About Me

Matt Murray is co-owner and manager for GreenAcres Market in Wichita, Kansas. From 1996 until 2002 Matt was co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show, HealthTalk with Shannon and Matt. Current activities involve writing health-related articles for local magazines and newspapers, seminars and speaking engagements.

Active in lobbying for the natural products industry in Washington, D.C., Matt was president of Rocky Mountain Nutritional Foods Association and a member of the national board for NNfA from 2002 through 2006.

Consumer education, advertising and promotions are the key elements for store growth so he spends time on newsletter development and in-store activities.

Is Your Teen running on Empty?

Russian Study Shows Teens to be Vitamin Deficient

A new study from Russia investigated the vitamin status of female and male basketball players aged 14 to 16. Researchers found that 77% of the children were deficient in the B-complex vitamins, 54% were deficient in vitamin e and almost all the children had low levels of carotenoids, the antioxidants responsible for the bright red, orange and yellow colors in vegetables which contain vitamin A (beta-carotene).

None of the boys had adequate vitamin levels, while 12% of the girls had adequate levels. The girls with deficiencies usually lacked on or two vitamins, while the boys typically lacked more than three vitamins. After determining vitamin status, the scientists gave the boys a daily multivitamin that contained 10 vitamins, lipoic acid, methionine and nine minerals. Researchers later measured vitamin blood levels and found vitamin B6 and beta-carotene levels had increased by 1.5 times, vitamin B2 levels had doubled, vitamin C insufficiency had disappeared and vitamin E levels were six times greater than before the boys had taken the supplements. The scientists concluded that daily multivitamin supplements eliminated biochemical signs of vitamin deficiency.

The Russian study reinforces the 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association findings that most people do not consume enough vitamins through diet alone. In the JAMA study, Boston, Massachusetts-based Harvard Medical School doctors Robert Fletcher and Kathleen Fairfield recommended that everyone, regardless of age or health status, take a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement.

Reference: VOPROSY PITANIIA; 2004, Vol. 73, No. 2, 22-24.