Vitamin Supplements

No doubt you will have seen the news headlines yesterday regarding the safety of vitamin supplements:
'minerals and vitamins can cause cancer and liver damage' (The Times);
'People are poisoning themselves' (Sunday Times);
'health could be irreversibly damaged' (Daily Telegraph).

This really is a media frenzy and journalists have not presented the public with a balanced picture. I wanted to give you some background in case you are concerned.

You should firstly know that there is tremendous opposition to this research which is based on very spurious logic To read detailed arguments put to the committee you can go to http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdf/evmsummaryof responses.pdf.

But in short this report has been opposed by:

The University of Toronto
University of Surrey
University of Manchester
The Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Nursing
The Nutrition Society
Mount Sinai Hospital
Medical Research Council
Institute of Optimum Nutrition
European Commission
Dove Clinic For Integrated Medicine (The leading alternative cancer therapy centre in Europe)
Council Responsible for Nutrition (USA)
British Dietetic Association

Plus many others and a long list of doctors and private individuals.

For most of the nutrients in question the above scientific organisations and health practitioners are arguing that these claims are based on ludicrously high dosages and that the levels now recommended as 'safe' by the FSA, disregard all the clinical studies showing therapeutic effects of the nutrients. For example:

B6, the FSA say can cause nervous damage however clinical trials show no toxicity or side-effects at 3000mg. The FSA are now recommending an upper safety limit of 10mg. All the clinical trials into PMS and anxiety/depression demonstrate patients show huge relief from symptoms at a dosage of 100 - 250 mg with no recorded side-effects.

Vitamin C, the FSA claim, can increase kidney stones. This may be true at 20,000mg a day, but robust medical research has already proven that 4,000mg a day has no negative effect whatsoever on kidney stone formation and levels of 1000mg - 3000mg have been clinically proven to protect against heart disease.

Chromium is the nutrient behind the claim 'vitamins and minerals can cause cancer' Scientists are aware of 2 cases where the patient died from severe kidney and liver damage after ingesting 7.5mg regularly, although no cases of cancer came to light, other studies show toxicity only at 1000mg (10,000 times the therapeutic dose). No adverse effects have been shown at a dosage of 1mg a day, on the contrary chromium may prevent the development of diabetes and has been shown to improve symptoms in many sufferers of type II diabetes. Clinical trials support improvements in blood sugar balance at only 200mcg.

Beta-carotene: The FSA states may cause ''irreversible harmful effects'' However no controlled trials have shown any toxicity in humans except for a single trial involving smokers and workers exposed to asbestos - who developed lung cancer. Nothing to do with the cigarettes then!

For manganese, miners inhaling manganese while working in manganese mines are cited, as some developed Parkinson's disease.However scientists claim it would be impossible to ingest similar amounts from supplements.

...........I won't bore you with more details but you get the idea.

When this type of report hits the media it tends to create a great story. However, remember this comes from the same organisation that is happy to let people purchase a whole range of over the counter medical drugs with proven side-effects. The Chairman is the leader of the pro MMR lobby. 58% of the scientists behind the study have declared pharmaceutical interests (hence would rather people didn't take Vitamin C instead of expensive cardiovascular drugs!).

For those of you I have prescribed supplements to I just wanted to assure you nothing I have recommended is not supported by valid clinical studies, so you have no need to worry. However, if any one does have any concerns please give me a call.

A full critique of the risk assessment methodology employed by the EVM (who advised the FSA) has been put together by The ANH can be found on www.alliance-natural-health.org/index.cfm?action=archive&page=1, (The ANH represents many organisations such as The British Association of nutritional therapists; Guild Of Complementary Practitioners; The Complementary Medical Association; and The British Society for allergy environmental and Nutritional Medicine).

Hope that puts your mind at rest.

Information in this nutrition update is provided by Amanda Moore (BSC (hons) Dip ION mBANT) at Totalbeing +44 (0) 845 658 5658. www.totalbeing.com.

Nutrion Archive Index

Walking back to happiness	The Rise of Obesity in our Children
To Sunbathe or not to Sunbathe?	What are we like?
Just don't mention the alcohol	Coping with cellulite
It's Not Like the Good Old Days	Why wheat can be a problem
Giving up Smoking	Vegan Nutrition
Alcohol and Nutritional damage	Vitamin Supplements
Breakfast	Headaches
The truth about vitamin C	Eating For a Healthy Pregnancy
Spring clean your skin	Insomnia
Is a low-fat diet good for you?	Supporting the Liver
Nutrition in Focus	Insulin Resistance
Syndrome X	Detox Treatment
Colds and flu	Super Foods for Fitness
Gout	Headache
Haemorrhoids	Pre pregnancy
Post Pregnancy	Acne From Hell 3
Acne From Hell 2	Acne From Hell 1
Case 3-3. Age 27 Female	Case 3-2. Age 27 Female
Case 3-1. Age 27 Female	Case 2. Male 30yrs
Case 1. Schoolgirl aged 15 yrs	Spring Clean
Summer/Spring Clean	Low Blood Sugar
Irritated Bowel Syndrome	Diarrhoea
Constipation	Wind
Water Retention	Berber Argan Oil
Digest and Absorb	Food Pyramid