5 Vitamin Truths and Lies
Are
you still relying on vitamins to keep you healthy? Once upon a time, you
believed in the tooth fairy. You counted on the stability of housing prices and
depended on bankers to be, well, dependable. And you figured that taking
vitamins was good for you. Oh, it’s painful when another myth gets shattered.
Myth:
A daily multivitamin can make up for a bad diet
An
insurance policy in a pill? If only it were so.
Vitamin
supplements came into vogue in the early 1900s, when it was difficult or
impossible for most people to get a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables
year-round. Back then, vitamin-deficiency diseases weren’t unheard-of: the
bowed legs and deformed ribs of rickets (caused by a severe shortage of vitamin
D) or the skin problems and mental confusion of pellagra (caused by a lack of
the B vitamin niacin). But these days, you’re extremely unlikely to be
seriously deficient if you eat a healthy diet, but, most of us need to supplement
that vitamin intake, but a one pill a day multivitamin won’t do the trick.
Depending
on how they are ingested (Tablet, Capsule or Liquid), our digestive system can
only absorb about 50% of what we put into it. Of what is absorbed in our
digestive system, our liver kidneys and other organ that use these vitamins can
only process so much at one time, the rest is washed out in our urine. Our bodies
are supposed to get a fairly steady flow of vitamins throughout the day to
maintain that right balance.
Don’t
fall prey to the Isotonix sales pitch! If you have not heard of Isotonix,
great. If you have, here are some things you should know. Isotonix sells vitamin
and mineral supplement at a ridiculous price, because they claim to have the
fastest absorption rate of any supplement out on the market. They derive there
name from the word Isotonic, when something is in an isotonic state, it has the
same water content as the human body. There supplements come in powder form
mixed with calcium sulfate (a Dessicant),
and when you add the proper amount of water to the powder, the calcium sulfate
absorbs the water, putting it in an isotonic state. Sounds pretty cool doesn’t
it. Actually it has not been proven to be any more effective, and it does not
change the fact that the body can only make use of so much vitamin at one time.
Myth:
Vitamin C is a cold fighter
In
the 1970s, Nobel laureate Linus Pauling popularized the idea that vitamin C
could prevent colds. Today, drugstores are full of vitamin C–based remedies.
Studies say: Buyer, beware.
In
2007, researchers analyzed a raft of studies going back several decades and
involving more than 11,000 subjects to arrive at a disappointing conclusion:
Vitamin C didn’t ward off colds, except among marathoners, skiers, and soldiers
on subarctic exercises.
Of
course, prevention isn’t the only game in town. Can the vitamin cut the length
of colds? Yes and no. Taking the vitamin daily does seem to reduce the time
you’ll spend sniffling—but not enough to notice. Adults typically have cold
symptoms for 12 days a year; a daily pill could cut that to 11 days. Kids might
go from 28 days of runny noses to 24 per year. The researchers conclude that
minor reductions like these don’t justify the expense and bother of year-round
pill-popping (taking C only after symptoms crop up doesn’t help).
Myth:
Vitamin pills can prevent heart disease
Talk
about exciting ideas—the notion that vitamin supplements might help lower the
toll of some of our most damaging chronic diseases turned a sleepy area of
research into a sizzling-hot one. These high hopes came in part from the
observation that vitamin-takers were less likely to develop heart disease. Even
at the time, researchers knew the finding might just reflect what’s called the
healthy user effect—meaning that vitamin devotees are more likely to exercise,
eat right, and resist the temptations of tobacco and other bad habits. But it
was also possible that antioxidant vitamins like C, E, and beta-carotene could
prevent heart disease by reducing the buildup of artery-clogging plaque. B
vitamins were promising, too, because folate, B6, and B12 help break down the
amino acid homocysteine—and high levels of homocysteine have been linked to
heart disease.
Unfortunately,
none of those hopes have panned out.
