Vitamins & Supplements

Q. Are prunes high in vitamin K? I am on blood thinners and was told I need to limit vitamin K intake.

A randomized controlled intervention trial published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that supplementation with vitamin D had no significant effect on depressive symptoms or physical functioning in older persons with low vitamin D status.

The B vitamin folate (B9) is found naturally in a variety of foods including vegetables (especially dark leafy greens), fruits and fruit juices, nuts, beans, peas, seafood, eggs, dairy products, meat, poultry, and whole grains.

Q. You seem to write a lot about supplements not being necessary. Arent multivitamins a good thing?

Image © Waldemarus | Getty Images The FDA recently unveiled the Dietary Supplement Ingredient Advisory List, designed to alert consumers to unlawful ingredients identified in...

Q. Why dont I see vitamin A on my package of ready-to-steam frozen sweet potatoes?

Q. What is the most recent thinking on biotin?

Vitamin K was named for its role in coagulation (koagulation in German), but it turns out this important vitamin has significant roles beyond blood clotting. Work by Tufts researchers and others shows that vitamin K may be an important factor in bone health, cardiovascular health, and type 2 diabetes.

I see the term B vitamins a lot. Why is this plural, when other vitamins, like vitamin C, are not?

An expert committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which included Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, Gershoff Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Executive Editor of Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, recently reviewed the scientific evidence in order to update the official U.S. and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for sodium and potassium.