DEAR DR. BLONZ: I eat whole-grain cereal for breakfast and try to have five or six servings of fruits and vegetables daily. I also take a multivitamin that contains between 100% and 200% of everything. I eat most vegetables raw (such as cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery and lettuce). Is having them raw good, bad, or is there no difference? Also, I take my vitamins with breakfast -- is that OK?
I am at the top end of the "normal" bracket for cholesterol, so I am very careful with fats. I am 70 years old and in good health, and I hope to stay that way. -- W.J., Livermore, California
DEAR W.J.: You have an impressive set of habits! As for vegetables -- having them is what's most important, not whether they're raw or cooked. Typically, it is best to take supplements with a main meal, but this can shift if medications must be taken at mealtime and interactions are possible. (See the FDA piece at b.link/r5ktzx8t for more on mixing medications with dietary supplements.)
As for your cholesterol, what you are doing with your diet sounds great, but don't neglect exercise as another healthful element. If you have not been active, or if you have a health issue that impedes activity, touch base with your doctor before you start. You might ask for a referral to a physical therapist to help you chart a course back to a more active lifestyle.
DEAR DR. BLONZ: A popular catalog advertises a fat-freezer device that can reshape your body by destroying and dissolving fat cells. The promotion says you simply apply the fat-freezing pads to problem areas and select a 30- or 60-minute session. The cooling process decreases fat cell temperature, causing them to break apart and be eliminated from the body naturally. It is expensive, but is it for real? -- G.K., via email
DEAR G.K.: Wouldn't it be great if it were that simple to reshape our bodies? Fat cells (adipocytes) contain fatty acids, the body's primary location for energy storage. The device you describe uses cold temperatures (around 39 degrees F) low enough to cause fat cells to rupture (cryolipolysis) and liberate their fatty acid contents. The dubious element of the claim is that fat released this way can be considered "eliminated" from the body. Such a treatment may cause fat cell contents to be liberated, but not eliminated.
Fatty acids traveling in circulation are free to find a home in fat cells elsewhere in the body, which is similar to what happens after we eat. Dietary fats, or excess calories turned into fats, travel through the circulatory system until they get picked up by fat cells for storage. When we exercise, the energy demand stimulates the release of fatty acids from fat cells to travel to and provide energy for the working muscles. Once the exercise has ended, fatty acids still in circulation get picked up by other fat cells.
The fat-freezer device is not an energy demand -- it is just a release, and not an elimination, so these fats are free to travel until they find their new home in other fat cells of the body.
Send questions to: "On Nutrition," Ed Blonz, c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO, 64106. Send email inquiries to questions@blonz.com. Due to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.