“It ruined everything—career, social life, relationships, because I was tired all the time,” Rotherham recalls. With lab results in hand and determined to find an answer, he began researching the Internet for clues. “One thing that kept surfacing was hormone imbalance,” Rotherham found.

The search also introduced him to an Indianapolis physician, noted for success in treating “difficult” cases, who conducted more extensive lab tests that finally revealed a diagnosis—underactive thyroid. Immediately placed on thyroid supplements, Rotherham soon noticed a difference.

“Within a couple of weeks, I felt worlds better,” says Rotherham, now 49, who recently launched his own business. “I went from being literally flat on my back, achy and tired, to being highly functional.”

Rotherham is among the approximately 27 million Americans living with overactive or underactive thyroid, according to the American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). Unfortunately, like Mark Rotherham, many go undiagnosed until something goes terribly awry, at times wreaking havoc on one’s quality of life.

Think of the thyroid as your body’s thermostat. Functioning normally, this butterfly-shaped gland, which sits just below your voice box, releases just the right amount of hormones to regulate your body’s metabolism and keep things running smoothly. However, if the thermostat is turned up too high, the thyroid becomes overactive—a condition called hyperthyroidism. You may feel revved up, overheated, and anxious and notice unexplained weight loss. In contrast, if the thermostat is turned down too low, the thyroid becomes underactive—a disorder called hypothyroidism—and fails to provide enough hormones to meet the body’s demands. As a result, your body slows down, leading to a wide range of ubiquitous symptoms. Of the two, hypothyroidism is the more common—and the more insidious.

Dialing down

The reason hypothyroidism is missed so often is threefold: Doctors don’t always screen for thyroid dysfunction; patients may not know to ask about it; and the symptoms are common to many other conditions.

While some people with hypothyroidism note changes, others overlook symptoms, because they seldom develop overnight and are often subtle. Hypothyroidism is notorious for mimicking changes often associated with aging, such as fatigue and intolerance to cold.

Over time, people may discover that the gland swells 
(see Neck Check) and their eyebrows begin to disappear. Additionally, hypothyroidism decreases sweating and causes slowing of your most vital systems: the heart, the lungs, and the gastrointestinal tract. Patients may experience shortness of breath when exercising, and many develop sleep apnea. Worst of all, hypothyroidism can cause high blood pressure and raise blood levels of cholesterol, two of the biggest aging culprits in America. Identifying the thyroid disorder is crucial, because in rare cases, hypothyroidism can lead to coma or even death. For all of these reasons, I encourage both 
patients and their doctors to have a conversation about hypothyroidism. When left untreated, the complications 
can shave years off your life.

Gauging your risk

Women are especially vulnerable: According to the AACE, hypothyroidism is up to 8 times more common in women than men. But all of us need to pay attention to our thyroids as we age, because underactive thyroid becomes much more common in older adults. By age 60, as many as 17 percent of women and 9 percent of men have an underactive thyroid.

Smoking; exposure to secondhand smoke or large amounts of radiation during childhood or cancer treatments of the head, neck or chest; and some prescription medications (such as the heart drug amiodarone and long-term use of mood-stabilizing lithium) can cause hypothyroidism.

However, the most common culprit in the U.S. is autoimmune dysfunction, when the body’s immune cells start to attack thyroid tissue like it’s a foreign invader. As 
a result, the thyroid gland stops producing hormones the 
way it’s supposed to. Genetics likely play a role; we know 
that people with a personal or family history of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, 
and psoriasis, among others are at higher risk for hypothyroidism. Researchers are close to discovering which gene types might make us more susceptible to autoimmune thyroid problems. In those who are genetically susceptible, certain environmental factors, such as iodine in our diet, are thought to trigger the autoimmune attack on the thyroid.

Thyroid checkup

If you are worried about your thyroid hormone levels, a simple blood test can help you and your doctor reach a diagnosis. The American Thyroid Association recommends that all adults over the age of 35 undergo thyroid screening; however, there is no firm consensus on mass screening. It’s especially important for people with high cholesterol to ask about having their thyroid levels checked: Many people aren’t screened for thyroid levels and could potentially have hypothyroidism. The good news is that doctors now have a very sensitive “thyroid stimulating hormone” (TSH) test that allows us to diagnose thyroid disorders much earlier—even before symptoms appear. Higher than normal TSH levels can reveal whether your thyroid function is in danger, even if your actual thyroid hormone levels are normal.

