Re: Vitamin and mineral supplements? Are they worthless?
Just another point of view to a great question that, generally speaking, is difficult if not impossible to answer and KNOW for sure. In a very real way, trying to reach valid conclusions about one's health is a combined mystery-tour, travel-hunt, with occasional snippets of high drama, satire, comedy and action thrown in. Trying to factor in how one's diet affects and influences the collective mystery amplifies the situation.
Mysteries are sometimes easier to demystify if one is able to 1) identify the the variables and 2) isolates some of the variables... at least those variables that avail themselves to being isolated, and if possible, 3) simplify the equation.
Simplification: let's say we are baking a cake, lets call this cake "good health" that includes among other things proper Thyroid function. Lets say that on a daily basis, (being very conservative) 100 ingredients are thrown together and mixed into the body throughout the course of the day, every day. These 100 ingredients include those that are intentionally and willfully put into the body in the form, loosely, of "eating and drinking food", as well as those that may also covertly and overtly come into the body through absorption and exposure (greater environment) whether or not one is willingly and consciously aware that they are taking in these kinds of ingredients.....however they may be sneaking into the recipe.... the body "cake"). This daily recipe is taken in daily throughout the course of one's life and at some point, the cake is found to not be turning out the way it was desired.... inactive/over-active thyroid, for instance. Question - which ingredient has suddently become deficient or is otherwise causing the problem? Is it wise to assume the failed cake is because there are not enough ingredients being taken in? Perhaps the recipe is kicked up a few notches with supplements, and your now up to 105 ingredients. How is the cake doing now? Not so good? Should more ingredients be added until.... or in hopes ....the desired results occur, or, is it time to try eliminating some ingredients, at least those that are possibly not necessary and ones' that can be controlled, to see if this improves the cake? Which ones should be eliminated?
In a less-is-more kind of way, fasting is an extreme method of reducing daily ingredient load. It is not easy to do and can probably be looked upon as a challenge rather than something one does casually or on a whim. At the other end of the spectrum, it is actually pretty easy to take on more and more daily ingredients - solids, liquids, powders, ice cream, soda, pizza, treats, supplements, whatever, on a whim. There are several forums here that indicate one does not need to go hard-core, water-only-fasting in order to reduce the trees in front of one's eyes enough that the forrest comes into clearer view. In terms of how the western daily diet goes about baking the cake of human health, fasting is at the other end of the spectrum, or in other words, lotta ingredients at one end, limited ingredients at the other end... BUT, spending some time at the other end may very well help you identify where your (and your thyroid's) happy medium is. Good luck!