I’ve been talking to John B. about vitamins, diet and health. This is usually a personal issue and I’ve learned over the years not to nag people about what they eat.

It has reached the point where the food supply is toxic enough to think twice before eating. It goes without question that meals from fast food chains are usually little more than salty grease laced with bovine growth hormones. Beef, pork and poultry from the supermarket is not much better.

I am a person who likes to eat and it is difficult to decide what I should do.

I have not eaten beef since February. This was a huge leap for me because I like steak and I enjoy things like pastrami or roast beef for lunch. I made the decision out of sympathy to the poorly treated cattle as much to the toxicity of the meat. I must say that I feel better, I have lost weight, and I save the life of at least one steer per year.

We have fish three times a week (USA or Canadian only, preferably wild caught), organic free range chicken once or twice a week and pasta with organic sauce the rest of the time.

I eat nothing fried. I don’t use salt, butter, or oil. (I have a buttered bagel in the morning, but I might give this up). I don’t buy white bread. I don’t buy anything with corn sweetener.

I love milk, but I drink only fat free, hormone free, organic milk. This costs only a few pennies more and I don’t need the milk fat in my diet.

We have vegetables with every meal (except the pasta). I have a yam or occasionally a potato with the vegetables. Yams have lots of natural vitamins and are easy to digest. Potatoes have less in the way of vitamins, but make a meal taste better.

I have a glass or two of red wine with my evening meal.

I no longer have cookies, cake or pie for desert. If I need a late night snack, I eat a bowl of organic whole grain cereal.

I have lost a steady pound or two a month for the last six months. My cholesterol is low.

As far as supplements go, I am not a huge believer in vitamins. I take a multivitamin in the morning, but I am getting a good supply of vitamins from my meals and I expect most of the vitamin tablet winds up flushed down the drain.

I take Co-enzyme Q10 because I am on an anti-cholesterol drug and the Q10 offsets the muscle weakness that sometimes results. The cholesterol drugs lower Q10 so it is important to take Q10 to replace the depletion.

I take Omega-3 fish oil supplement. This is one supplement that everyone agrees helps in many ways, most especially in reducing coronary heart disease.

The most controversial thing that I do is take a full 325mg of enteric coated aspirin every morning. The benefits of aspirin go up with the dose. Aspirin thins the blood, lowers risk of stroke and heart attack, and reduces risk of colon cancer. It may delay or prevent arthritis and Alzheimer’s. Doctors recommend a low dose of aspirin because aspirin’s benefits are offset by the reduction of the ability of the blood to clot and may result in dangerous ulcers or bleeding. I will cut back it there is ever a problem, but for now, I don’t have a problem with bleeding and I don’t have an ulcer.