Many people who wander into a health food store for the first time have this question on their minds. For years they have read about the purported risk of supplements produced and sold by the largely self-regulated dietary supplement industry.

The best way to answer this question is by presenting the facts; something the FDA / AMA / Big Pharma “propaganda machine” is loath to do.

YES. Everybody should take a multivitamin. A bold statement perhaps and there’s no shortage of doctors and nutritionists who will tell you otherwise. They’re wrong. Speaking from personal experience, both with my own health and in helping others stay healthy, I can tell you taking a quality multivitamin every day is one of the best things you can do for yourself, aside from eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep.

“Probiotics” are a broad category of various strains of beneficial microbes, usually Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and fermentation yeasts. These may be consumed as part of one’s daily diet in the form of fermented food such as soft cheeses, sauerkraut, Japanese miso and related traditional fermented foods, or they may be taken in capsule, powder or liquid forms as dietary supplements.

Allergies are an affliction for all seasons, especially here in Central Texas. Late Winter and early Spring brings the cedar pollen, (so thick the hills look to be producing smoke), followed by elm pollen, then the oaks and practically every other flowering plant… at least until the sun-hammered dog days of July and August when everything dries out and the dust starts to kick up.