Category: Vitamins in general

Ridiculous vitamin pills?

Claus Hancke

June 21, 2005

In (Danish) Morning-TV they laugh about the Americans’ enriched foods. But American researchers take vitamins serious.

Now, the TV News channel TV2’s nutrition expert, Orla Zinck, has once again been on morning TV. He had returned from the United States, bringing some of the American’s ridiculous, vitamin-enriched foods. There is of course plenty of healthy food.

The light ironic tone remained. You could understand, for example, that all you get from taking extra vitamin C is severe diarrhea. You have to stay permanently in the toilet. It’s not true, but it sounds funny. And when you ridicule what you oppose, you make it sound like you’re right ….

Elsewhere in the world it is taken a little more seriously. Below follows what is thought at one of the world’s most recognized universities, Harvard University in the USA. Harvard has an official website on vitamins: www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamins.html. It is intended for e.g. doctors, who can probably assess the seriousness a little better than the majority of Danish Morning TV’s viewers.

The website opens with a statement: “If you eat healthy, do you need to take vitamins? Not many years ago, most experts would have answered emphatically “No”. Today there is solid documentation that a daily vitamin pill makes sense for most adults”.

But what new has happened? asks the article. Yes, it has been discovered that vitamins do not just prevent deficiency diseases such as scurvy and beriberi. Several of them are also likely to prevent heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases – if you get more than what is needed to avoid deficiency disease! The Harvard website concentrates on this new knowledge.

One section is about the B vitamin folic acid. It appears that folic acid not only prevents atherosclerosis and heart disease, but also cancer (in the colon and breast). Apparently it also negates the greatly increased breast cancer risk that women get from alcohol in even moderate amounts.

In the US, many foods are fortified with folic acid, but the article supports that you also take supplements so that you reach at least 400 micrograms per day. “Vitamin supplements are becoming more and more important”, it says.

Vitamin B12 is recommended in a daily dose of 6 micrograms, so far more than is normally recommended. It is mentioned that many elderly people have a B12 deficiency and, as a result, impaired memory. They may be disoriented and perhaps hallucinating in addition to having sensory disturbances in the feet. Sometimes people mistakenly think they have Alzheimer’s.

Regarding vitamin C, it is said that a pattern is emerging regarding the effect, and “as more knowledge is gained, an intake of 2-300 mg per day seems to be a goal worth striving for” , is it called. This is 3-4 times as much as Danes get in their diet and twice as much as in a regular diet, supplemented with a multivitamin pill.

Vitamin E is recommended in a dose of 400 units – or more – per day. It is 20 times as much as in the diet or in a multivitamin pill. This will very conceivably prevent heart disease, it is said.

Regarding vitamin D, it is mentioned that the optimal intake is 25 micrograms (1,000 units) per day. That is five times what is in a “full daily dose” vitamin pill. The purpose is to prevent the tendency to fall, osteoporosis and presumably cancer.

Through Danish TV2’s Morning TV, you get the impression that only uninformed people take vitamin pills, and it was made into something that was a bit laughable in the broadcast.

But the experts from one of the world’s leading universities, from which a stream of vitamin research emanates, think there is nothing to laugh about.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. (Danish) Good Morning TV, 16 June 2005.
2. Harvard University, USA; official website about vitamins:
www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamins.html

Vitamin B6 Acts Against Colon Cancer

Claus Hancke

June 14, 2005

Alcohol increases the risk of several types of cancer. This may be because alcohol disturbs certain essential metabolic processes. But vitamin B6 and folic acid appear to repair the damage caused by alcohol, thereby restoring those processes.

If you allow yourself 1-2 glasses of red wine a day, you probably prolong life and help yourself against arteriosclerosis. It is a known matter. At the same time, however, it increases the risk of breast cancer and colon cancer. It is also a known matter. Less well-known is that this disadvantage apparently can be eliminated with the B vitamins folic acid and vitamin B6. When alcohol is a cancer risk, it may be because alcohol interferes with the processes that the two vitamins are involved in.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Larsson SC, Giovannucci E, Wolk A. Vitamin B6 intake, alcohol consumption, and colorectal cancer: a longitudinal population-based cohort of women. Gastroenterology. 2005 Jun;128(7):1830-7.
2. Eunyoung Cho et al. Alcohol intake and colorectal cancer: A pooled analysis of 8 cohort studies. Annals of Internal Medicine 2004;140:603-13.

www.gastrojournal.org/scripts/om.dll/serve
www.annals.org
www.iom.dk

New Type of Antioxidant Protects Against Sunburns

Claus Hancke

June 6, 2005

A new type of antioxidant protects against sunburns and is thought to have other, additional health benefits. Similarly, vitamins C and E have been found to work too.

