Safe and Effective Use of Vitamins, Minerals, and Dietary Supplements

[RBFC]

Here's a website that will provide a quick overview of the issues surrounding the use of vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as discussions on special dietary requirements:

http://www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html

I posted this as a result of reading a comment in another thread here that stated most people don't need vitamins, etc. We should carefully examine various sources when forming an opinion on virtually anything. When buying a new amplifier, we don't often go on one individual's say-so.... we look for consensus of opinion.

While a perfectly-balanced diet can provide most of the RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) of vitamins and minerals, there are a few certain nutrients that are hard to get sufficiently from food. Also, few people eat a truly well-balanced diet, so there is greater chance of deficiency.

Lee

 

[Gregadd]

Thanks Lee.

 

[RBFC]

I reviewed several pieces of literature tagged with "vitamins and cancer". In every case, massive overdoses of certain vitamins have been linked to increased risk of cancer or speed of cancer growth. While many doctors still adamantly support the use of daily vitamin supplementation, they unanimously oppose the massive overdosing common in single-vitamin supplements. The chart, included in the linked site above, lists some known "safe" upper limits to vitamin intake in a typical adult population. Of course, third world cases, complicated by malnutrition and dietary imbalances, require special vitamin supplementation by prescription.

So, the consensus seems to be that a typical multi-vitamin supplement, taken as directed, is safe and often beneficial. Caution should be exercised when choosing individual vitamin supplements, as they often contain excessively high levels of the vitamins.

Interestingly enough, Linus Pauling staunchly advocated super-normal doses of vitamin C for several decades. There is still much unknown about the interactions of vitamin intake, diet, environment, activity level, and many more factors.

EDITED TO ADD: MASSIVE OVERDOSES OF ALMOST EVERY SUBSTANCE IN EXISTENCE HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE CARCINOGENIC, POISONOUS, OR GENERALLY DELETERIOUS TO HEALTH.

Lee

 

[Gregadd]

Once again trying to prove the rule by the exception leads us astray.
If you want to know if you have a vitamin deficiency you should have your self tested and address your diet and supplements accordingly. Self medication in any form can be dangerous. Unless they are starving or malnourished third world citizens probably have a better diet because their food is fresh, uncooked,not treated by pesticides and not processed. Many nutrients are stripped when refined and then cooked. WE tend to eat what we like rather what we need.
The politicization of the FDA is well known. Its' hostility to so called health food is well known.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Here's a website that will provide a quick overview of the issues surrounding the use of vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as discussions on special dietary requirements:

https://www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html

I posted this as a result of reading a comment in another thread here that stated most people don't need vitamins, etc. We should carefully examine various sources when forming an opinion on virtually anything. When buying a new amplifier, we don't often go on one individual's say-so.... we look for consensus of opinion.

While a perfectly-balanced diet can provide most of the RDI (Recommended Daily Intake) of vitamins and minerals, there are a few certain nutrients that are hard to get sufficiently from food. Also, few people eat a truly well-balanced diet, so there is greater chance of deficiency.

Lee

There's an awful lot of problems with looking at and evaluating micronutrients recommendations. First as you intimated, very few people have a balanced diet to they can get the recommended RDA levels of vitamins and micronutrients. Next is the question of what the RDA represents. Basically it's for bedridden people. Active people, and esp. female athletes need higher levels of five vitamins. In particular and I forget offhand which vitamin, the recommended levels are actually based on your caloric intake. Finally, and the biggest problem as shown by the governments ongoing longitudinal NHANES study, is that our food doesn't contain the essential nutrients it did years ago because of the way its grown. Food is ripped out of the ground and sent to market way before it's matured. So one of the scary conclusions from the NHANES study is that our food contains 5-10X less of several essential vitamins and minerals than is show in an RD's table.

Bottom line: people should be taking a vitamin supplement and you should see in a year of so, the recommended intakes of certain vitamins and minerals say for instance Vit D, be increased. As far as vitamins go, the two that I recommend, are prepared under pharmaceutical conditions, contain what is on the label and deliver to the right place the nutrients they contain are from Pharmatec and Shaklee.

PS Even the AMA a couple of years ago, after holding out for many years, now recommends the use of vitamins!

 

[MylesBAstor]

I reviewed several pieces of literature tagged with "vitamins and cancer". In every case, massive overdoses of certain vitamins have been linked to increased risk of cancer or speed of cancer growth. While many doctors still adamantly support the use of daily vitamin supplementation, they unanimously oppose the massive overdosing common in single-vitamin supplements. The chart, included in the linked site above, lists some known "safe" upper limits to vitamin intake in a typical adult population. Of course, third world cases, complicated by malnutrition and dietary imbalances, require special vitamin supplementation by prescription.

So, the consensus seems to be that a typical multi-vitamin supplement, taken as directed, is safe and often beneficial. Caution should be exercised when choosing individual vitamin supplements, as they often contain excessively high levels of the vitamins.

