Vitamins 'useless' in fight against diseases: study
Last Updated Fri Jul 5 19:49:26 2002
OXFORD, ENGLAND - Daily doses of vitamins do nothing to guard against diseases, according to a new study.



The report, published in the journal The Lancet, says people who are at high risk of getting heart disease, cancer or other ailments are better off eating fresh fruit and vegetables to protect themselves.


MARKETPLACE: Milk and Vitamin D

Jane Armitage, a researcher at the University of Oxford, said the results of the five-year study were "disappointing."



The study required participants to take high doses of vitamin E, vitamin C and beta-carotene.


FROM JUNE 5, 2002: A 'good' apple a day keeps the doctor away

The vitamins are antioxidants which are thought to help the body defend against cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and other diseases of aging. Antioxidants curb oxidation in the body, preventing cell and tissue damage.
No conclusions about vitamin effect on healthy people

Researchers followed 20,000 people aged 40 to 80 as part of a larger Heart Protection Study.

Three types of people were recruited: those who had little risk of heart disease, those at high risk and those who had a past history of it. They were required to check in at three to six-month intervals.


FROM NOV. 1, 2001: Vitamins can slow vision loss

The study found no benefit in people who had a high risk of getting certain diseases. However, it did not draw conclusions about the effects on healthy people.
Armitage says there's a possibility that other vitamins could be beneficial.

According to Health Canada, more than half of Canadians use supplements — vitamins, natural remedies and homeopathic methods. In Canada, The Natural Health Products Directorate was created in 1997 to regulate the industry.


FROM APRIL 22, 2002: Vitamin D good for heart: study


Rory Collins

Co-researcher Rory Collins says vitamins are a "waste of time," adding that taking vitamins is a safe but useless action.


YOUR SPACE: What vitamins do you take, if any? How do they affect your health?


JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Share your thoughts on this story

Collins says the vitamins did nothing to fend off the development of cataracts or prevent the onset of osteoporosis.

The vitamin industry disagrees with the conclusions.


Ahmed Hassam


"There are lots of studies over the years which show that you can reduce chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer by insuring there's enough vitamin C in the diet," said Dr. Ahmed Hassam, Managing Director of Quest Vitamins in Britain.

The study was funded by pharmaceutical giant Merck, Roche Vitamins, the UK Medical Research Council and the British Health Foundation.


Written by CBC News Online staff


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Anytime I see a 'study' that bashes something I know to be true, ie., taking vitamins are GOOD FOR YOU, then I follow the money trail of those who did the 'study'.

Most likely it was a drug company or someone who will benefit BIG TIME for steering folks away from vitamins.

For drug companies, business is BOOMING and they'll do ANYTHING to keep it that way!!

I know I'm repeating myself in another post but:

This same anti-vitamin study interestingly enough showed that although they say vitamins do no good whatsoever, drugs should be used more often. This study generated a lot of excitement and requests for changing the guidelines to put a lot more people even with low cholesterol on statin drugs:

http://www.mrc.ac.uk/index/public_i..._protection.htm

Voyager,

That link doesn't work for me. Page not found is what I am getting.
Take care,

Okay, all fixed.

For another perspective on vitamins check out www.cspinet.org and their publication (Center for Science and Public Interest). They are the famous "food cops" Also note they have been an enemy to LC dieting - they are strong supporters of the low fat diet. They do evaluate many products and warn of dangers about food additives and many other subjects. Despite their biases I find they are very skeptical about most subjects. They begrudgingly accepted the latest positive study for Atkins, but are still concerned about the long term effects. For vitamins they have a healthy dose of skepticism. Unfortunately my perception from all this is that the effect of vitamin supplements in general is unproven just like the study says. This is not the only study that pooh poohs vitamins. Are there vitamins and minerals that we must take and that we do not get enough from our foods? Yes. CSPI agrees The general recommendation is to take a one-a-day vitamin. Taking more supplements is certainly good for specific targeted purposes.

one of my students summarized a bit of research for me:

the body can't handle megadoses of vitamins all at once. It's better to take a 25% B complex four times a day than a 100% once a day. We simply didn't evolve to take in such high levels of vitamins. The body has no idea what to do with a big flood like that.

I don't have the source, but when she said this, it made perfect paleo sense to me. For awhile I even broke my multi in half...then got lazy and went back to once a day.

CSPI is, alas, very anti-carb, which puts them in the "suspect" category for me. But I don't think megadoses of vitamins do the average person much good. It's much better to up your intake of fresh veggies and berries.

Cindarella,

I dont know if supplentation works for all vitamins, but one vitamin that I have seen the effects of immediately is Vitamin C.

I used to suffer from "over-training" when I used to workout 2 times per week. Even tho I felt great in the gym, once the endorphins had worn off I'd would feel like hell within a few hours and would gradually become more rundown during the week to the point that after a couple of weeks I usually would have a cold and some mild flu-like symptoms - I would have to stop training for a couple of weeks.

To combat the cold I started taking a Multi Vitamin Supplement and then I found by complete chance that if I had 1000mg Vitamin C after my workout, although I still had the obligatory fatigued muscles I didnt get any of the other symptoms AND my muscle recovery period dropped dramatically: I could realistically train 2 or 3 times a week without fear of overtraining!!

(Incidentally, this was 10 years ago when although I knew Vit C's ability to ward off the common cold, I knew nothing of its catalyst like ability to speed up tissue repair from pumping iron!)

I now take 500mg time released Vitamin C a day...

Have fun,
Zzoom