French researchers have created an innovative substance, incorporating a special form of the important antioxidant/enzyme SOD (Super Oxide Dismutase), that can be taken orally without fear of the SOD being destroyed in the stomach prior to assimilation.

The human body itself creates SOD, an essential enzyme. So far, it has only been possible to supply SOD by injection. But thanks to a combination of the enzyme with the wheat protein gliadin, this difficulty has now been overcome. The product (Glisodin) can be bought in Denmark.

By. Vitality Council

(Shortened)

References:
1. CARD (Annual Congress of Dermatological Research) meeting in Brest on May 28th 2005, (report).
2. Placzek M et al. Ultraviolet B-induced DNA damage in human epidermis is modified by the antioxidants ascorbic acid and D-alpha-tocopherol. J Invest Dermatol. 2005 Feb;124(2):304-7.
3. Bialy TL et al. Dietary factors in the prevention and treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma. Dermatol Surg 2002;28:1143-52.

www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/jid
www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp
www.iom.dk

No Danger from Vitamin E and C

Niels Hertz

May 23, 2005

Many of the worlds reknown scientist state that vitamin E and C are safe to take, even in high dosages. At the same time, the theory that the two vitamins prevent chronic illnesses, is still very much alive.

A number of world-leading researchers in vitamin E and vitamin C have concluded that the two antioxidants are completely safe over a very wide dose range. Thus, they reject claims to the opposite which are expressed in particular to the public, and to a lesser degree to the scientific community.

The article draws attention to the hypothesis that antioxidants reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, certain types of cancer, calcification of the coronary arteries of the heart, etc. – is still very viable. Although obvious deficiency diseases are rare in the Western world, low intake can accelerate more indicators of aging. This may at least be due in part to inadequate protection against free oxygen radicals.

………………………………………

By: Vitality Council

Reference:
Hathcock JN et al. Vitamins E and C are safe across a broad range of intakes. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81:736-45.

www.ajcn.org
www.iom.dk

Vitamin D Helps Against Lung Cancer

Claus Hancke

May 2, 2005

Vitamin D looks more and more like a sharp weapon against cancer. An American study points towards high Vitamin D status being a great advantage, if you have lung cancer.

The belief that vitamin D counteracts cancer is strongly growing. It is based, among other things, on the known normalizing effect of the vitamin on cells and tissues, but also that the frequency of, for example, breast, prostate and colon cancer is considerably higher in countries low in sun such as Denmark, where the sun low in the sky from September to May, so low that No vitamin D is formed in the skin. In addition, the Danish diet completely lacks vitamin D, except fatty fish.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. American Association for Cancer Research. Press Release 18 April 2005.
2. Trump DL et al. Anti-tumor activity of calcitriol: pre-clinical and clinical studies. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2004 May;89-90(1-5):519-26.
3. Nakagawa K et al. 22-oxa-1{alpha},25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibits metastasis and angiogenesis in lung cancer. Carcinogenesis. 2005 Feb 17;[Epub ahead of print].

www.aacr.org
www.sciencedirect.com
carcin.oupjournals.org
www.iom.dk

Folic Acid Lowers Blood Pressure and Prevents Blood Clots

Claus Hancke

April 19, 2005

While folic acid lowers blood pressure, the dose must be large enough to have this effect. Diet alone will not provide a significantly large enough dose, so it is essential to take folic acid as a supplement. The vitamin also simultaneously protects the heart and brain against blood clots.

It has long been documented that the B vitamin, folic acid, prevents the birth defect Spina bifida. For eight years, Canada has fortified all flour with folic acid and has thus prevented 80% of these sad cases. Enrichment is also required in the United States, but in Denmark, expectant mothers must manage on their own. It’s their own problem to find out to take a supplement – before they get pregnant!

