Supplement Risks

Nutrition
41

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:

[quote]Rocky2 wrote:
Probably because the people who took the vitamin supplements were obese women looking for a magical cure to their fatness, and were going to die sooner anyways.[/quote]

Nope.

This was a study of 39,000 women over 19 years and they “…controlled for age, diet, weight , smoking status, and underlying health conditions to isolate the impact of vitamins and minerals…So the results weren’t skewed by the fact that the women who took supplements were more likely to exercise, weight less and have a lower prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure than women who didn’t take the supplements.” All of the women in the study were white women.

We know most people aren’t getting their 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, so you’d think that people taking supplements would live longer. Apparently it’s not as intuitive as it sounds.

[/quote]It’s my opinion that synthetic nutrients may carry risks not yet understood. Research finds new info regarding vitamin and other nutrient reactions and correlations every week. Synthetics could be missing the boat or fucking up key enzyme processes we don’t know about yet. Did the study control for naturally sourced vs. synthetically derived vitamins? I have read pretty disturbing research on synthetic b vitamins and prostate cancer.
[/quote]

I am very interested in how you [quote]"…control for age, diet, weight , smoking status, and underlying health conditions to isolate the impact of vitamins and minerals…So the results weren’t skewed [/quote]

How the fuck is that controlled? For decades they “controlled” these factors outside of a clinical setting?[/quote]
No idea. My guess would be regular check ups and access to medical records. They could have lied about smoking and diet though so its not altogether flawless. Would still like to see a comparison between natural and synthetic vitamins within the existing parameters.[/quote]

LOL. If they can lie then it is not controlled.[/quote]
I hear ya.

42

x3 on mr. Poliquin’s article.

43

[quote]Jeffrey of Troy wrote:
That vit E “study” used dl-alpha tocopherol - i.e., the synthetic copy of one of the components of vit E. Real vit E is “mixed tocopherols” from a natural source.
[/quote]

Thanks for that, have started taking vitamin E due to some cholesterol issues - I would like to keep my prostate working, so was a bit worried about some of the above posts.

44

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Charles Poliquin goes into depth as to why this study is bullshit. Of course supplement sales makeup a large part of his company’s net income.

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/713/Flawed_Iowa_Womens_Health_Study_Used_to_Discredit_.aspx

Edit: Just realized I was beaten to posting this. [/quote]

Raj - I hadn’t read the Poliquin response so thanks. I tend to have some skepticism when someone is selling something, but he does make some excellent points about the limitations of this study. I’m more disappointed in the Wall Street Journal’s analysis now.

Someone pointed out that the huge pharmaceutical industry has an interest in squashing the vitamin /supplement industry. Of course, pharmaceuticals have a MUCH larger business, but knowing that the supplement industry does 11.5 billion per year puts it into perspective. They are a big business as well.

One of the best things that Poliquin points out is that so many of these nutrients when accessed through natural foods, also come with other phytochemicals and antioxidents. I think we are only beginning to understand much of the science there.

Houstonguy - There was no distinction about synthetics, quality or brands of vitamins. This is a quote from the Poliquin link. "The study collected self-reported diet and supplement information from over 38,000 women using a variety of questionnaires in 1986, 1997, and 2004. The supplements asked about were multivitamins, vitamins A, D, E, and D, beta-carotene, the various B vitamins, iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, selenium, and zinc. Self-reported data on body composition, general diet, and disease was gathered.

It makes sense to me that optimal supplement use will need to be very individualized. I know someone who had debilitating problems with chronic fatigue and hypothyroid, among other things. This is a person who had the resources to go to the Mayo Clinic for an evaluation, and then spent time at a clinic in Mexico that is associated with Usana supplements. They ended up with all kinds of blood work, and very specific recommendations about what they should be eating, supplements they should take, and so forth. In their case, it completely turned their health around. Of course, most of us who don’t have any big health problems aren’t likely to want to spend the money to do that sort of thing.

Anyway, it’s obvious that my nutritional needs are going to be very different from Professor X, and may even be very different from another woman of similar size, based on genetics and so forth. That part still has me wondering a bit about what I want to do about supplements.

45

A more nuanced follow-up article ran today.

The Wall Street Journal - Is This the End of Popping Vitamins

This might be the best quote…Roberta Anding, a nutritionist at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, says some people need multivitamins and other supplements, but she is cautious about the risk from high doses of micronutrients. “It’s no longer nutrition when the doses become high, it’s pharmacology,” she says.

The best way to get micronutrients is through a balanced diet, she says.

“If you’re looking at this as, ‘At least I’m [taking a multivitamin],’ but you’re not exercising or eating well, then it is a waste of money,” says Ms. Anding, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a research and advocacy group.

46

Most people die in bed. That means beds are killing people.

47

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Most people die in bed. That means beds are killing people. [/quote]

I already have trouble sleeping, and that is not helping!

Speaking of correlations, I was in a Walmart about 20 miles inland today and I swear 8 out of 10 people in that store were obese. I’m pretty sure Walmart makes people fat. Either that, or living closer to the ocean is keeping people thin. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.