The Health Gazette - Vitamins

OCA Tackles Fake Organic Supplements

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:35:07 -0500

The Organic Concumers Association is participating in a campaign to educate consumers and put pressure on manufacturers of synthetic supplements. They aim to challenge the natural products industry to stop lacing nutritional supplements with innefective and hazardous synthetic chemicals and to instead use genuinely organic, naturally occuring ingredients.

To coincide with the Natural Products Expo West convention, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has launched a new public health and truth-in-labeling campaign called Nutri-Con: The Truth About Vitamins & Supplements. Through public education, marketplace pressure, and litigation, OCA's Nutri-Con campaign will expose the hazards and limited effectiveness of synthetic vitamins and supplements, and strive to create mass consumer awareness and marketplace demand for truly organic, "naturally occurring" vitamins, botanicals, and supplements.

Vitamin E Protective for Male Smokers

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 07:56:09 -0600

As mentioned two days ago, studies into the association between diet and cancer show that food can have an impact in preventing cancer, or in reducing the aggressiveness of the disease. At the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting last moth, investigators reported some examples of these relationships.

Here is another reported finding. It involves the relationship between dietary antioxidants and oxidative damage in smokers: evidence of effect modification by lifestyle and genetic factors

UK and EU Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Regulation Issues Slightly Advanced

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 19:33:21 -0500

In the UK, Consumers For Health Choice (CHC) released their final version of the comments submitted to the European Commission regarding the Maximum and Minimum Permitted Levels for Vitamins and Minerals in Foodstuffs. They seem to have stolen a march on the government's regulator.

Almost a year ago Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) set four principals that should form the basis of discussions over maximum levels. These are:

Consumers should have the right to make an informed choice unless their safety is compromised;
an evidence base is necessary to ensure consumer safety is safeguarded;
there is a need for ongoing monitoring of supplements in the marketplace to continue to support the evidence base; and
the evidence base needs to take into account the risk assessment by scientific experts.

At this stage the CHC's comments regarding setting maximum and minimum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs centre on supporting interpretation and implementation of legistlation that provides consumers with accurate information upon which they may make informed, individual choices. Their comments were framed around the following questions.

Women Taking Oral Contraceptives Could Benefit from Additional Q10 & Vitamin E

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:37:18 -0500

A study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Vol. 194, e35-e38) found women taking oral contraceptives have lower levels of the antioxidants coenzyme Q10 and vitamin E, and could possibly benefit from supplements.

“If our findings are confirmed by larger studies, women who receive oral contraceptives may be considered for coenzyme Q10 and/or alpha-tocpherol supplementation,” wrote lead author Prabhudas Palan from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

Vitamin D Significant for Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 01:04:50 -0500

As the medical studies continue to unfold, consumers may see Vitamin D morph from the “sunshine” vitamin to the “super” vitamin. Over the past few years, research teams have pinpointed Vitamin D as a bold adversary to a variety of ailments from diabetes and heart disease to rheumatoid arthritis.

Drink manufacturers have quickly responded to these findings with the fortification of orange juice and dairy free beverages. “Almost every brand of rice, soy, nut, or grain milk that we have listed on our site is fortified with Vitamin D,” states Alisa Fleming, founder of the informational website, www.GoDairyFree.org

NIH to Review Science Behind Multivitamin/Mineral Effectiveness

Tue, 09 May 2006 08:02:56 -0500

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will convene an “impartial, independent” panel to review the available science behind multivitamin/mineral (MVM) effectiveness and safety to help consumers make informed choices. Such a review would certainly be welcome if it is performed in depth and without bias from various vested interests and their regular political and bureaucratic stooges.

The NIH statement said: “As more and more Americans seek strategies for maintaining good health and preventing disease, and as the marketplace offers an increasing number of products to fill that desire, it is important that consumers have the best possible information to inform their choices.”

Pre-eclampsia Not Prevented by Vitamins C & E Supplementation

Mon, 01 May 2006 19:46:29 -0500

A medical study titled Australasian Collaborative Trial of Vitamin C and Vitamin E supplementation for the prevention of pre-eclampsia (ACTS) has been widely reported recently. Here are the details.

Primary hypotheses:
The primary hypotheses of the study are that vitamin C and E supplementation from 14 weeks gestation in nulliparous women:
1. Reduces the incidence of small for gestational age infants
2. Reduces the incidence of clinical pre-eclampsia
3. Reduces the risk of death or serious adverse outcome for the infant

Secondary hypothesis:
The secondary hypothesis is that vitamin C and E supplementation from 14 weeks gestation in nulliparous women reduces the risks of adverse outcomes for the woman up to six weeks postpartum.