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Forman JP, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Curhan GC. Folate intake and the risk of incident hypertension among US women. JAMA. 2005 Jan 19;293(3):320-9.
2. American Heart Association’s 44th annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention. carole.bullock@heart.org
3. Endres M, Ahmadi M, Kruman I, Biniszkiewicz D, Meisel A, Gertz K. Folate deficiency increases postischemic brain injury. Stroke. 2005 Feb;36(2):321-5. Epub 2004 Dec 29.
4. Taivani A et al. Folate and vitamin B6 intake and risk of acute myocardial infarct in Italy. Eur J Clin Nutr 2004;58:1266-72.
5. Al-Delaimy WK, Rexrode KM, Hu FB, Albert CM, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Manson JE. Folate intake and risk of stroke among women. Stroke. 2004 Jun;35(6):1259-63.
6. Casas JP et al. Homocysteine and stroke: Evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomisation. The Lancet 2005;365: 224-32.
7. Klerk M, Verhoef P, Clarke R, Blom HJ, Kok FJ, Schouten EG; MTHFR Studies Collaboration Group. MTHFR 677C– T polymorphism and risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. JAMA. 2002 Oct 23-30;288(16):2023-31.
8. S Schwammenthal et al. Homocysteine, B-vitamin supplementation, and stroke prevention. From observational to interventional trials. Lancet Neurol. 2004;3(8):493.

jama.ama-assn.org
www.nature.com
www.stroke.org
www.thelancet.com
www.iom.dk

Deficiency in B-vitamin Causes Dementia

Claus Hancke

April 18, 2005

According to one American study, folic acid weakens the memory of the elderly. According to another study, the opposite happens. Nearly all studies, however, indirectly indicate that folic acid prevents both arteriosclerosis and dementia.

It is a well-known fact that the B-vitamin folic acid prevents congenital neural tube defects. However, it can also lower the blood’s content of homocysteine; a biproduct in human metabolism that promotes atherosclerosis, among other things. Having an increased level of homocysteine is just as dangerous as cholesterol: Up to 40% of all individuals with premature atherosclerosis have increased blood levels of homocysteine.

The fact that homocysteine also damages the brain is indicated by more than 20 different studies. It has been found with almost unerring certainty that demented old people have more homocysteine in their blood than others and that the ones who score highest on memory tests are the ones with the least homocysteine in their blood. This is a clear argument for taking folic acid.

However, completely unexpectedly, a fly in the ointment has now appeared. A study at Rush University in Chicago has shown that the exact opposite might be the case. If you are elderly and you get more than the typical 0.4mg. of folic acid a day, your memory will decline more rapidly.

A total of 3,718 trial subjects over 65 years of age were followed for five to six years after having reported their eating habits. They were then mentally tested three times during the course of the 5 – 6 years. The results were the same whether they got folic acid from their diet or from dietary supplements: In the people taking folic acid, memory declined more rapidly than in the others.

Are these results the result of a coincidence? Anyhow, it does make you wonder that the 20% who got the most folic acid (0.7 mg. a day) did far better on the mental tests than the rest. Granted, their memory deteriorated more rapidly, but they obviously had a better memory to begin with. Why was that so, if folic acid is actually harmful?

In addition to this, doctors from the UCLA in February 2005 published results stating the exact opposite. Among 499 well-functioning 70 – 79 year-olds, most folic acid was found in the blood of the ones who had the best memory. And equally importantly: Seven years later, they were in better posession of all their faculties.

No explanation
What is true, then? If the truth lies in the Chicago study, it might be based on the co-operation between vitamin B12 and folic acid. Both vitamins reduce blood levels of homocysteine and the major task of both of them is to produce small, chemical units – which only contain a single carbon atom – for building other molecules.

Folic acid delivers its units to vitamin B12 which are then further delivered to – homocysteine. In this way, homocysteine is neutralized and is transformed into a harmless amino acid and the blood level of homocysteine will drop.

Whether you lack vitamin B12, folic acid, or both, the transport of the single-carbon units will be complicated. In all three cases, the result will be a specific type of anaemia (pernicious anaemia) which is characterized by the red blood cells being abnormally large.

