Well, here it is.  Somebody admitting that we don't really have the rigorous studies of fish oil and vitamin D that we all thought we had.  I mean, I've been buying "Vitamin D fortified" whole milk forever, and some of my friends don't even understand the concept of whole milk, and just call it "vitamin D milk." 

And then there's the "Omega 3 Fatty acid" crowd, who claim that dosing up on fish oil will do everything from help you control weight, ward off brain diseases, and help your heart by controlling your cholesterol levels (after all, Japanese people are skinny, smart, and never have heart attacks, right?). 

Then along comes the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to say, "Well, sure, but we need a REAL study that says so."

Back to my main point.  People for DECADES have been trying to find some thing, some pill, some silver bullet that will help them live longer, live stronger, be happier, and it seems to me that 90 percent of it ends up being harmful.  Just like the hormone therapy for menopausal women, or the Zicam incident I blogged about last week. 

When people start learning to walk more, eat better, and put less crap into our bodies that isn't food, we'll all start to get a little better. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about medicine, but I think that it has a defined place, and that's not in my living room or at the GNC.  Doctor's are generally, well paid, very well educated, competent individuals who understand the effects of chemicals and nutrition on the human body.  And every doctor I've been able to talk to says "Eat well, get regular exercise, don't drink to much, don't do drugs, get some sleep."  When we can do all that, then MAYBE we should look at supplementing our lifestyle with extras, but for the vast majority of us only solidly proven supplements.  And I'm still working on getting some exercise.