I Take Vitamins
Support For Vitamin Usage In The Most Prestigious Medical Journals... Here's some useful information when confronted with a doctor or someone else who thinks that taking vitamins is an idiotic idea.
http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2011/0128_More-Americans-Are-Using-Supplements.htm?source=eNewsLetter2011Wk4-2&key=Article&l=0#article
"A report published in the February, 2011 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reveals widespread use of dietary supplements among Americans, particularly among older individuals. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements and the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Maryland utilized data obtained from 18,758 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006. Infants under the age of one were excluded from the current analysis. Forty-four percent of males and 53 percent of females reported using supplements, which is an increase from the percentages reported in earlier NHANES surveys beginning in 1971. ...While 56 percent of those of normal weight were supplement users, this number declined to 48 percent among those who were obese, a finding that is consistent with that of other analyses." ...
"The premise of taking actions to maintain youthful health and vigor is ba<x>sed on findings from peer-reviewed scientific studies that identify specific factors that cause us to develop degenerative disease. These studies suggest that the consumption of certain foods, food extracts, hormones, or drugs will help to prevent common diseases that are associated with normal aging.
Therefore, the concept of disease prevention can be defined as the incorporation of findings from published scientific studies into a logical daily regimen that enables an individual to attain optimal health and longevity.
For the greater part of the 20th century, mainstream medicine was openly hostile to the idea of healthy people taking vitamin supplements. This antivitamin position began to change in the 1990s as irrefutable evidence emerged that supplements could reduce the risk of age-related disease without inducing toxicity.
In the April 9, 1998, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, an editorial was entitled "Eat Right and Take a Multi-Vitamin." This article was ba<x>sed on studies indicating that certain supplements could reduce homocysteine serum levels and therefore lower heart attack and stroke risk. This was the first time this prestigious medical journal recommended vitamin supplements (Oakley 1998).
An even stronger endorsement for the use of vitamin supplements was in the June 19, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). According to the Harvard University doctors who wrote the JAMA guidelines, it now appears that people who get enough vitamins may be able to prevent such common illnesses as cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. The Harvard researchers concluded that suboptimal levels of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 are a risk factor for heart disease and colon and breast cancers; low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteoporosis; and inadequate levels of the antioxidant vitamins A, E, and C may increase the risk of cancer and heart disease (Fairfield et al. 2002).
A study in the journal Atherosclerosis (Koscielny et al. 1999) showed that people who took a 900 mg garlic supplement every day for 4 years had 5-18% less plaque buildup in their carotid arteries compared to the placebo group. The women in the study group actually showed a 4.6% decrease in carotid plaque volume over a 4-year period, whereas the placebo group showed a 5.3% increase in artery-clogging plaque."
http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2007/2007_11_30.htm?source=eNewsLetter2011Wk4-2&key=Archive+News
An article published online ahead of print recently in the British Journal of Nutrition revealed the finding of Canadian researchers that consumers of nutritional supplements, particularly men, weigh less on average than those who don’t use the supplements. Additionally, a second study reported in the article found an appetite suppressive effect in women associated with multinutrient supplementation.
For the first investigation, Dr Angelo Tremblay of Laval University and colleagues analyzed responses to a questionnaire and dietary and physical activity diary completed by 267 men and 320 women aged 20 to 65 who participated in phase 2 of the Quebec Family Study. Resting energy expenditure and body weight were measured, and body density, body fat, and fat mass were calculated. A subgroup of participants was questioned concerning dietary restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger (a measure of an individual’s ability to cope with feeling hungry).
In the second study, 63 obese men and women with no nutritional supplement use within six months of beginning the study were enrolled in a weight loss program for 15 weeks. Participants received individualized daily calorie targets, and were divided to receive a multinutrient supplement or a placebo for the duration of the study.
The first study revealed significantly lower weight, fat mass and body mass index among male supplement users after adjusting for various factors, as well as greater resting energy expenditure. These characteristics were also found among female participants, but were less pronounced. In the subgroup analysis, women who reported that they consumed supplements were found to have significantly lower disinhibition and hunger, while men’s slightly reduced scores in these areas were not considered statistically significant.
Although the second study did not find increased weight loss among multinutrient supplement users compared with nonusers, it did find a reduction in appetite among women who used supplements, which could be useful in helping women cope with the increase in hunger that accompanies dieting and weight loss.
Because some nutrients are involved in the synthesis of peptides and neurotransmitters that control food intake, decreased intake of these vitamins and minerals may interfere with signaling pathways involving appetite. Additionally, suboptimal micronutrient intake could result in signaling to the brain’s centers to increase food intake so that the body’s needs for these nutrients might be met.
