Linus’s Legacy
Though the Daily Value for vitamin Ñ is only 60 milligrams, esteemed researcher Linus
Pauling took thousands of milligrams of this powerful antioxidant every day, convinced it would fend off everything from the common cold to cancer. Though Pauling himself lived to be 93, clinical evidence is still inconclusive about what vitamin Ñ can and can’t do.
“We have found that high levels of vitamin Ñ seem to protect against cataracts as well,” says epidemiologist Paul F. Jacques, D.Sc, associate professor of nutrition at Tufts University. “But we still need more research to understand what levels are beneficial for most people. So far, it looks like more than two times the Daily Value.”
Until we know more, a study at the National Institutes of Health indicates that we need 200 to 500 milligrams of vitamin Ñ a day to keep our systems vitamin C-saturated (we lose vitamin Ñ when we urinate). But since it’s easy to get vitamin Ñ from food, experts recommend looking for a supplement with about 200 milligrams.
Folic Acid Frenzy
A once-overlooked  vitamin, folic acid has been shoving its way into the spotlight during the past several years-first as a protective agent against life-threatening birth defects of the brain and spine, then as a potential defender against heart attack and stroke.
The U.S. Public Health Service recommends getting the Daily Value of 400 micrograms of folic acid every day, which can be tough unless you eat a lot of greens, drink fortified orange juice, or eat fortified foods. “Food manufacturers are soon going to be fortifying flour and flour products with folic acid much in the way they add thiamin, niacin, and riboflavin today, which should lead to improvements in heart disease rates,” Dr. Tucker says. But until you see folic acid appear on food labels, a multivitamin/mineral supplement containing 400 micrograms of folic acid may help keep your heart healthy.
While you’re supplementing folic acid, you may also want to add vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 into the mix, Dr. Tucker says. “There’s a concern that by taking a lot of folic acid, you can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency, a potentially debilitating condition that becomes more common as we age and our bodies stop absorbing vitamin B12 as well as they should,” she says. In addition, people who have diets low in folic acid also tend to run low in vitamin B6, another  vitamin that lowers homocysteine levels. So if you’re going to supplement one, you might as well supplement all three. Dr. Tucker recommends looking for a multi with up to 10 milligrams of vitamin B6 and with 6 to 25 micrograms of vitamin B12.
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