The Science
Studies in Health & Medicine
New Journal Study Reveals Vitamin D Helps Combat Seasonal Flu and Influenza.
While the link between vitamin D and ‘colds and flu’ is not new, researchers from the Jikei University School of Medicine reported that no rigorously designed clinical trials have evaluated the relation between vitamin D and physician diagnosed seasonal influenza – until now. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition now reveals that Vitamin D shows great promise against seasonal flu and further suggests that vitamin D3 supplementation during the winter may significantly reduce the incidence of influenza A, especially in specific subgroups of schoolchildren.
New Journal Study Reveals Magnesium Linked to Fewer Gallstones
Increased intake of magnesium from dietary supplemental forms may decrease a man's risk of developing gallstones, suggests a new study from the US. The highest intake of magnesium was associated with a 28 per cent reduction in the risk of gallstones, according to the study with 42,705 male Americans published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.
Clinical and Experimental Experiences with Intravenous Vitamin C
A Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine research study by Neil H. Riordan, PA-C, Hugh D. Riordan, M.D. and Joseph P. Casciari, PhD has found startling evidences that disprove many pharmaceutical-biased myths about vitamin C to be false. The study’s conclusions: Additional evidence is provided in detail from this study noting that vitamin C may be useful in the treatment of cancer. In particular, the researchers produced evidence that vitamin C is toxic to tumor cells. Concentrations of vitamin C that kill tumor cells can be achieved in humans using intravenous vitamin C infusions. Additionally, the study found that vitamin C dosages of up to 50 grams per day, infused slowly, were not toxic to cancer patients themselves.
Vitamin C Tied to Healthy Weight Loss:
According to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Individuals with adequate vitamin C oxidize 30% more fat during a moderate exercise period than individuals with low vitamin C; thus, vitamin C depleted individuals may be more resistant to fat mass loss. Vinegar and peanut ingestion can reduce the glycemic, (causing sugar in the blood), effect of a meal, a phenomenon that has been related to satiety and reduced food consumption. Thus, the effectiveness of regular exercise and a prudent diet for weight loss may be enhanced by attention to specific diet details.
Low vitamin D levels linked to higher blood pressure
According to the American Journal of Hypertension, people with low blood levels of vitamin D may be at an increased risk of higher blood pressure - a problem that could be easily remedied with supplements, says a new study. "This finding may have public health significance, as vitamin D levels can easily, and cheaply, be increased by a modest increase in sun exposure or vitamin D supplementation," wrote lead author Robert Scragg in the American Journal of Hypertension.
The Worrying 32 Billion Dollar ‘Wonder’ Drug
Statins, cholesterol lowering pharmaceutical drugs, have been credited with life-prolonging - and life-threatening properties. Statins, which were introduced in the late 1980s, include the brands Zocor, Lipitor and Crestor, have been hailed as a wonder drug. ...But if your hand is moving closer to the tablets, hold fire. Because, despite global approbation, the murmurs that statins are not quite the Holy Grail are getting louder.
Aspartame found to cause breast cancer, leukemia and lymphomas in latest animal experiments
A new study on aspartame conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation reveals that aspartame causes a dose-dependent increase in cancers (lymphomas, leukemias and breast cancers) when consumed at levels approaching those consumed by humans in diet soft drinks.
Death by Vitamins Versus Death by Pharmaceutical Drugs
In order to provide the viewer with a sense of the actual risks associated with the consumption of food supplements, the following graphic demonstrates a comparison of deaths per million annually attributed to Hospital Care, Pharmaceutical Drugs, Traffic Accidents, Foods and Dietary Supplements.
Changes in Arctic Diet Put Inuit at Risk for *Rickets
*Rickets: a disease, especially of children, caused by a deficiency in vitamin D that makes the bones become soft and prone to bending and structural change.
Officials develop programs that put them on the cutting edge of vitamin D promotion.
A vitamin B12 a day may keep birth defects away
Globe and Mail – Article by Paul Taylor. Pregnant women with low levels of vitamin B12 are at a heightened risk of having a child with a serious birth defect, according to Canadian researchers. For their study, led by Joel Ray of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, the researchers examined blood samples from a large group of pregnant women. The findings, published in the journal Epidemiology, revealed that women with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 had three times the risk of delivering babies with neural tube defects such as spina bifida, in which the spine is severely deformed. The main dietary sources of B12 are fish, meat, dairy products and eggs.
Vitamin D casts cancer prevention in new light
For decades, researchers have puzzled over why rich northern countries have cancer rates many times higher than those in developing countries and many have laid the blame on dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry.