“These results strengthen the plausible role for vitamins and minerals in the control of appetite and ultimately energy intake,” the authors write.
http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2011/0128_More-Americans-Are-Using-Supplements.htm?source=eNewsLetter2011Wk4-2&key=Article&l=0#article
"A report published in the February, 2011 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reveals widespread use of dietary supplements among Americans, particularly among older individuals. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements and the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Maryland utilized data obtained from 18,758 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006. Infants under the age of one were excluded from the current analysis. Forty-four percent of males and 53 percent of females reported using supplements, which is an increase from the percentages reported in earlier NHANES surveys beginning in 1971. ...While 56 percent of those of normal weight were supplement users, this number declined to 48 percent among those who were obese, a finding that is consistent with that of other analyses." ...
"The premise of taking actions to maintain youthful health and vigor is ba<x>sed on findings from peer-reviewed scientific studies that identify specific factors that cause us to develop degenerative disease. These studies suggest that the consumption of certain foods, food extracts, hormones, or drugs will help to prevent common diseases that are associated with normal aging.
Therefore, the concept of disease prevention can be defined as the incorporation of findings from published scientific studies into a logical daily regimen that enables an individual to attain optimal health and longevity.
For the greater part of the 20th century, mainstream medicine was openly hostile to the idea of healthy people taking vitamin supplements. This antivitamin position began to change in the 1990s as irrefutable evidence emerged that supplements could reduce the risk of age-related disease without inducing toxicity.
In the April 9, 1998, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, an editorial was entitled "Eat Right and Take a Multi-Vitamin." This article was ba<x>sed on studies indicating that certain supplements could reduce homocysteine serum levels and therefore lower heart attack and stroke risk. This was the first time this prestigious medical journal recommended vitamin supplements (Oakley 1998).
An even stronger endorsement for the use of vitamin supplements was in the June 19, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). According to the Harvard University doctors who wrote the JAMA guidelines, it now appears that people who get enough vitamins may be able to prevent such common illnesses as cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. The Harvard researchers concluded that suboptimal levels of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 are a risk factor for heart disease and colon and breast cancers; low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteoporosis; and inadequate levels of the antioxidant vitamins A, E, and C may increase the risk of cancer and heart disease (Fairfield et al. 2002).
A study in the journal Atherosclerosis (Koscielny et al. 1999) showed that people who took a 900 mg garlic supplement every day for 4 years had 5-18% less plaque buildup in their carotid arteries compared to the placebo group. The women in the study group actually showed a 4.6% decrease in carotid plaque volume over a 4-year period, whereas the placebo group showed a 5.3% increase in artery-clogging plaque."
http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2007/2007_11_30.htm?source=eNewsLetter2011Wk4-2&key=Archive+News
An article published online ahead of print recently in the British Journal of Nutrition revealed the finding of Canadian researchers that consumers of nutritional supplements, particularly men, weigh less on average than those who don’t use the supplements. Additionally, a second study reported in the article found an appetite suppressive effect in women associated with multinutrient supplementation.
For the first investigation, Dr Angelo Tremblay of Laval University and colleagues analyzed responses to a questionnaire and dietary and physical activity diary completed by 267 men and 320 women aged 20 to 65 who participated in phase 2 of the Quebec Family Study. Resting energy expenditure and body weight were measured, and body density, body fat, and fat mass were calculated. A subgroup of participants was questioned concerning dietary restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger (a measure of an individual’s ability to cope with feeling hungry).
In the second study, 63 obese men and women with no nutritional supplement use within six months of beginning the study were enrolled in a weight loss program for 15 weeks. Participants received individualized daily calorie targets, and were divided to receive a multinutrient supplement or a placebo for the duration of the study.
The first study revealed significantly lower weight, fat mass and body mass index among male supplement users after adjusting for various factors, as well as greater resting energy expenditure. These characteristics were also found among female participants, but were less pronounced. In the subgroup analysis, women who reported that they consumed supplements were found to have significantly lower disinhibition and hunger, while men’s slightly reduced scores in these areas were not considered statistically significant.
Although the second study did not find increased weight loss among multinutrient supplement users compared with nonusers, it did find a reduction in appetite among women who used supplements, which could be useful in helping women cope with the increase in hunger that accompanies dieting and weight loss.
Because some nutrients are involved in the synthesis of peptides and neurotransmitters that control food intake, decreased intake of these vitamins and minerals may interfere with signaling pathways involving appetite. Additionally, suboptimal micronutrient intake could result in signaling to the brain’s centers to increase food intake so that the body’s needs for these nutrients might be met.
“These results strengthen the plausible role for vitamins and minerals in the control of appetite and ultimately energy intake,” the authors write.
