Romy Block - The Vitamin Solution: Two Doctors Clear the Confusion about Vitamins and Your Health

The Vitamin Solution

TWO DOCTORS CLEAR THE CONFUSION ABOUT VITAMINS AND YOUR HEALTH

Copyright 2015 by Arielle Levitan, MD, and Romy Block, MD

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address She Writes Press.

Published 2015
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-63152-014-3
eISBN: 978-1-63152-015-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015947338

For information, address:
She Writes Press
1563 Solano Ave #546
Berkeley, CA 94707

She Writes Press is a division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC.

All company and/or product names may they be trade names, logos, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks, and are the property of their respective owners.

The information provided in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician. The publisher and authors are not responsible for any specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment, action, application, or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources. Readers should be aware that the websites listed in this book may change.

DEDICATION

To our mothers, Renee and Susan, for always having only the highest expectations for us and instilling in us the drive to create something better.

IF YOU KNOW WITH 100 PERCENT CERTAINTY what exact amounts of which exact type and source of vitamins you do and dont need to take every day for the rest of your life in order to live the healthiest, longest, most incredibly awesome and uplifting life, you can stop reading this right now.

However, if you are like the rest of us and have felt somewhat confused about vitamins, we suggest you read on.

If you want to learn the medically sound, experientially proven truth about what vitamins are necessary, useful, and important for your health, then you are in the right place.

If you want to find out what commonly sold vitamins are potentially harmful to your health and well-being, then please read on.

By following us through our journey of the last fifteen or so years, you will get the wisdom we have attainedthrough medical school, residency, and fellowship training; taking care of thousands of patients; culling through the medical and lay literature; and talking to friends, family, nutritionists, trainers, and just about everyone you can imagineserved up to you in a simple, concise format.

You will no longer be confused about vitamins. You will in fact have a much clearer picture about how vitamins relate to your unique health needs. You will have a game plan to start on your journey to finding your best health. Join us as we begin.

We are you. We are two women, with husbands, with children, who happen to have MDs after our names. We are also two women who were at one time confused and overwhelmed by all of the information coming at us about vitamins.

Romy Block is a practicing endocrinologist. She hails from Highland Park, Illinois, where she lives with her husband, Adam (also a doctora pulmonary, critical care, and sleep specialist), and their three very active boys. Romy journeyed far from her Chicago home, only to eventually find her way back. She and Adam met in Israel while in medical school at Tel Aviv University. She completed her undergraduate studies at Tufts University and her residency at North Shore University Hospital, North Shore-LIJ. Her fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism was at New York University. Phew... thats a lot of years of training.

Arielle Miller Levitan grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, but now resides around the corner from Romy, with her husband, Victor (a doctor of internal medicine, just like she is), and their three challenging but wonderful adolescents. Arielle did her undergraduate work at Stanford University and then made the Midwest her home at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine. She did her training in internal medicine at Northwesterns Evanston Hospital program.

We met through work, but became fast friends when we realized we had so many things in common. We lived around the corner from each other, and both of us had doctor husbands and three kids. As our friendship grew, we would often take long walks for exercise and rehash stories about our families and our experiences as doctors.

One subject that came up again and again was vitamins. It seemed that every patient either of us saw had some confusion about what they should be taking. As a primary care doctor, Arielle spends much of her time advising patients about what they should be taking to feel better, protect and strengthen their bones, and prevent illness. As a specialist in endocrinology and metabolism, Romy sees people every day with complaints about weight gain, fatigue, and thinning hair, who often think they have a thyroid or adrenal issue. Upon further investigation, Romy often finds that these people do not have a glandular problem; rather they have nutritional deficiencies that are causing their symptoms.

As physicians, we had the tools to educate ourselves about vitamins. We were able to go from clueless medical students to experienced doctors over a several-decade journey. During this time we were able to research the medical data and talk to other experts in a variety of specialties. And, perhaps most importantly, we have had the benefit of treating thousands of patients and hearing their stories and experiences.

We have learned over the years that vitamins are an essential part of health for all of us. Some can be obtained from what we eat, others cannot. The challenge is figuring out which person needs what vitamins. And, in fact, the answer is rarely the same for two people. We are all different. We do not eat the same, exercise the same, or live the same. We all have unique health histories and life circumstances.

In 2014 we cofounded a company called Vous Vitamin, LLC based on this very premise. We wanted to create a means by which people anywhere could do a simple online survey and get a multivitamin tailored to their needs. We could not find safe, high-quality products to recommend to our patients so we created them. Our system has given people everywhere the ability to get exactly what vitamins they need at their particular stage in life.

Through this process we have learned an immense amount about vitamins and health. Join us as we take you through what we have learned over the years so you can find out exactly what you need to embark on a journey toward finding your best health.

It started in our youth with the good old Flintstones Chewables. Why were we supposed to take them? Did everyone have to? Some kids did, others didnt. Romy remembers her mother asking the doctor, and he said, It cant hurt. Is that really true? We never knew. They tasted kind of good at first, like candy, but then not so good as they went down. At what age does one stop taking them? Hmm...