Supplements - Nutrition

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Supplements - Nutrition

General Information - Vitamins and Supplements

NEWS:

A vitamin a day may do more harm than good "Most worrisome, according to ConsumerLab.com president Dr. Tod Cooperman, is that one product, The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women, was contaminated with lead. … On a positive note, several of the most popular multivitamins on the market did pass muster, said David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C. These included Centrum Silver, Member's Mark Complete Multi (distributed by Sam's Club), One A Day Women's and Flintstones Complete."

Almost a Third of U.S. Kids Use Supplements "Among American adults, 57 percent of women and 47 percent of men take dietary supplements."

FDA Issues Dietary Supplements Final Rule

FDA Moves To Ensure Safety of Supplements "For the first time, manufacturers of vitamins, herbal pills and other dietary supplements will have to test all of their products' ingredients, the Food and Drug Administration ordered yesterday. The FDA said the new mandate is needed to ensure that products are free of contamination and impurities. … The new rule goes into effect Aug. 24 and will have a three-year phase-in that gives smaller manufacturers more time to comply. Even the largest of the manufacturers will not have to comply until next June. "

Fruit proves better than vitamin C alone "If you're in the market for an antioxidant to keep your body young and healthy, new research suggests you'd be much better off with oranges than vitamin C tablets. Although vitamin C is best known for its protection against scurvy and, possibly, the common cold (see 'Vitamin C best in the cold'), fruits rich in vitamin C are also powerful antioxidants that protect cellular DNA from being damaged by oxidation. Going without such foods leads to DNA damage long before the iconic bleeding gums of scurvy are seen."

Viagra ingredient in Chinese supplements “Dietary supplements marketed to provide male sexual enhancement contain undeclared erectile dysfunction drugs putting users at risk, the Food and Drug Administration warned Friday.”

Vitamin Supplements: Are They for Everyone?

Vitamins A, C and E don't help you live longer "Some experts said, however, that it’s too early to toss out all vitamin pills — or the possibility that they may have some health benefits. Others said the study supports the theory that antioxidants work best when they are consumed in food rather than pills."

ARTICLES:

A Scorecard on Supplements

Evidence-Based Standards Should Apply to Dietary Supplements, Too

Grape Seed Extract

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Antioxidants Do Not Prevent Macular Degeneration "A meta-analysis of the pooled data from these studies showed that the antioxidants under investigation - vitamins A, C, E; zinc, lutein, zeaxanthin; alpha and beta carotene; beta cryptoxanthin and lycopene -- had little to no effect on the incidence of early AMD. Similarly, the three randomized controlled trials failed to reveal any benefit of antioxidant supplementation -- vitamin E, alpha tocopherol, and beta carotene -- for primary prevention of AMD. … Cigarette smoking was "the only widely accepted modifiable risk factor for the primary prevention of AMD," "

Case Report: Potential Arsenic Toxicosis Secondary to Herbal Kelp Supplement (EHP 2007) "Relevance to Clinical Practice: Clinicians should be aware of the potential for heavy metal toxicity due to chronic use of dietary herbal supplements. Inquiring about use of dietary supplements is an important element of the medical history."

Contribution of Selected Vitamins and Trace Elements to Immune Function. (Ann Nutr Metab. 2007)

Dietary supplement use and mortality in a cohort of Swedish men. (Br J Nutr. 2007) "In conclusion, we cannot exclude that the use of dietary supplements is harmful for smokers. On the other hand, among men with an insufficient diet, the use of supplements might be beneficial in reducing CVD mortality."

L-Lysine - monograph. (Altern Med Rev. 2007) "Of the many biological functions requiring lysine, some notable applications include synthesis of connective tissues such as bone, skin, collagen, and elastin; synthesis of carnitine and resultant conversion of fatty acids to energy; support for healthy growth and development in children; and maintenance of healthy immune function, particularly with regard to antiviral activity. Concerning the latter, lysine is well known for its potential benefit in the management of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections."

Maternal flaxseed diet during pregnancy or lactation increases female rat offspring's susceptibility to carcinogen-induced mammary tumorigenesis. (Reprod Toxicol. 2007) "Flaxseed contains several dietary components that have been linked to low breast cancer risk; i.e., n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), lignans and fiber, but it also contains detectable levels of cadmium, a heavy metal that activates the estrogen receptor (ER). … Our data indicated that both in utero and postnatal 5% and 10% flaxseed exposures shortened mammary tumor latency, and 10% flaxseed exposure increased tumor multiplicity, compared to the controls."

Multivitamin-multimineral supplements and eye disease: age-related macular degeneration and cataract. (m J Clin Nutr. 2007) ".A multivitamin-multimineral supplement with a combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc (with cupric oxide) is recommended for AMD but not cataract. Weak support exists for multivitamins or other vitamin supplements from observational studies of cataract. The results of observational studies suggest that a healthy lifestyle with a diet containing foods rich in antioxidants, particularly lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as n-3 fatty acids, appears beneficial for AMD and possibly cataract."

Multivitamin-multimineral supplements' effect on total nutrient intake. (m J Clin Nutr. 2007)

Multivitamin-multimineral supplements: who uses them? (Am J Clin Nutr. 2007)

The role of the antioxidant vitamin supplementation in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. (Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2007)

What is known about the safety of multivitamin-multimineral supplements for the generally healthy population? Theoretical basis for harm. (Am J Clin Nutr. 2007) "The risk of harm occurring from taking dietary supplements will depend on the safe intake range of the nutrient concerned, the susceptibility of the individual, and the likely intake of the same nutrient from other supplements or the rest of the diet. In many cases, the available database for the safety of nutrients is very limited because the studies, where available, were not designed to assess adverse effects but may have detected problems when they occurred."

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