Editor,
A few points raised in Dr. Peggy Spencer's well-intentioned column in Wednesday's Daily Lobo deserve to be elaborated on. Reference is made to a standard American diet that is unlikely to lead to vitamin deficiencies, but at the same time, because some people have exceptionally poor diets, supplementation is recommended. Aside from the contradiction, this advice seems to endorse an unhealthy diet and attempting to "cover your bases" with supplements. When so many safety issues have been raised with respect to supplements, it would seem more prudent to recommend changing your diet to consume more whole foods, fruits and vegetables to cover your nutrient needs. A more disconcerting piece of advice however is the recommendation to take a calcium supplement. Bantu women of Africa consume no dairy and about one-fourth the amount of calcium as industrial populations, and yet they do not suffer from osteoporosis. Clearly, too little calcium is unrelated to this condition. What is related are the other components of the diet that are acid-producing, such as animal protein and grains. In response, the body buffers its pH level by leaching calcium out of the bones. Again, the safest recommendation is to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are base-producing foods.
John Wagner
UNM staff
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