However, the symptoms in vitamin B12 deficiency and folic acid deficiency are not quite similar. In folic acid deficiency, neuritis – i.e. nerve damage – will not occur. In vitamin B12 deficiency, it will. The anaemia in vitamin B12 deficiency can be removed by taking folic acid, but the neuritis cannot. Vitamin B12 has an affect on nervous tissue that folic acid cannot imitate.

In up to 30% of all elderly people, vitamin B12 deficiency can be demonstrated. Imagine large amounts of folic acid enhancing the B12 deficiency in the nervous system by blocking the small amounts of vitamin B12 with single-carbon compounds. This could correlate to another finding in the Chicago study: Memory declined by 25% less in the ones with the largest consumption of vitamin B12.

The leader of the study, Martha Clare Morris, believes that folic acid might mask the very common vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly. This is more or less the same thing. In both cases, the consequence should be that the elderly get more vitamin B12 and not less folic acid which can have a protective effect in other areas.

This is the message – that is if you do not choose to believe that the new finding is a coincidence and that the truth is the exact opposite – which is actually also quite likely!

For the time being, however, Morris’ conclusion is simple: “We don’t know yet what is going on,” she says.

Up to every third elderly person may have demonstrable signs of mild vitamin B12 deficiency. If the results of the Chicago study are truthful, elderly persons possibly should not reduce their folic acid intake but rather focus on getting enough vitamin B12.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Morris MC et al. Dietary folate and vitamin B12 and cognitive decline among community-dwelling older persons. Arch Neurol 2005;62:641-5
2. Austin RC et al. Role of hyperhomocysteinemia in endothelial dysfunction and atherthrombotic disease. Cell Death and Differentiation 2004;11:S56-S64
3. Morris MS. Homocysteine and Alzheimers disease. Lancet Neurol 2003;2:425-8
4. Kado DM et al. Homocysteine versus the vitamins folate, B6, and B12 as predictors of cognitive function and decline in older high-functioning adults: Mac Arthur Studies of Successfull Aging. Am J Med 2005;118:161-7
5. Garcia A et al. Homocysteine and cognitive function in elderly people. CMAJ, Oct. 12, 2004; 171 (8).

archneur.ama-assn.org
www.nature.com/cdd/index.html
www.thelancet.com
www.sciencedirect.com
www.cmaj.ca
www.iom.dk

Depressed Due to Vitamin Deficiency?

Claus Hancke

April 11, 2005

Several reports show a connection between depression and Vitamin E deficiency. There is a similar relation between depression and lack of Vitamin C and selenium. So far this gives food for thought.

Could it be that lack of vitamin E plays a role in depression? Something in that direction according to a preliminary Australian survey.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Owen AJ et al. Low plasma vitamin E levels in major depression: Diet or disease? Eur J Clin Nutr 2005;59:304-6.
2. Tiemeier H et al. Vitamin E and depressive symptoms are not related. The Rotterdam Study. J Affect Disord 2002;72:79-83.
3. Maes M et al. Lower seriúm vitamin E concentration in major depression. Another marker of lowered antioxidant defense in that disease. J Affect Disord 2000;58:241-6.
4. Benton D et al. The impact of selenium supplementation on mood. Biol Psychiatry 1991;29:1092-8.

www.nature.com/ejcn/index.html
www.sciencedirect.com
www.iom.dk

The Emperor’s New Clothes: HOPE-TOO

Claus Hancke

April 5, 2005

Reputable American researchers claim that even large amounts of natural Vitamin E do not benefit established atherosclerosis. But their study do not reveal it. The participants got almost no Vitamin E.

Perhaps somebody have heard about the praised American HOPE study from 2000. It was to reveal that natural Vitamin E would not make any difference for people with atherosclerosis. This was a disappointment, and with it the issue could then have been dismissed.

That is not how it went. The HOPE study, which lasted 4,5 years and included 9,000 participants was prolonged with 2,5 years. They wanted to be absolutely sure, they said. In the follow-up study called HOPE-TOO only 4,000 people participated. Some did not want to participate, others had died, and others only wanted to be examined, but did not want any medication.

Half of the participants took 400 units natural Vitamin E daily (alpha-tocopherol), while the rest took placebo. They certainly had serious atherosclerosis: Every other one had had a heart attack, just as many suffered from angina pectoris (atherosclerosis ), and more than every third had diabetes.