If your thyroid blood tests come back sub-par or abnormal, the most common treatment option for hypothyroidism is synthetic thyroid hormone replacements. These oral medications help restore hormone levels that shift your internal thermostat and metabolism back to normal. Evidence suggests that people who take thyroid hormone replacements should do so on an empty stomach. Additionally, certain medications, supplements, and foods may affect your ability to absorb thyroid pills. Talk to your doctor about your present medication regimen to gauge if there is an interaction. For example, generally it’s best to wait about four hours after taking thyroid medication to consume soy and high-fiber products, iron and calcium supplements, antacids that contain aluminium or magnesium, and certain prescription medications such as cholestyramine (Questran). Ultimately, monitoring thyroid hormone levels will determine if there is an absorption problem.

The role of prevention

Even if you’re not a candidate for thyroid hormone medications, dietary changes may help you protect the health of your thyroid. Because both too much and too little iodine can cause hypothyroidism, it’s important to be aware of foods that contain iodine and how they may affect your thyroid. Iodine deficiency is rare in the U.S. because it is added to our table salt. Eating excessive amounts of certain raw vegetables such as brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, corn, and kale should be avoided because they contain enzymes that can drive down thyroid function. But don’t think I’m telling you not to eat your vegetables—cooking them for just a few minutes deactivates those enzymes and makes them nutritious for your whole body.

In general, to protect the cells in your thyroid and your entire body, I recommend foods rich in:


• Antioxidants (blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, squash,
 bell peppers)

• Omega-3 fatty acids (walnuts, salmon)

• B vitamins (whole grains, fresh vegetables)

Vitamin D is another critical micronutrient that is 
getting a lot of attention for its role in autoimmune disease. We know that up to 70 percent of Americans aren’t getting enough vitamin D and that inadequate levels could put you at higher risk for autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Vitamin D also plays a supportive role for the parathyroid glands, four smaller glands located on the larger thyroid, that closely monitor and regulate calcium levels in our blood and bones. One of the best ways to get your daily dose of D is just 10-20 minutes of sunshine each day. Sardines, dark leafy greens, and fortified dairy products are also important sources. I recommend at least 800 international units (IUs) daily for most adults and 1000 IUs for adults over 70.

In addition to warding off problems within the thyroid and autoimmune disease, keeping your vitamin D levels up will also help fight off flu and several forms of cancer.

The key to keeping the thyroid healthy is paying attention to your own body. All too often, we accept that certain changes, such as sluggishness and depression, are just a natural part of the aging process. But hypothyroidism is the secret culprit behind these unexplained symptoms for millions of Americans. When we simply accept weight gain, low exercise tolerance, and mental cloudiness without questioning the cause, we’re risking serious harm to our bodies.

After his hypothyroidism went undiagnosed for a decade, Mark Rotherham is back on his feet.

You can find more information on diagnosing and treating thyroid disease from our exclusive interview with Dr. Jeffrey R. Garber.

Post Investigates: Thyroid Disease The Saturday Evening Post

When we use our sense of smell, our autonomic nervous system—the body’s autopilot—produces all kinds of physical reactions. The amygdala, the brain’s emotional center, is intimately connected to the olfactory system and immediately influenced by scents. This explains the butterflies swarming in our stomachs when we smell a pleasant scent from our childhood or the panic some people experience after catching a whiff of alcohol when entering the doctor’s office or hospital.

Aromatherapy takes advantage of the powerful link between nose and brain by using fragrant plant essences known as essential oils. These oils are made by expressing or distilling natural plant material to yield a highly concentrated aromatic essence. On average, an essential oil is 50 to 70 times more potent than the nondistilled plant from which it was made. Because they are so highly concentrated, pure essential oils are rarely used on the skin. Instead, small quantities are diluted, usually with a vegetable base oil.

Each oil triggers the olfactory system with unique combinations of chemicals. Applied on the skin or sampled in whiffs in or near the nasal passages, some fragrances soothe and relax, while others stimulate and invigorate (see below). For example, vanilla and flowery scents can reduce the sensation of pain, but spicy smells tend to heighten it. In a recent clinical trial, releasing coconut fragrance in the room while challenging volunteers with math questions blunted their stress levels.

