Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Literatus: Restorative power of supplements By Zosimo T. Literatus, R.M.T. Breakthroughs
“WE are assaulted by conflicting information about food,” noted British nutritionist Dilys Wells in her book, The Good, the Bad and the Fattening: A Dictionary of Food, “which appears in the press or on radio and which exposes us to passing fads and fancies.”
The belief that food supplements could delay or reduce cognitive decline in later life is, however, consistent with the known biological effects of vitamin B complex in lowering homocysteine levesl and of antioxidant “vitaminerals” in protecting tissues against damage from reactive free radicals.
Studies on multivitamins from 1954 to 2007 found no evidence on the effect of supplements in improving cognition. The latest study led by Geraldine McNeill confirmed previous results. McNeill is a professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Aberdeen in Foresterhill, Aberdeen UK. The study used 910 men and women aged 95 years
and over, and was published at the Nutrition Journal on May 2.
The supplement used in the study contained 800 ug vitamin A (RDA 1000), 60 mg vitamin C (as RDA), 5 ug vitamin D (as RDA), 10 mg vitamin E (as RDA), 1.4 mg thiamin (RDA 1.2), 1.6 mg riboflavin (RDA 1.4), 18 mg niacin (RDA 15), 6 mg pantothenic acid (RDA 4-7), 2 mg pyridoxine (as RDA), 1 ug vitamin B12 (RDA 2), 200 ug folic acid (as RDA), 14 mg iron (RDA 10), 150 ug iodine (as RDA), 0.75 mg copper (RDA 1.5-3.0), 15 mg zinc (As RDA), and 1 mg manganese (RDA 2.0-5.0).
The participants took the standard one tablet daily and for 12 months. Based on the recommended daily allowance approved by the US National Research Council in 1989 as shown in the figures in parenthesis I supplied, these doses are much within safe and recommended ranges.
These replicated results unwittingly supports the actions of vitaminerals as supplements but not as therapeutic drugs. As such, supplements cannot be expected to increase the cognitive functions of participants, as the latest study intends to prove, in the same way that they can be expected to prevent deterioration of cognitive function, which the current study proved to be so.
In fact, the team detected a “weak evidence for a beneficial effect” among those aged 75 and over and those at increased risk of micronutrient deficiency. Among subjects that are not at risk for micronutrient deficiency, no positive change was observed, as should be expected.
American nutritionist Adelle Davis, in a New York Times article “The Great Adelle Davis Controversy,” was quoted saying: “Nutritional research, like a modern star of Bethlehem, brings hope that sickness need not be a part of life.” Food supplementation in essence is a preventive measure to maintain health, not cure disease.
