|
Viewing 1 - 5 out of 5 Blogs.
There is a lot of evidence that says NO they are NOT!
The CAPPS Test was created by Lyle MacWilliam, BSc, MSc. Mr. MacWilliam was the former member of the Canadian Parliament who was commissioned by the Canadian Minster of Health to determine a way to ensure the safety and efficacy of Canadian supplements. (You may know that Canada is very much more strict than the USA.)
He recently published his Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements (4th ed.) in which he compared over 1500 brands of Multi-vitamins. He arrived at a total of 4 different brands that earned a gold medal based on a rigorous set of criteria, including independent lab testing.
In case you were wondering, CAPPS is an acronym for
Completeness
Absorbability
Purity
Potency
Safety
I’ll discuss each one in future posts.
How does your supplement stack up? We’ll start the test and find out!
So what are some of the recommended daily amounts for "Optimal Nutrition" and, just like the song, why can't we Just Eat It? (Is anyone here old enough to remember "Mad Al Yankovich?) The below amounts are the amounts research has concluded are required for health and to avoid specific degenerative diseases.
Well, to get the 400 iu of Vitamin E to protect your eyes, cardiovascular system, and other organs, you'd have to eat 33 lbs. of spinach, or a qt. of safflower oil or 2 lbs. almonds or sunflower seeds -everyday!  To get 1500 mg Calcium, recommended for women over 50, you'd have to drink 2 qts of milk everyday! (That might be OK, if you are in your 20's, but not if you're in your 50's!) To get 2000 mg Vitamin C, you'd have to eat 40 oranges everyday!  These are but 3 of the nutrients that are vital to your health and why eating your way to health is not in your health's best interest! Stay tuned for the CAPPS Test – Does your supplement stack up?
Are vitamins really dangerous?
If you have been watching the news lately, you probably know of the story that just hit about vitamins, namely anti-oxidants. The research claims that, at best, the vitamins A, C, E and Selenium do nothing, but at worst they may increase the risk of early death!
The study reviewed 67 clinical trials of about 230,000 sick and healthy adults. This may have left you confused and worried, especially if you are in the 60% of people in the US who are avid consumers of supplements!
Below I have summarized the conclusion from an article taken from the Life Extension Foundation that discusses a different perspective on this so-called "scientific study." This will shed some light on the article, and I think you will likely come to the same conclusion that I did. Please read on.
"This negative report attacking supplements is fatally flawed because it: 1. Omits 91% of the 815 clinical studies, including all 405 for which there was NO mortality! 2. Included studies that used doses far below or far above what health-conscious people actually supplement with. 3. Chose to bias the results by using a statistical model that showed a significant effect, rather than another statistical model that did NOT. Also caused a biased outcome by including ONLY ILL SUBJECTS in 46 out of the 67 studies! 4. Failed to account for the 14 mechanisms involved in aging and premature death. For example, taking 1,333 IU to 200,000 IU of vitamin A once, or on an inconsistent basis, has no meaningful impact on the outcome, when there are more than 100 components to a science-based death reduction program. The final shocker is that this meta-analysis report attacking vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin E is NOT NEW. It was in fact published LAST YEAR and drew a lot of criticism for its obvious flaws. Perhaps the reason this story was quickly removed from media websites on the day it appeared is that the broadcasters realized they were not relaying "news", but instead regurgitating anti-supplement propaganda!"
Life Extension Foundation ~ April 16, 2008
This article is just another example of what seems to be a group with an agenda against supplements. Wonder who that might be?
Let me know what you think about all this!
Carol www.bodybrainhealth.com
Tags: Vitamins Supplements Anti-oxidants Antioxidants Research Health
Surprise! The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) back in 2002 recommended that "it appears prudent that all adults take vitamin supplements." Wow! That is incredible! These are the same guys that a few years ago said vitamins just gave you expensive urine! Now, the next question is, has your MD read this article? No? Maybe it's time for a new MD! LOL!! This is really, really important, so here's the whole enchilada! "Vitamin deficiency syndromes such as scurvy and beriberi are uncommon in Western societies. However, sub-optimal intake of some vitamins, above levels causing classic vitamin deficiency, is a risk factor for chronic diseases and common in the general population, especially the elderly. Sub-optimal folic acid levels, along with suboptimal levels of vitamins B(6) and B(12), are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, neural tube defects, and colon and breast cancer; low levels of vitamin D contribute to Osteopenia and fractures; and low levels of the antioxidant vitamins (vitamins A, E, and C) may increase risk for several chronic diseases.
Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements. The evidence base for tailoring the contents of multivitamins to specific characteristics of patients such as age, sex, and physical activity and for testing vitamin levels to guide specific supplementation practices is limited. Physicians should make specific efforts to learn about their patients' use of vitamins to ensure that they are taking vitamins they should, such as folate supplementation for women in the childbearing years, and avoiding dangerous practices such as high doses of vitamin A during pregnancy or massive doses of fat-soluble vitamins at any age. Fletcher RH, Fairfield KM. Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: clinical applications. JAMA 2002; 287:3127-3129." There are multiple nutritional journals, clinical research trials and epidemiological (huge group) studies that have linked nutrition to most of the diseases which afflict our Western Society today. These are not widely publicized, however, and we won't go into those reasons here. (Just think in terms of BIG MONEY and you can read between the lines!) This fact makes it even more amazing that JAMA published this article! Why is it impossible to just eat a healthy diet to obtain adequate nutrition, and what are some of the recommended daily amounts for "Optimal Nutrition?" Sorry! Next blog!
It seems like the first question to ask is if we really need to supplement or not? It is amazing that in this day and age people are still thinking like they did in the 50's. "If you eat a healthy diet you don't need supplements!"
Over the last 10 years, the Science of Nutrition has expanded rapidly! We now have much more information at our fingertips. In reality, the sad truth is that many MDs are very behind the times nutritionally and still think like they were taught in med school 20+ years ago. Most do not take even ONE class in nutrition!
Let's look at a few of the FACTS: 30 years ago Adult Onset Diabetes affected mostly middle-aged adults. TODAY, 1 OUT OF 3 children are predicted to develop Type 2 (Adult Onset) Diabetes during their lifetime! If they are Black or Hispanic the number goes up to 1 out of 2! Our "fresh fruits and veggies" today are grown in nutritionally depleted soil, picked green, sprayed with chemicals to prevent ripening, stored in cold storage for months, then shipped possibly thousands of miles to the grocery store, where it sits another week before selling! Additionally, a Canadian Study a few years ago, showed that the average apple grown today contained less than 50% of the nutrients than an apple grown in 1954. Finally, the USDA (Dept. of Ag) conducted a study that showed that out of 16,000 Americans, NOT ONE was even getting 100% RDA of essential nutrients required to maintain BASIC health! (In case you didn't know, RDA was developed as a measure to prevent scurvy, rickets, pellagra and beriberi - the nutritional deficiency diseases.) The diseases we are afflicted with today are Chronic Degenerative diseases, which are ALL linked to nutrition. Tomorrow, Part 2, See you then!
|
