When it comes to vitamins and herbs and dietary supplements, can there be “too much of a good thing”?

By Nurse Mark

We often get questions from people who don’t really understand the difference between the drugs that Big Pharma synthesized in it’s labs and that your conventional doctor so willingly prescribes, and the natural vitamins and minerals and herbals that Mother Nature obligingly creates for us.

For several generations now people have been raised on pharmaceuticals – and not only do they expect prompt, even miraculous effects or results from these synthetic substances, most people have an instinctive awareness that too much of many of these substances can be harmful, poisonous, toxic, even fatal.

While it is true that too much of virtually anything can be, well, too much – that is to say that you can overdose on almost anything, including water – most natural substances tend to be far less likely to cause harm when used sensibly.

Yes, we all have heard of the people who turn themselves blue by taking huge doses of colloidal silver daily for years, or the overweight, out-of-shape, and dehydrated baseball player who collapsed in the heat and died at spring training camp after using ephedra as a weight-loss aid – the FDA loves to use these stories in it’s war on natural medicine and the press likes to sensationalize them because, well, after all, it is all about selling newspapers and commercials…

What we don’t hear about are the people who have been limping along, chronically malnourished from our nutrition-light modern diet who experience near-miraculous improvements in energy and overall health through the simple addition of an optimal-dose daily multivitamin like Maxi Multi or discover that they can throw away their “little purple pills” for that long-standing GERD and heartburn when they improve their digestion with Betain HCL or digestive enzymes like Similase.

Unlike most pharmaceutical drug offerings, which tend to have a prompt and often profound effect (think “tranquilizers” or “muscle relaxers” or “asthma inhaler”) most natural substances tend to have a more subtle effect. Often someone may use a natural substance for days or weeks or months without noticing any big obvious change – until they suddenly realize that they feel better and somehow no longer feel those aches and pains or whatever other problem was bothering them – it’s just, well, better now.

Unlike the “water pills” given for congestive heart failure, or the “blood pressure pills” given for hypertension that will have an obvious effect virtually overnight (often at the expense of some nasty side-effects), the simple dietary change and few simple herbs that will accomplish the same thing might take a week to achieve full effect – but they do it without the dangerous side-effects…

We often work with fertility patients who are receiving treatment from Dr. Jeff Braverman who works closely with Dr. Myatt to use natural herbs and supplements to enhance his high-tech, cutting-edge infertility treatments. This synergy of cutting-edge “high-tech” and scientifically-based natural therapy has proven to be highly effective. Still, it leaves some folks wondering about the possible interactions between these two treatment modalities, and about the potential for there to be “too much of a good thing” as can be seen in this patient’s questions:

I had a telephone consultation with Dr Braverman last week & while I wait for blood test results he suggested I start taking melatonin, antioxidants, mixed greens, etc. I have found the melatonin here & have been taking it but I was unsure what products from here to take for all the others. Dr Braverman suggested Maxi Multi, Maxi-Flavone & Maxi Greens. I see that the Maxi-Greens has some of the same ingrdients as the Maxi-Flavone – if I take both, will I be taking too much of those ingredients or is it safe to take both? Also, if I take all 3 of these products mentioned above, plus the Melatonin, can I also order & take the CoQ10? What about things like Lipoic Acid, Lycopene, Acetyl L-Carnitine – should I be taking those too?

I really want to be sure that I am taking the right stuff & not doing anything that would have adverse side effects. Would they all work together or would that all be too much? I just want to be sure I order the correct stuff & get the maximum benefit for my fertility journey which has been such a struggle for the past 5 years.

Regards
Giselle

Hi Giselle,

In general terms, you should understand that dietary supplements such as those you mention are not akin to pharmaceutical drugs in that they are not isolated, synthetic compounds designed to modify or interfere with specific or discrete physiologic processes, but rather they are concentrated nutrients which provide the nutritional building blocks needed to allow your body’s own natural processes to achieve a more healthy balance and better function.

As you know, our modern way of life, coupled with the decline in the nutritive values of our modern diet has left a lot of people sadly malnourished in many ways and this results in a wide variety of health problems including sub-optimal fertility.

To say that you might “overdose” on these natural substances would be like saying that someone could “overdose” on fresh vegetables – it’s possible, but highly unlikely!

Still, this is a complicated subject and it is easy to become confused and misdirect one’s efforts – which is why we always suggest a Brief Consultation with Dr. Myatt to help you get a much clearer understanding of the nuances of these dietary supplements and a far more focused approach to using them to achieve your health goals. This intense 20-minute conversation with Dr. Myatt could be your very best natural health-improvement investment ever!

I will be happy to work with you to get a Brief Consultation scheduled.

Please find more information regarding Dr. Myatt’s Brief Telephone Consultations here: https://www.drmyattswellnessclub.com/BriefConsults.htm

Cheers,
Nurse Mark

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