Interestingly, scientists say that the response to aromas is influenced by ethnic background, memories, and newly discovered variabilities in the olfactory system. Some may sense a pungent odor even though everyone 
else loves that particular scent. In others, a 
scent leaves a bad aftertaste—as is true of vanilla 
in a surprisingly large number of people who participated in a clinical trial.

Aromatherapy, like much in the field of healing, must be customized to one’s personal needs. Experiment with scents to identify which ones appeal to you, and to develop your own pharmacopoeia to pep you up or allow you to relax. Keep in mind that essential oils are less likely than synthetic aromas to produce an allergic reaction. If you have multiple allergies, however, talk to your doctor before using essential oils. For more about aromatherapy and to find an expert near you, contact the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (naha.org).

Mehmet Oz, M.D., best-selling author and host of The Dr. Oz Show, is a leading expert in heart transplant surgery, complementary medicine, and health care policy at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Soothing Scents The Saturday Evening Post

I walk past the patient with the mechanical heart to visit his roommate, on whom I performed open-heart surgery earlier in the week. I am surprised to see a woman slowly waving her hands over the victim’s chest. Wearing a purple turban on her head and several large silver medallions interspersed with crystal pendants draped around her neck, she asks, “Do you believe energy meridians affect your health?”

In the West, we have adapted a biomedical understanding of illness. We seek the cause of ailments by evaluating their concrete manifestations or symptoms. When gladiators in my ancestral home of southern Asia Minor were mortally injured, Galen—a father of Western medicine—would vivisect the athlete and identify the cause of injury. Modern equivalents, such as physicians in the Framingham study, perform autopsies on deceased middle-aged executives, observe a blockage in the main vessel of the heart, and claim that the death was caused by the sudden closure of a vessel, resulting in a heart attack. We seek concrete explanations with easy-to-identify causes, then educate our population about how to avoid those risk factors. Fine. However, a global world demands that we be less provincial in seeking answers to health—a reality driven home by the observation that half of the heart attacks in this country occur in individuals without traditional risk factors that one would predict.

For centuries, Ayurvedic, traditional Chinese medicine, and related traditions in Asia assessed health by the individual’s energy state. As a physician proud of my tradition, I join my colleagues in scoffing at the notion that energy meridians, which cannot be measured or seen, could cause a disease as seemingly concrete as a heart attack or broken arm. But what of ailments that are less tangible and challenge modern Western medicine? More important, do the solutions we offer in the West help the public to maintain health?

The quandary leads to an even more profound question: What is life? Philosophers, artists, or lawyers may quibble over a definition, but the scientist has the advantage (and limitation) of drawing conclusions from the study of the most basic element of a living being—the cell. Several million years ago, a random aggregation of minerals somehow coalesced into a single entity, which was able to maintain an energy gradient across a membrane that gave birth to life on Earth. Differentiation of inside from outside and self from non-self still occupies our cells. The cells know if they are doing a good job by the energy gradient maintained. The simple rule is: no energy gradient, no life. If we unify cells into organs, in theory, their energies could aggregate as well. Likewise, placement of organs into a living mammal-like man should result in discernible energy patterns. Why are we so reluctant to even study energy fields? Medicine and our vision of healing is a culturally based and limited approach. If our society is unwilling to submit to beliefs that demand trust in an invisible force, our scientists will share this bias and focus on more scientifically recognized pursuits.

Whether an advanced physicist or a casual Internet user, we are becoming more comfortable living life without mechanistic explanations for the world around us. There is a growing belief that health and illness are more than states defined in a pathology lab or petri dish. The net result is a growing acceptance that something else is out there that we need to discover to find true health and address disease in a more comprehensive manner.

This something else has always been a driving force in my study of medicine and carries over into the young visionaries looking for answers in my Columbia University lab. Over the last few years, we have created models for studying the role of energy in effecting fundamental physiologic changes. Although our results are enticing, they have not yet been duplicated in another center, which is imperative prior to publicizing controversial data. But no matter what we prove today, for the foreseeable future, you and almost everyone you know will live life without really knowing the right answer. At some point, we reach an impasse reminiscent of the argument over the existence of God. There is no clearly correct answer, but everyone should search for a solution and ultimately select an answer—part of your life’s mission. After all, it is often not the destination, but the journey that really counts. So get going! Doctor’s orders.

