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Are Vitamin Drinks a Bad Idea?
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from New York Times
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Free full report below
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I need time to write about so many exciting things I am seeing in my practice, but this is always lurking. Children and athletes are at most risk for growing toxicity from overdosing on supplements. This has yet to be studied. Not just from vitamin drinks but daily vitamins pills too.
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IV Infusion clinics are the rage now popping up all over London. The very luxurious price alone would convince most people that the more they pay, the better it feels. Did it begin in Hollywood? Surely La Jolla will be soon.
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I see so much of the excess. My thoughts are often on the harm of vitamins and supplements and I’ve posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here about their risk to brain, peripheral nerves, heart, hypertension, cancer, interference with chemotherapy and cardiovascular medications, and in some cases risk to every cell of the entire body.
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$18 Billion a year business in the U.S
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This is an $18 billion a year business in the U.S. which explains why, since the 1970’s, Congress shot down the FDA’s authority to regulate dietary supplements and nutrients that could be fortified. Of course, congress restricts and excludes trade of European supplements that have proven scientific value. Usually this would be called unfair trade, but ….
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Forgive me for being superfluous to point out that those who bring in one bottle with 30 ingredients astonishes me. Centrum Silver I’m thinking of you. How much titanium, molybdenum, chromium and zinc do we need every day to go with its toxic doses of B6 and the proven harmful Vitamins A and E? What is so completely lacking in the diet? How easy is this on seniors with reduced capacity to metabolize medications? No studies, thanks.
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I favor several important vitamins for key reasons based on blood work, but known essential supplements seem to lost on many. Zinc is everywhere. This is rarely tested in a patient. Who has ever once tested most things in Centrum Silver? Could the popularity be due to bombardment or with unproven labeling or endless aisles of bottles?
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This is a rich person’s game.Typically female, unless guys are hiding or avoiding them.
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There are those who drag behind them truck loads of large suitcases bursting with expensive supplements. They need to stop the cause of their problems that is in those bags. They may link bags together with cabling like a train or walk back several times to pull in more and more.
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Stop all of them. That is the treatment. That and a long, long drug holiday to wash them out of the system. Eat a basic healthy diet in moderation and always exercise. There is then hope to re-establish equilibrium. Who could swallow that many pills every day and have any room left for food?
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But I digress.
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The Report – free full text.
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An examination of the nutrient content and
on-package marketing of novel beverages.
Risks
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46 novel beverages tested
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“there is little evidence that consumers stand to benefit
from the micronutrients most commonly found in these products.”
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But aiyee!!! the problems.
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At long last, after billions spent on vitamin drinks, the risks are addressed by Valerie Tarasuk, lead author of the study. She is nutrition science professor at the University of Toronto faculty of medicine. I quote extensively from the New York Times but recommend the entire article.
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“A nationwide study carried out by the National Institutes of Health in 2012 found that Americans who take vitamins and supplements were already getting large amounts of nutrients from their food, and on top of that they had the lowest prevalence of vitamin deficiencies to begin with. The study found that supplement use put these people at increased risk of potentially excessive consumption of folic acid, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium and vitamins A, C and B6.”
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“…for much of the general population today, there is no scientific justification for a high intake of vitamins and minerals, said Mara Z. Vitolins, a registered dietitian and professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.”
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“When consumed in excess, some water-soluble vitamins like B and C are excreted in the urine [unless toxic to nerves and kidneys, those of you who develop nerve pain and kidney stones from them]. But fat soluble-vitamins – including A, D, E and K – accumulate in tissues, posing potential risks.”
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“These fat soluble vitamins are very stable,” she said. “They’re not released in the urine. If you are over-consuming them, you can raise your levels gradually over time and get into trouble with liver function. You have to be very careful with them.”
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Authors should warn be even more cautious when you lose weight, the fat and that giant stash must somehow get out or what harm will they all cause next?
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“Data from clinical trials have highlighted clear risks from excess. A large study published in JAMA in 2009, for example, looked at clinical trial data on more than 6,000 heart disease patients who were treated daily with either B vitamins or placebo over a seven year period. The study found that those who were given folic acid and B12 had higher mortality and cancer rates.”
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“In 2012, a review of 78 clinical trials involving 300,000 people that was published in the Cochrane Database found that antioxidant supplements like beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E actually increased mortality. A year later, the United States Preventive Services Task Force concluded that there was “limited evidence” that taking vitamins and minerals could prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease.”
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“The task force noted that two clinical trials had found “small, borderline” reductions in cancer incidence in men who took multivitamins. But the group also said there was good evidence that high doses of antioxidants could cause harm.”
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No one could ever be funded to study the untold combinations of a single bottle that contains 30 ingredients. Studies require placing humans at risk long term, not a quick look at test tubes or a few mice.
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The majority who have finances for these products are often among the best fed in the world if not the the most prosperous.
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If you have read this far, you are not the person lumbering to push these truckloads of supplements ahead like Sisyphus.
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Know hope.
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That readers will read.
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Is there any hope with congress?
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Do not overlook the A, B, C’s
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Balancing the harms, the staggering 90% less atrophy has been shown in areas typically harmed by Alzheimers in the OPTIMA study (Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing) at Oxford University, March 2013, when they looked at persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
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They looked at brain MRI changes in 156 volunteers before and after two years after placebo vs certain doses of B vitamins. No one has tested these doses long term for toxicity. I would never recommend their dose of B6 that has known toxicity to brain and peripheral nerves, see my post here. And they hold a patent on this vitamin regimen, making the protocol potentially suspect.
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It has been shown a few years before, that size of the hippocampus tends to predict Alzheimers to some extent.
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We know that those with Major Depressive Disorder and those with chronic low back pain have been shown to develop brain atrophy and memory loss. It would seem essential to test these vitamins again on those groups and replicate the study on mild cognitive impairment, with placebo controlled double blind testing. Again, caution, B6 can be toxic.
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