. Bush decided it was hip to help the Rangers set a Guinness Book of World Records mark for most people wearing sunglasses in the dark during a game against the Astros. Again, President Bush decided to do this. That explains a lot.

• Tweet of the Week from SB Nation's Holly Anderson about tennis star Venus Williams: "OK, everybody stop calling Venus' outfit 'UNIQUE' like it's acceptable for a grown woman to wear a ROMPER on television." Ouch.

• You got to love this. Eight is the number of German octopuses that will be used to predict scores in the FIFA Women's World Cup. Best octopus becomes the official replacement for Paul -- the octopus wizard that correctly nailed all of Germany's games in the last World Cup before tragically passing on. Got to be an octopuses' dream (the predicting, not the passing on).

• Hey, Oregon, I got some hot tips on Florida's best high school football players from 2009. Call me.

• Jason Hunter, defensive end for the Denver Broncos, was struck in the chest by a kitchen knife allegedly thrown by his girlfriend. He'll be OK but we can neither confirm nor deny that the Broncos would like his girlfriend to drop by for a workout.

• Reports indicated the Cleveland Browns my make a bid for former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor in the supplemental draft. Oh, come on, he may have done some bad things but hasn't he suffered enough?

• Quote of the Week and probably the Month comes from driver Danica Patrick about going full speed on the bumpy turns at Iowa Speedway: "That took some ovaries to do because I wasn't really excited to do it but I did it."

• Lakers forward Ron Artest has filed paperwork to be legally known as Metta World Peace. I think we all are thinking the same thing: How did he ever come up with such a strange name as Metta?

And now we move to the main dishes in this last Brunch for June with a strong emphasis on what once was our national pastime. Yes, we're talking baseball. Enjoy.

• At the top we mentioned Cubs Manager Mike Quade, the latest in a long line of Cubbie managers just waiting to be fired. But Dan McGrath of The New York Times tells us that at least Quade continues to manage with a smile on his face and a song of baseball in his heart.

• The debate continues on whether hiring Jack McKeon, 80, to manage the Marlins once again was a brilliant move or mere publicity stunt. Either way McKeon is doing things his way just as he did in 2003 when the club won the World Series as Clark Spencer explains for The Miami Herald. Pay particular attention to his use of "poo-poo and pee-pee passes" when a player wants to be excused from the dugout.

• But if the Cubs and Marlins think they have troubles, read about what a day at a Dodgers' game is like for Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. The day started with getting a prime ticket for $2.55 on the Internet and got cheaper and cheesier from there.

• Speaking of troubles, Manager Jim Riggleman told the Washington Nationals that he either got a new contract or he was out the door. In effect, the Nationals said don't let the door slap your rear side on the way out. Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post is not impressed with Riggleman's bluff or his managing career.

9magnets teams with podiatrist on exceptional free learning tool

Portage, Indiana – In partnership with Dr. Alec Hochstein, Diplomate, American Board of Podiatric Surgery, 9magnets LLC have developed a valuable application for patients, students, and physicians. The iPhone application, called iPodiatrist(TM), is available now for free in the iTunes App Store.

The application is the result of Dr. Alec Hochstein’s desire to bring a pocket podiatry guide into the hands of all iPhone users with feet. iPodiatrist(TM) is a complete resource, with an unprecedented amount of medical information, foot facts, educational videos, anatomy photos, podiatry reference websites, a fun foot themed game, and much more.

“We’re excited to help provide a valuable medical resource to all iOS users.” stated 9magnets LLC co-founder Cameron Banga, “With great foot condition information, fun foot facts, an action-packed game, educational videos, and more, this is the must-have medical app for all iPhone users.”

iPodiatrist(TM) is an exceptional resource on all topics foot related and the third medical application for 9magnets LLC, after completing Kidney Stone App and Prostate Pal in summer 2010 and winter 2011 respectively.

Located in Hobart IN, 9magnets, LLC was founded in 2010 by Cameron Banga and Michael Phelps. The team specializes in helping businesses and individuals bring their application ideas to life on the iPhone and iPad. They also work to help other mobile developers realize their mobile application marketing potential. To date, the team has developed 20 iOS applications and has received praise from the New York Times, Macworld, Fox Business News, MSNBC Health, and more. All Material and Software (C) 2011 9magnets, LLC / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.