The Healing Power of Energy The Saturday Evening Post

Dean Ornish, author of several bestsellers—Love and Survival and Reversing Heart Disease—and I walk past the sweets table and play with the fruit. In this magical environment, we both lament that everyone we know could not enjoy the moment we were experiencing. The occasion seemed ideal to ask Dean to expand on a comment he made at a seminar earlier that week as he poetically described his personal battle with depression.

“When you are depressed, for the first time in your life you think you have seen the world with absolute clarity,” said Ornish. “And the reality is painfully depressing. No good can come of this existence, and your personal contribution is worthless. Until then all the times you thought you were happy, you were just deluding yourself.”

Our session highlighted the growing knowledge of the connection of depression with disease. At a first cut, approximately 18 percent of the lost workdays are attributed to depression. But what about more organic ailments that most of us think occur without any involvement from the brain? For example after a heart attack, the second most important predictor of death is depression. Patients who are depressed are more likely to have complications after heart surgery, including infection—perhaps a result of the reduced immunologic function associated with depression. They also get readmitted to the hospital more often and die more frequently after heart surgery.

The converse is also true. Patients who have someone or thing that they love at home survive major illness better than those who do not. This is true even if the loved entity is a pet. They also do better if they belong to an organization that can provide them social support, which is perhaps why churchgoers often seem to survive more often than expected.

Dean reached his lowest point of depression while in college in Texas. All the precipitating factors appeared stacked against him—a lonely dorm room with a brilliant roommate who made him feel inadequate, as well as a high-pressure, pre-med existence in an unfriendly environment far from home. He contemplated suicide by several means and had worked out the details meticulously.

Mental illness afflicts 20 percent of adults and is the largest cause of work loss in the country. As a society we have historically ignored the problem and felt the disease to be a weakness of those suffering. Yet depression is caused by biochemical changes in the mind that are related to genetic as well as environmental factors. And they are responsive to aggressive pharmacologic and environmental treatments.

Numerous herbal remedies have been shown to help patients with mild to moderate depression. More conventional approaches with cognitive-behavioral therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac and Zoloft, may also be useful. Dean’s dedicated parents saved his life by rescuing him at school and supporting him through recovery. For Ornish, life changed.

“Depression, like any form of suffering, can be a doorway for transforming our lives for the better,” Ornish says. “I was profoundly depressed in college years ago. Having survived it, I became interested in understanding what caused me to feel that way, and found that the different parts of what became my lifestyle program were enormously helpful in my life. Unfortunately, most physicians are not trained to help people use the experience of suffering as a doorway for change.”

The social stigmata associated with this organic ailment should not stop others from seeking and gaining a full recovery.

Dean Ornish’s Battle With Depression The Saturday Evening Post

The traditional focus of the medical community’s antiaging campaign has been on the treatment and prevention of chronic disease thought to be an intrinsic part of growing old. The reasoning was clear: Since heart disease and cancer alone accounted for more than 50 percent of all deaths associated with old age, it seemed logical to assume that preventing killer diseases would result in us all living longer—a lot longer.

As it turns out, this isn’t what happens. As devastating as these diseases are, wiping them out only increases average life expectancy by about 91⁄2 years—not the projected 30 to 40. Why? Because something else takes their place.

To add serious years to your life—and life to your years—you have to slow your rate of aging on the cellular level. And you can do just that by taking advantage of recent scientific insights. By learning about the roles of mitochondria, sirtuin, and nitric oxide in the body, you’ll be able to apply these remarkable discoveries to your own life. Death is a destination we all reach some day. But how long the trip takes and how bumpy the ride is, to a surprisingly large degree, up to you.

Despite recent headlines heralding the discovery of the so-called “death gene,” you are not genetically programmed to die. Not even close. Your genes do play an important role in the aging process, just not the one most originally thought. Here’s how it all works.

The Stingy Gene

It’s easy to think that your genes insure a long and healthy life. This is true—but only up to a point. Since the fate of the human race depends on passing along our precious genes, it’s not surprising that genes call the shots. And just like the lucky fox picked to develop the rules for efficient henhouse operation, the gene stacks the deck in its favor.

