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Getting the most from vitamins

The Institute of Medicine has provided new guidelines for the way adults and the elderly take vitamins, designed to optimize consumers' health and not just prevent vitamin and mineral deficiency. This is good news for dietitians and consumers alike; the problem is that this new information can be confusing.

Experts in nutrition at the University Medical Center are helping their patients sort out the new guidelines through counseling.

"Many people are becoming aware that vitamins are a good thing. The problem is they often think more of them are even better," said clinical nutritionist Carole Havrila. "The danger in that is when high levels of certain vitamins are taken, they may interfere with certain types of medications, or be harmful to people with certain medical conditions." (See chart for the most important changes.)

"The best way to get a handle on these changes is if people become their own advocates," Havrila added. "People will only learn proper vitamin and mineral dosing if they take some initiative." Some tips are as follows:

• Do research. Some Web sites that offer reliable health and diet information include WebMD (http://webmd.com), and the American Dietetic Association (http://www.eatright.org).

• Maximize your diet. Eat a variety of foods daily, and aim for five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

• Be aware of conversions. Doses may be recommended in milligrams, and micrograms, but are currently listed in international units, or IUs.

• If you take supplements on a regular basis, be aware of the new term, "Tolerable Upper Limit." This is the amount of a vitamin or mineral that could be dangerous if taken too long.

According to Havrila, the Food and Drug Administration isn't likely to change vitamin labels until all new recommendations are complete, a process that could take years. In the meantime, consumers needn't worry, just seek the facts.