Interestingly enough, Linus Pauling staunchly advocated super-normal doses of vitamin C for several decades. There is still much unknown about the interactions of vitamin intake, diet, environment, activity level, and many more factors.

EDITED TO ADD: MASSIVE OVERDOSES OF ALMOST EVERY SUBSTANCE IN EXISTENCE HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE CARCINOGENIC, POISONOUS, OR GENERALLY DELETERIOUS TO HEALTH.

Lee

You can add mutagenic and teratogenic to the list too.

But again test tube and animal studies are generally worthless. As my PhD advisor used to say, animal research leads us down the garden path. Or, we are very good at treating animal tumors. Or if every cancer drugs that worked in animals worked in humans, we have cured cancer decades ago. Or animals don't complain

Bottom line: we don't know what the micronutrient levels are in our foods any more because of the way its grown. Again, more toxicity can exist with fat soluble vitamins such as Vit. A than with water soluble vitamins such as C that rapidly excreted.

 

[RBFC]

There are also supplementation differences for vitamins that are water-soluble vs. fat-soluble, as the H2O group are eliminated in a much more predictable pattern and rate. Agreed about athletes, I mentioned activity level as being an important factor in dose tolerance.

Lee

 

[audioguy]

The politicization of the FDA is well known. Its' hostility to so called health food is well known.

I don't know about the FDA's hostility to health food but there is clearly hostility to the majority of serious discussion on supplements and alternative solutions.

I believe it is up to the individual to manage their own health care. There is more than enough information available for any individual who owns a computer and can read to make reasonable choices. Traditional health care does not have all of the answers nor does alternative health care. They are like the Hatfields and McCoys.

And there are very viable natural supplements that will work in place of the more traditional drugs in some situations. I am walking proof of that.

 

[ironmine]

I live in Russia and it's amazing that I can buy supplements & vitamins cheaper from US online shops, even after you factor in delivery costs, compared to local prices. I get all the stuff I need (and some stuff which I don't need from here: www.iherb.com

I envy US people that they have such an advanced sports supplement industry and that protein powders and weight gainers are so affordable in the USA.

By the way, this link https://www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html does not seem to work, I cannot open it.

 

[RBFC]

I live in Russia and it's amazing that I can buy supplements & vitamins cheaper from US online shops, even after you factor in delivery costs, compared to local prices. I get all the stuff I need (and some stuff which I don't need from here: www.iherb.com

I envy US people that they have such an advanced sports supplement industry and that protein powders and weight gainers are so affordable in the USA.

By the way, this link https://www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html does not seem to work, I cannot open it.

Try:

http://www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html

They must have moved it to a different server.

Lee

 

[MylesBAstor]

I live in Russia and it's amazing that I can buy supplements & vitamins cheaper from US online shops, even after you factor in delivery costs, compared to local prices. I get all the stuff I need (and some stuff which I don't need from here: www.iherb.com

I envy US people that they have such an advanced sports supplement industry and that protein powders and weight gainers are so affordable in the USA.

By the way, this link https://www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html does not seem to work, I cannot open it.

Think about it as a trade. It was the Russians that taught the sport world how to properly train

 

[Speedskater]

Last week Jon Stewart interviewed Dr. David Agus about his new book, in which the Dr. writes (I think) that most vitamins are not needed. I couldn't find much else about this book.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-february-2-2012-david-agus

 

[MylesBAstor]

Last week Jon Stewart interviewed Dr. David Agus about his new book, in which the Dr. writes (I think) that most vitamins are not needed. I couldn't find much else about this book.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-february-2-2012-david-agus

Have to say the use of vitamins is like the digital vs. analog camps. And I'm on the side of using vitamins for many reasons. I've done the diets of hundreds of clients and NONE have a balanced diet. So if you're not eating at least 35 different types of food/wk, there's no way to get all the vitamins needed. Then there are people on diets who need vitamins because of their caloric restrictions. Then we can argue whether men need different vitamins levels than women. Then there are vitamins whose needs are dictated by caloric expenditure. Then the amount of and which vitamins you get is going to depend on whether you eat a high protein or carbohydrate diet. Let's even look at Vit. D whose daily RDA is 1000 U/day and no one believes anymore. Probably 80% of people tested for Vit. D levels now are considered Vit. D deficient. Some people now recommend as high as 5000 U of Vit. D/day. Oh and there are some newer studies showing that dairy products are not the best source of Vitamin D that can be assimilated. Green leafy vegatables, although containing less, is more bioavailable.

It comes down the RDA which is an average for basically a dead person! But when you start looking at the SD, there's a lot of outliers.

 

[ironmine]

I've been eating 2 RDA per day, every day, since I became interested in recreational weight-lifting (circa 1993). I am now 36 and I look much younger. People are really surprised when I tell to them my age. If vitamins were harmful, I would have experienced by now some health problems.