Genes manage your body much like you manage your household. However, genes are more concerned with energy than dollars. And energy, like money, is always in short supply. Budgets must be established, priorities set. In short, your genes function like bookkeepers focused on three key biological budget categories:

1. Reproductive Expenses: Reproductive expenses include the energy cost of giving birth and breastfeeding, as well as the energy associated with dating, courting, mating, worrying, and chasing after the kids.
2. Maintenance Expenses: Think of maintenance as overhead—the cost of keeping the lights on. Maintenance expenses include the energy cost of being alive, which covers the processing of food, air, and other inputs. Maintenance also involves all the cost involved in fighting off infection, healing wounds, mending broken bones, or repairing damaged DNA.
3. Growth Expenses: Growth expenses include the energy required to increase body size—in length, height, and weight.

The gene knows that the time and energy you use for one purpose limit the resources available for others. For example, energy spent fighting off infection or battling cancer means fewer resources available for reproduction. While it would seem to make perfect sense to spend whatever is necessary to maintain your health, the gene is sympathetic to this view only up to a point. The gene is all for prompt and complete payment of growth and maintenance bills, as long as they are in service of your reproductive mission and never come at the cost of reduced reproductive potential (budget priority #1).

While the gene always earns a perfect credit rating score when it comes to paying reproductive expenses, there are always a reasonable number of repair and maintenance bills that are past due. Several bills will go unpaid altogether. It’s not that there isn’t enough “cash” to pay the outstanding balances; it’s just that the gene is worried there may not be enough left over to cover all reproductive expenses. The miserly gene knows when you are young and healthy, a few past-due repair and maintenance bills won’t impact your ability to produce healthy children. However, over time, the reproductive version of robbing Peter to pay Paul begins to take a toll on your health.

Aging: The Price We Pay for Reproducing

The gradual accumulation of unrepaired damage is the essence of aging. Like water dripping constantly on stone, little by little our bodies become worn down; we become frail. This is why eliminating cancer and heart disease have such a modest impact on longevity. In a weakened state, it’s just a matter of time before something—whether it’s the flu or a fall down the stairs—breaks the camel’s back for good. So aging is the result of a trade-off. The gene-directed preferential payment of reproductive expenses means that there will be insufficient funds to cover all repair and maintenance cost.

What is a cell to do?

Now that you understand the game, you can see two ways to slow the aging process:

• Decrease the Damage Rate, so that existing repair budgets will be sufficient; and/or
• Increase the Repair Rate by diverting resources away from reproduction into maintenance and repair.

As it turns out, the only scientifically proven method to consistently slow the rate of aging and dramatically increase lifespan, Caloric Restriction, works by both decreasing damage and enhancing repair mechanisms.

Calories Down, Longevity Up

Over the past few years we’ve learned that reducing the number of calories available to laboratory animals significantly increases lifespan. Calorie restriction (CR) may cause genes to redirect spending away from reproduction toward maintenance and repair. As the theory goes, the gene interprets the severe caloric cutback as a sign of a harsh unforgiving environment—one in which the probability of survival of a newborn is low. So low, in fact, that the parent may also be in jeopardy. In an act that only looks magnanimous, the gene decides that it is in its best interest to shut down reproductive activities to plow all available resources into helping the prospective future parent survive until tough times pass. At that time, investments in reproduction are more likely to pay dividends.

If calorie restriction extends lifespan by increasing maintenance, you would see evidence of reproductive cutbacks and increased activity in repair and maintenance processes. That is exactly what scientists found. First, scientists noticed the CR animals had become sterile. They also found that in as little as eight weeks, CR animals had significantly higher levels of DNA repair mechanisms. Also, antioxidant levels inside cells were significantly higher in the CR animals. The natural antioxidants in your cells are scavenging free radicals before they do damage to cells. The net result of these and other mechanisms is that a roughly 40 percent cut in calories causes a corresponding increase in lifespan by around the same 40 percent. Coincidence? Not likely.

Scientists now have a plausible explanation of how CR actually works at a mechanistic level. It centers around a special kind of protein called sirtuin. Calorie restriction activates sirtuin, which in turn allows your cells to function properly even if they have minor damage.

Will You Actually Live Longer, or Will It Just Seem Longer?

Although there is some anecdotal evidence that a 40 percent calorie-restricted diet improves lifespan in humans, not many of us could succeed with this choice. We may live longer, but the quality of that life may not be worth living, which is why scientists are so excited about the prospects of drugs that mimic calorie restriction. Resveratrol, an active ingredient found in grapes used to make red wine, is a CR mimic that has generated enormous attention. Although early results are promising, it may be five years to decades before drugs such as resveratrol are available.