An
analysis of seven vitamin E trials concluded that it didn’t cut the risk of
stroke or of death from heart disease. The study also scrutinized eight
beta-carotene studies and determined that, rather than prevent heart disease,
those supplements produced a slight increase in the risk of death. Other big
studies have shown vitamin C failing to deliver. As for B vitamins, research
shows that yes, these do cut homocysteine levels …but no, that doesn’t make a
dent in heart danger.
Don’t
take these pills, the American Heart Association says. Instead, the AHA offers
some familiar advice: Eat a varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains.
Myth:
Taking vitamins can protect against cancer
Researchers
know that unstable molecules called free radicals can damage your cells’ DNA,
upping the risk of cancer. They also know that antioxidants can stabilize free
radicals, theoretically making them much less dangerous. So why not take some
extra antioxidants to protect yourself against cancer? Because research so far
has shown no good comes from popping such pills.
A
number of studies have tried and failed to find a benefit, like a recent one
that randomly assigned 5,442 women to take either a placebo or a B-vitamin
combo. Over the course of more than seven years, all the women experienced
similar rates of cancers and cancer deaths. In Neuhouser’s enormous
multivitamin study, that pill didn’t offer any protection against cancer
either. Nor did C, E, or beta-carotene in research done at Harvard Medical
School.
Myth:
Hey, it can’t hurt
The
old thinking went something like this—sure, vitamin pills might not help you,
but they can’t hurt either. However, a series of large-scale studies has turned
this thinking on its head, says Demetrius Albanes, MD, a nutritional
epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute.
The
shift started with a big study of beta-carotene pills. It was meant to test
whether the antioxidant could prevent lung cancer, but researchers instead detected
surprising increases in lung cancer and deaths among male smokers who took the
supplement. No one knew what to make of the result at first, but further
studies have shown it wasn’t a fluke—there’s a real possibility that in some
circumstances, antioxidant pills could actually promote cancer (in women as
well as in men). Other studies have raised concerns that taking high doses of
folic acid could raise the risk of colon cancer. Still others suggest a
connection between high doses of some vitamins and heart disease.
Vitamins
are safe when you get them in food, and regulated doses in a multivitamin, but
in specific vitamin pill form, they can act more like a drug, Albanes says—with
the potential for unexpected and sometimes dangerous effects.
Truth:
A pill that’s worth taking
As
studies have eroded the hopes placed in specific vitamin supplements, one pill
is looking better and better. Research suggests that vitamin D protects against
a long list of ills: Men with adequate levels of D have about half the risk of
heart attack as men who are deficient. And getting enough D appears to lower
the risk of at least half a dozen cancers; indeed, epidemiologist Cedric
Garland, MD, at the University of California, San Diego, believes that if
Americans got sufficient amounts of vitamin D, 50,000 cases of colorectal
cancer could be prevented each year.
But
many—perhaps most—Americans fall short, according to research by epidemiologist
Adit Ginde, MD, at the University of Colorado, Denver. Vitamin D is the
sunshine vitamin: You make it when sunlight hits your skin. Yet thanks to
sunscreen and workaholic (or TV-aholic) habits, most people don’t make enough.
How
much do you need? The Institute of Medicine is reassessing that right now; most
experts expect a big boost from the current levels (200 to 600 IU daily). It’s
safe to take 1,000 IU per day, says Ginde. “We think most people need at least
that much.”
Summery
The majority of people do not get
the proper dosage of the 13 vitamins our bodies require. To achieve this
vitamin balance we need to take a multivitamin dosed to be taken with our meals
to ensure that constant balanced state throughout the day. Except for vitamin D,
there is no need to take a specific vitamin in addition (unless required by a physician).
Stop doing that which you know is bad for you, avoid prepackaged processed
foods, quite smoking, keep you alcohol consumption in check. Your body will
thank you for it!
Whether
you are trying to find a safe, comfortable and healthy way to lose weight and
keep it off for life, or trying to maintain your current weight, and increase
your energy level and overall Health, I would like to show you how simple this
journey can be. Please use the following link to leave me a comment regarding
your needs, and I will get right back with you. “Contact John”
Thank you.
John
Cardinal
Copyright Healthy Weight Loss for
Life 2012
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