But research into vitamin D is suggesting both a plausible answer to this medical puzzle and a heretical notion: that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren't caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations.
Those trying to brand contaminants as the key factor behind cancer in the West are "looking for a bogeyman that doesn't exist," argues Reinhold Vieth, professor at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto and one of the world's top vitamin D experts. Instead, he says, the critical factor "is more likely a lack of vitamin D."
New Study Reveals Children who eat more good fats less likely to be overweight.
In a study of 182 children, researchers measured the dietary habits and body mass index (BMI) of 4-year-olds recruited from pediatric health centers in Göteborg, Sweden. The study determined that young children who consume more unsaturated fat have a lower body weight. The researchers also found that, of the 182 children studied, 20 percent were classified as overweight and 2 percent as obese. A surprising quarter of these children's total energy intake came from junk food (candy, ice cream, cookies, and sweet beverages). In addition, most of these children had a higher intake of saturated fat and sucrose—and a lower intake of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and iron—than recommended.
Omega-3, fiber, vitamin E linked to lower Lymphoma risk
Breaking News on Supplements & Nutrition - American Journal of Epidemiology: Study finds a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, dietary fiber, beta-carotene and vitamin E offers significant protection against non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The study of 591 participants also found that consuming certain antioxidant vitamins, commonly found in some fruits and vegetables, was associated with lower risk of overall NHL and some common subtypes. Additional Note: According to the American Cancer Society, over 50,000 new cases are diagnosed in the US alone every year.
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine - The Safety and Efficacy of Vitamins
The safety of vitamins has been clearly demonstrated by the toxicological literature and further by the experience of orthomolecular physicians over the past forty years. Why then, is the public subjected to periodic outbursts of information about how toxic vitamins are? We do not have similar outbursts against the use of drugs even though vitamins have a zero death rate while drugs in the United States alone kill 106,000 patients in hospitals annually.
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine - Aspartame Induces Lymphomas and Leukaemias in Rats
Aspartame (APM) is a widely used artificial sweetener, consumed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is found in more than 6,000 products, including soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, yoghurt, table-top sweeteners and some pharmaceuticals such as vitamins and sugar-free cough drops.
It has been demonstrated, for the first time, that APM causes a dose-related statistically significant increase in lymphomas and leukaemias in female (rats) at dose levels very near those to which humans can be exposed.
American Heart Association Report - 20 Year Observation Study Stroke Preventative Benefits of Vitamin C
20 year observation study reveals that serum vitamin C concentration inversely* related to subsequent incidences of stroke. Demonstrates significant relationship for both cerebral infarction and hemorrhagic stroke. (*inversely - reversed in order, nature, or effect. Something that is opposite; the reverse)
Primary Care - Recent study denounces routine use of low dose aspirin for the primary prevention of coronary heart disease in elderly.
Contrary to recent increases in advertising and "common knowledge," a recent Primary Care study of 10,000 Male and 10,000 Females between 70 and 74 years of age suggests that any benefits of low dose aspirin on risk of cardiovascular disease in people aged 70+ are offset by significant adverse events. Study suggests that despite sound evidence for effacy, the temptation to blindly implement low dose aspirin treatment for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in elderly people must be resisted.
QJM: An International Journal of Medicine (Oxford Journals) - High cholesterol may protect against infections and atherosclerosis
Many researchers have suggested that the blood lipids play a key role in the immune defense system. There is also a growing understanding that an inflammatory response of the arterial intima to injury is a crucial step in the genesis of atherosclerosis and that infections may be one type of such injury. These two concepts are difficult to harmonize with the low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) receptor hypothesis, according to which high LDL cholesterol is the most important cause of atherosclerosis. However, the many observations that conflict with the LDL receptor hypothesis may be explained by the idea that high serum cholesterol and/or high LDL is protective against infection and atherosclerosis.
Journal of the American Medical Association - Antioxidants and Age-Related Macular Degeneration
High-dose supplementation of beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc in combination has been shown to reduce progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but it is not known whether regular dietary intake of these antioxidants reduces the risk of incident AMD. In a population-based cohort study with a mean follow-up of 8 years, van Leeuwen and colleagues estimated the risk of incident AMD associated with dietary intake of antioxidant nutrients at baseline. They found that high dietary intake of beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and zinc was associated with a reduced risk of incident AMD.
The Journal of the American Medical Association - $415 M Federal Study Shows that Low-Fat Diets Do Not Cut Health Risks.
New York Times - The largest study ever to ask whether a low-fat diet reduces the risk of getting cancer or heart disease has found that the diet has no effect. The $415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women ages 50 to 79 who were followed for eight years. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks and strokes as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today.