What are you supposed to do in the meantime?

While there may not be a fountain-of-youth, antiaging silver bullet on the immediate horizon, that’s not to say you can’t take significant steps to slow your rate of aging. Get a do-over and add significant years to your life and life to your years by following an antiaging to-do list: Increasing your body’s Repair Rate and/or decreasing the Damage Rate. And guess what? When the rate of damage equals the rate of repair, aging seems to stop.

Here’s what to do:

Decrease the Damage Rate

Start taking key substances that increase antioxidant levels in your cells. Oxidants, or free radicals, are toxic byproducts of the body’s energy factories—the mitochondria—that power our cells. These oxidants are indoor body pollutants that have been implicated in a wide variety of age-related diseases and conditions, including arthritis, heart disease, and cancer. Free radicals extract a particularly heavy toll in our brains since cognitive activities account for almost 25 percent of the body’s energy production. This is why some researchers view Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders as the inevitable cost of simply being alive. So much for the bad news.

Here’s our list of some nutrients shown to limit the damage caused by free radicals inside your cells:

Bioflavinoids: anthocyanins (blue-black fruits), and citrus bioflavinoids (lemons, oranges, grape-fruits, etc.)

Carotenoids: Alpha- and beta-carotene (red, yellow, and orange fruits and vegetables), lycopene (red fruits and vegetables)

• Green tea
• DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid that is an active component of fish oil)
• Minerals: Magnesium and selenium
• Vitamins and Cofactors: B3, B5, D,and coenzyme Q10

Increase the Repair Rate

Lose Some Waist. Most of us couldn’t stomach the 40 percent reduction in calories that has been shown to increase lifespan. Fortunately, just cutting back 15 percent gets you almost as much of an antiaging benefit. This is why you can incorporate this approach instead of the tougher 25 percent reduction often used by calorie-restriction advocates.

Get some rest: Most of us don’t get enough sleep, and people who sleep fewer than six hours a night have a 50 percent increased risk of viral infections and increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Plus, your native growth hormone increases naturally with seven hours of sleep. To up the odds for a full night’s rest—in addition to obvious options such as no TV, laptops, or lights—try sleeping in the nude (it’ll make you cooler); find a quiet environment or add some white noise; and invest in a comfortable mattress that does not trap heat. Over half of poor sleepers improve adequately with these simple steps.

Start taking omega-3 fatty acids/DHA: The compounds have been shown to deliver antiaging benefits to the heart, brain, and immune system. One of the big reasons why: the fats help relax your arteries to improve blood flow (nasty fats like trans fats make your arteries spasm, and thus promote dangerous inflammation). You can get the good forms of fish oil through certain types of fish and walnuts, as well as through fish oil supplements or the pure DHA form from algae. If going the supplement route, aim daily for two grams of general omega-3 fats or 600 mg of the pure DHA variety.

Take a deep breath: Deep-breathing exercises drag nitric oxide from your sinuses to the lungs, which dilate the capillary beds and improve the efficiency of breathing. Perhaps that’s why diaphragmatic belly breathing is the foundation of Eastern meditation and is a powerful stress-mitigating tool that no one even realizes you are using.

The powerhouse of cells, mitochondria create energy needed for cellular processes, as well as toxic byproducts implicated in a variety of age-related diseases, including arthritis, heart disease, and cancer.

Specific recommendations and daily dosage

Vitamins:
A: 2,500 IU is all you need, and
more than 3,500 IU is too much
B1 (thiamin): 25 mg
B2 (riboflavin): 25 mg
B3 (niacin): at least 100 mg
B5 (pantothenic acid): 300 mg
B6 (pyridoxine): 4 mg
B9 (folic acid or folate): 400 mcg
B12 (cyanocobalamin): 800 mcg
Biotin: 300 mcg
C: 800 mg or 50 mg twice a day if taking a statin drug because vitamin C competes with statins and reduces their efficacy when taken in higher doses
D: 1,000 IU if under sixty, 1,200 if sixty or older
E: 400 IU in the form of mixed tocopherols (100 IU from sup-plements if taking a statin)

Minerals:
Calcium: 1,600 mg for women, 1,200 mg for men (including from dietary sources)
Magnesium: 400 mg
Selenium: 200 mcg
Zinc: 15 mg

Surprising Truth about Aging The Saturday Evening Post