Warning From Health Canada About Some Bottles of Liquid Vitamins

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:04:11 -0500

Here's an advisory for my health conscious Canadian friends. Health Canada advises consumers not to use certain Salus-Haus liquid vitamin products in glass bottles.

OTTAWA, April 24 /CNW Telbec/ - Health Canada is advising consumers not to use 10 different types of liquid vitamin products manufactured by Salus-Haus of Germany because of concerns about unsafe glass packaging that could shatter if not refrigerated after opening.

To address the safety concerns, Salus-Haus last year implemented a new cap system on all their product bottles. The new cap provides an effective pressure release and reduces the risk of shattering. The new metal caps are a bright golden colour, with two lines of teeth-like indentations around the top and bottom of the cap.

Low Folate Levels May Cut Bowel Cancer Risk

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 20:02:27 -0500

Low levels of folate, a B vitamin found in fruits and leafy green vegetables, may cut the risk of bowel cancer, suggests research published ahead of print in the journal Gut.

The accepted wisdom is that high levels of folate protect against the disease, and there are currently moves in Europe to fortify foodstuffs with folate, primarily to prevent birth defects, but also to boost the health of populations.

The research team base their findings on more than 660 people who were part of the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Cohort, which included 85,000 people at the time of the study.

Early Sun Exposure Cuts Breast Cancer Risk

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 20:43:17 -0500

According to a UPI report titled "Early sun exposure cuts breast cancer risk" researchers at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital have found a link between vitamin D levels during youth and adult development of breast cancer. The research findings were reported to a Washington meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The researchers recommend that people consume no less than 1,000 International Units of Vitamin D daily, which amounts to roughly three times the typical U.S. consumption. Though I have not seen the primary source, I would advise caution when considering the usefulness of these findings. Consider the following quote from the UPI report.

Boosting Folic Acid Consumption - The Right Thing But The Wrong Way

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 07:02:22 -0500

Folic Acid is a vitally important member of the family of B group vitamins. It certainly is important for women during pregnancy in preventing some congenital problems in their children. There is no doubt at all that this is worthwhile.

I believe Canadian authorities recently decided to adopt a food fortification program involving the addition of folic acid to refined flours. It now appears likely that Britain will do much the same. The recommendation by the UK Food Standards Agency to add the vitamin to all flour and bread on sale in Britain within the next year is likely to be widely supported.

Antioxidants and Prostate Cancer Risk

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 00:26:43 -0600

So, do antioxidants reduce prostate cancer risk? Given the massive promotion by supplement producers one would be forgiven for answering with a resounding 'yes'. However according to a report released by Yale University, this question may require more thought.

Men who consume foods and vitamins high in vitamin E, Beta-carotene and vitamin C do not lower their risk of prostate cancer, Yale School of Medicine researchers reported recently in the Journal of National Cancer Institute (JNCI, 98(4): 245-254, February 15, 2006).

Led by former Yale Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) doctoral student Victoria Kirsh, who is now at Cancer Care Ontario, the team found that while there was no significant association between the use of antioxidant supplementation and the reduced risk of prostate cancer, there was an association between high-dose supplemental vitamin E intake and a reduced risk of prostate cancer in smokers.

Some Vitamins Can Do More Harm Than Good - "Experts" Display Ignorance on ABC News

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:10:05 -0600

The headline read "Katz Recommends a Balanced Diet" and the lead paragraph in the March 21, 2006 story stated what is rapidly becoming well known - vitamins are big business. They are indeed, since Americans spend $7 billion a year on them. It may be true for many that they do this "in hopes of warding off colds, cancer and other diseases" but this fails to do justice to the far broader and deeper reasoning behind many people's consumption of supplements, even just vitamins.

Studies Showing Poor Heart Attack Prevention Using B-Vitamins Not the Final Word

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:14:34 -0600

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12, 2006 - Findings from two new studies (HOPE-2 and NORVIT) on vitamins B-6, B-12 and folate supported the conclusions of a vast body of scientific research which shows that these vitamins help lower homocysteine levels, but failed to support the hypothesis that lowering homocysteine levels in persons who already have cardiovascular disease (CVD) will provide protection against a future cardiovascular event. The studies are being presented at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session which begins on March 11 in Atlanta, Ga., and will be published in the April 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Low Vitamin D in Pregnancy Linked to Increased Child Asthma Risk

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 17:58:33 -0600

Pregnant women who have a higher intake of vitamin D may decrease the risk for asthma in their offspring during early childhood, according to new research presented March 4th, 2006 by Carlos Camargo Jr., MD, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, and colleagues at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the AAAAI in Miami Beach.

The study noted vitamin D deficiency and asthma are common in the northeastern part of the United States and although vitamin D is important for the immune system, its affect on asthma was unknown.