Vitamins

To my son Tommy,

While we are on the topic of food with last nights new food experience, I'd like to give you some future health tips. I would tell you as you grow up that I expect you to get the majority of your vitamins from whole natural unprocessed foods including large amounts of vegetables and fruits and such. But if I were to give you that health tip it would be more a "do as I say, not as I do" type thing. To counteract your father's bad habit, I supplement with a multi-vitamin.

Now here is the tip, if you take a multi-vitamin take it on a full stomach with food. Barring any instructions on the bottle to the contrary, that seems to get the best result. Now I am not a doctor and I don't even play one when we pretend, as that is your job and you tend to hog the stethoscope. But somewhere in my mind, from some men's health magazine or some Internet article, it was impressed upon me that you need to have something to catch and aid the absorption of the vitamin. Otherwise the vitamin passes through and is less effective. Perhaps this is one of those medical or nutritional myths, but every day I take my vitamin, I try to add some fuel to the belly as well. Of course every day I take my vitamin I also am depressed that my life is not filled with better foods that preempt any necessity of taking a supplement. Your mom however has been doing a good job of remedying that and making sure our diet is filled with more fish and vegetables and perhaps as you and I both grow up I can give you the advice to get your vitamins from your food and be able to actually say "Do as I do and say!"

Sincerely with love from your dad,
Leo