Thoughts on Vitamin Supplements

I used to take various vitamin supplements every day - at times up to 20 or so pills! All in the name of health. However, when you look past all of the health claims based on questionable studies, and take into account that most pills don't contain what they advertise... you're left questioning whether taking vitamin supplements is even good for you.

My current conclusion:

Due to over-used soils, genetic modification, long produce transportation times and the drive of companies for quantity over quality many of us are vitamin deficient. However, instead of turning to vitamin supplements to maintain health, we should instead consume more super-foods & whole foods.

Foods like:

• Cod liver oils for healthy fatty acids and Vitamin A and D
• High quality butter from pasture fed cows for healthy fats and fat-soluble Vitamins (A, D, E, K)
• Wheat germ oil for Vitamin E (sunflower seeds are a great source of Vitamin E too)
• Nutritional yeast or bee pollen for many B Vitamins
• Liver, for Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, etc.
• Powdered rose hips, acerola berries, or amalaki for Vitamin C

Why whole foods over vitamin supplements?

In short: Because synthetic vitamins can be harmful to your health.

Long Answer: Synthetic vitamin supplements are simplified and highly concentrated, which the body is unable to digest and use as well as naturally occurring vitamins in complex compounds. For this reason, high doses of synthetic vitamins are often required, which may lead to biochemical imbalances and side-effects.

In addition, some Vitamin supplements only provide a single part of the (partly unknown) complex that makes up the Vitamin. This is the case for Vitamin C, in which the supplemental form only provides ascorbic acid. Vitamin C is actually a complex of nutrients including bioflavonoids, rutin, tyrosine, copper etc... The ascorbic acid functions as the preservative for this complex Vitamin. Taking only the ascorbic acid depletes the other compounds of Vitamin C... the exact opposite effect I'm sure you were hoping for.

Unexpected effects are also true for some other Vitamins:

Vitamin A is associated with reduced cancer risk, but supplementation of beta-carotene (a precursor) may increase risk of lung cancer.

Synthetic Vitamin D3 seems to have the opposite effect as naturally occurring Vitamin D2: D3 seems to soften bones and harden arteries.

So in general this just emphasizes the fact that you cannot compensate an unhealthy diet with Vitamin supplements. Focus on whole (unprocessed) foods, stock up on super-foods, and save the chocolate for an occasional treat.

Info from "The Fourfold Path to Healing" by Thomas S. Cowan, MD

<3 Jessica

Vitamin A and its antioxidant precursor, Beta-Carotene

A lesson from my nutrition class...

Food Sources:

Picture credit to: Ramzi Hashisho

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient that is found pre-formed (as retinyl esters) in many animal-sourced foods such as liver, milk & milk products, and egg yolk. It has many functions within the body, BUT it is not an antioxidant itself.

Beta-carotene, converted by the body into Vitamin A, is found in brightly coloured (especially orange) fruits and vegetables such as: papayas, yams*, tomatoes, spinach, pumpkin, carrots*, and broccoli. Beta-carotene and other related carotenoids are antioxidants.
(* = a single 125 ml serving meets or exceeds the RDA for women.)

Retinoids

There are 3 different forms of active Vitamin A in the body (retinoids), all with different uses: retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid. The body readily converts retinyl esters from animal food sources, and beta-carotene from plant sources into the retinoid form it requires. However, the conversion to retinoic acid is irreversible.
Retinol:
Retinol supports reproduction and growth. This translates to sperm development and normal fetal development in men and women, respectively. In children, vitamin A (retinol) helps remodel bone to allow for growth by supporting osteoclasts (cells that eat away at the bone to allow for growth & overall remodeling by osteoblasts).
Retinal:
Retinal is the form of vitamin A that everyone is well aware of - it supports vision. Specifically, it maintains a clear cornea (the clear front "window" of the eye), and helps covert the light energy arriving at the back of the eye (retina) into nerve impulses that allow us see.
Retinoic acid:
Retinoic acid regulates growth, thus helps maintain our constantly renewing barriers such as skin and mucous membranes within the body. Importantly, vitamin A (in the form of retinoic acid) helps protect our skin against sun damage. By maintaining our barriers, this form of vitamin A is also essential for our immune system.

Beta-carotene as an Antioxidant

Not all beta-carotene is converted to retinoids in the body. Some of it is used to quench free radicals, preventing disease, cancers, and promoting overall health. Without antioxidants to halt damage, free radicals are capable of altering DNA & RNA (thus changing proteins), causing overall cell damage, diseases and aging. For this reason, try to incorporate both dark green and bright orange vegetables and fruits in your daily diet. Adults should be consuming 7-10 servings of both raw and cooked fruits and vegetables every day (the majority should be vegetables) .

Recommended Intakes

Adult men: 700µg RAE/day
Adult men: 900µg RAE/day
Upper level/limit = 3000µg / day

RAE = Retinol activity equivalents
1 µg retinol = 1 RAE
12 µg beta-carotene = 1 RAE (due to inefficient conversion within the body)


Should you supplement with beta-carotene?
Research tends to show that supplementation with beta-carotene have either no effect or even increased mortality in smokers. (This must be taken with a grain of salt since there are usually many experimental design flaws in bio-availability of supplementation, diet, and lifestyles...)
Studies found that smokers have an increased risk of CHD and lung cancer when supplementing with beta-carotene.
However... increased food-sourced beta-carotene, decreases risk of both coronary heart disease (CHD) and colorectal cancer.
So eat up your veggies and toast to your health!

<3 Jessica


Reference:
Whitney, E., Rolfes, S., Hammond, G., & Piche, L. (2013). The Antioxidant Nutrients. In Understanding Nutrition (1st Canadian ed.). Toronto: Nelson Education.