The HOPE study showed that Vitamin E did not cause more or less cancer, more or less heart attacks, strokes, deaths or anything else. HOPE-TOO showed the same result, though with a single addition: Those who took Vitamin E slightly more often had heart failure; that is to say a decreased functioning of the heart.

The difference was so small that it could very well have been coincidental, even though it was statistically significant. Nevertheless the authors took the opportunity to strongly warn against dietary supplements. But yet they might as well have taken the opportunity to recommend them. They found that Vitamin E protected against lung cancer!

This finding, which was also statistically significant, was rejected, as an “error.” This conclusion was preceded by a lengthy discussion, in which reference is made to studies with beta-carotene, which as we all know, is something completely different.

No clothes on
But there is a far more serious surprise, which totally overshadows this biased opinion: During the whole study the participants did not have any more Vitamin E in their blood than all other people, who do not take supplements. The average value was 17,6 μmol/l. The normal value is 12 – 42. Despite the Vitamin E they only just managed to get their minimal need covered.

Before the study the participants actually had even lower values, averaging 10 μmol/l. This fits well with the fact that they were seriously ill, overweight heart patients who were kept on a low fat diet. A low fat diet may lead to deficiency of vitamin E.

Here we may also find the explanation of the low blood values. Vitamin E can only be absorbed from the intestine when fat is present. If you eat non-fat foods you might as well not take Vitamin E, even when you take 20 – 40 times the recommended dosage.

One is reminded of the Emperor’s New Clothes. HOPE-TOO has no clothes on. It claims to examine the effects of mega doses of Vitamin E, but the participants are only seemingly getting it. Strangely enough nobody has pointed out this almost ridiculous mistake before. In particular one wonders, why the authors themselves have not seen this mistake. Could it be that they do not know the normal values of Vitamin E in the blood?

This is not completely out of the question although it sounds strange. There are many examples of superficiality in scientific research. You do not have to look any further than the official commentary in the same issue of JAMA, which published the HOPE-TOO study. Here doctor Greg Brown by and large agrees with the conclusion of the study. He was also in charge of a similar study from 2001, which was supposed to show if antioxidants prevent atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries. This study concluded that antioxidants did not prevent atherosclerosis, even though the figures showed in black and white that the antioxidants halved the growth of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, compared to placebo.

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. The HOPE and HOPE-TOO Trial Investigators. Effects of long-term vitamin E supplementation on cardiovascular events and cancer. JAMA 2005;293:1338-47.
2. B Greg Brown. Is there any hope for vitamin E? JAMA 2005;293:1387-90.
3. Greg Brown et al. Simvastatin and niacin, antioxidant vitamins, or the combination for the prevention of coronary disease. N Engl J Med 2001;345:1583-92.

jama.ama-assn.org
content.nejm.org
www.iom.dk

Supporting Evidence: B-vitamins Strengthen the Bones

Claus Hancke

March 18, 2005

A year ago a correlation between osteoporosis, folic acid and Vitamin B12 deficiency was discovered. It might have been a statistical coincidence, but a Japanese study discovered that the two vitamins reduced the risk of bone fracture by 80%.

Just a year ago, Dutch and American researchers demonstrated that at high homocysteine level – which is very common and most often a consequence of folic acid or vitamin B12 deficiency – the risk of breaking the hip doubles. It was only a statistical context, but was there also a causal link?

By: Vitality Council

References:
1. Sato Y, Honda Y, Iwamoto J, Kanoko T, Satoh K. JAMA. 2005 Mar 2;293(9):1082-8. Effect of folate and mecobalamin on hip fractures in patients with stroke: a randomized controlled trial.
2. Krumdieck CL et al. Mechanisms of homocysteine toxicity on connective tissues: Implications for the morbidity of aging. J Nutr. 2000;130:365S-368S.
3. Van Meurs Joyce B J et al. Homocysteine levels and the risk of osteoporotic fracture. N Engl J Med 2004;350:2033-41.
4. Mc Lean Robert R et al. Homocysteine as a predictive factor for hip fracture in older persons, N Engl J Med 2004;350:2042-9.

jama.ama-assn.org
content.nejm.org