Did You Hear

For those of you who follow the news, there have been two studies recently that reported that vitamins were not only not useful, but could potentially be harmful.  Here is what I have to say and it is taken directly from the last sentence of the study: “several coauthors report financial relationships with several pharmaceutical companies.”

Even putting that aside, the study used synthetic alpha tocopherol. That is not the vitamin E found in nature.  We know that it is essential to get the full gamut of tocopherols to see any health benefit.  This was the same problem in the study that supposedly “proved” that beta carotene was harmful for us.  Synthetic beta carotene was used – again, a substance not found in nature.

Furthermore, when using nutritional supplementation, one can never isolate two components, such as selenium and vitamin E, and expect it to cure or in this case, cause cancer.  That’s not how the human being works. That is not how nature works. That is how pharmaceuticals work. We need a different model for studies and the powers that be don’t understand that.  In fact, they go on to add further insult to injury by calling this a definitive study.  Even if this study were to be true, one study does not dictate how medicine is practiced.  To use synthetic vitamins at sub-optimal doses and to call it definitive is at the most deceitful and at the last, just plain bad information.

In another study, it was reported that taking a multivitamin could prove harmful and increase all cause deaths.  Specifically the authors picked on iron supplementation in  women – post menopausal women.  We in the nutritional industry have known for years that women, once they stop menstruating, don’t need iron and excess iron in the body can lead to death.  No surprise there folks.

All I can say is that this is the government trying to regulate nutritional supplements and take away our freedom to choose what we want to do to our bodies.  There is an unemployment crisis, a housing crisis, a banking crisis and we are fighting several wars (I lose track of those since there are so many) – isn’t there something our government can be doing instead of trying to take nutritional supplements off the shelves? Do they need another thing to regulate and mess up in the process?

So, continue to take your supplements but make sure you buy reputable brands that have ingredients that work.  There are many resources out there to help you with those decisions.  I wish you only the best health and freedom.