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WDDTY e-News Service - 8 May 2003

Thu, 8 May 2003 16:31:44 +0100

 

 

WHAT DOCTORS DON’T TELL YOU - E-NEWS BROADCAST No.34 - 08 May 03

 

Please feel free to email this broadcast to any friends you feel would

appreciate receiving it.

 

VITAMINS: Is this the end of nutrition in Europe (and what we can all still do

to stop this happening)

 

The British media has been enjoying a feeding frenzy over a report that suggests

" minerals and vitamins can cause cancer and liver damage " (The Times), that

people are " poisoning themselves " (Sunday Times), and that their health could be

" irreversibly damaged " (Daily Telegraph).

 

The report and the ensuing press articles come at an ideal time for the

pharmaceutical industry - just when the EU is determining safe levels of

vitamins to be sold over-the-counter to consumers. Safe upper levels will be

incorporated into a directive that will restrict the sale of vitamins and other

nutrients throughout the EU in two years' time.

 

The report, from the UK Food Standards Agency, and the press coverage that

followed will between them probably sound the death knell for the nutritional

industry in Britain and beyond. Success in restricting vitamin sales in Europe

will be followed by a fresh attempt from the pharmaceutical lobby to reintroduce

tighter controls in the USA.

 

The frenzy has been such that high-dose vitamins have already been found guilty,

and, without further delay, the body of nutritional medicine was hanged at 6am

GMT yesterday (8 May).

 

You might be wondering whether you are indeed putting your life at considerable

risk by taking vitamins beyond the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), and

whether you are about to succumb to cancer and liver damage.

 

It's always worth going back to primary sources to give an intelligent answer.

The FSA report was based on a detailed, 350-page study from the Expert Group on

Vitamins and Minerals (EGVM). Leaving aside the hysterical, but anticipated,

misreadings of British journalists (sadly, their role is vital in this appalling

crime against health maintenance), let's restrict ourselves to the reports of

the FSA and the EGVM.

 

There's no doubt that journalists have taken their lead from the FSA, who have

taken an extremely 'tabloid' slant on the EGVM study.

 

Chromium:

In the first place, the claim that " vitamins and minerals can cause cancer " is a

statement restricted to the over-use of chromium, in the form of chromium

picolinate, which is available in stores at levels up to 0.6mg. The FSA states

that it " may have the potential to cause cancer " . The EGVM is aware of two

cases where the patient died from severe kidney and liver damage after ingesting

7.5 mg regularly, although no cases of cancer came to light. No reactions were

reported in people who took up to 1 mg a day for 64 weeks, according to one

study.

 

Vitamin C:

The FSA reports that doses above 1000 mg a day can cause abdominal pain and

diarrhoea. The EGVM says this is a common side effect, but one that disappears

immediately once the dosage is stopped or lowered. However, it points to two

major trials where people who took 1000 mg a day for five years reported no

adverse reactions whatsoever.

 

Calcium:

The FSA states that doses above 1500 mg a day can also cause abdominal pain.

The EGVM says this is most likely to occur if it is taken with antacid tablets,

calcium supplements and milk. However, no adverse reactions were reported in

trials with people supplementing at doses up to 2000 mg a day.

 

Iron:

Abdominal problems occur with iron supplements at a potency above 17 mg a day,

says the FSA. Agreed, says the EGVM, but these reactions are more common at

daily doses of 60 mg. Studies push the limits higher, and suggest that

gastro-intestinal problems occur at doses of up to 200 mg a day.

 

Beta-carotene: The FSA states that beta-carotene can cause " irreversible harmful

effects " . The EGVM said that studies have shown no toxicity in humans, even

among pregnant women. However, trials involving smokers and workers exposed to

asbestos found that they were more likely to develop lung cancer if they were

also taking beta-carotene. So nothing to do with cigarettes and asbestos, then.

 

Zinc:

The FSA puts the same claim of irreversible harmful effects at the door of zinc.

Again, a careful study of the EGVM report fails to find supporting evidence. It

states that zinc can cause reversible abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and

very high doses might cause blood disorders in diabetics, a very small study

suggested.

 

Manganese:

Again, consumers who supplement with manganese can also suffer irreversible

harmful effects, says the FSA. Miners who have inhaled manganese while working

in manganese mines and smelters have contracted Parkinson's disease, but these

are at levels impossible to ingest, says the EGVM. Trials with supplementation

at doses up to 15 mg a day failed to find any adverse effects among the

volunteers.

 

B6:

High doses can lead to a loss of feeling in the arms and legs, says the FSA.

Agreed, says the EGVM, but this occurs when levels of 2000 mg are taken every

day for very long periods. However, this has never been supported by any

trials.

 

 

MARCH & PROTEST:It's the least we can do

 

The FSA report is based on a very partial (mis)reading of the EGVM study, but

the damage has been done, it seems. So what can you, a concerned consumer, do

about it? In short, you MUST join our organisation, the Health Freedom

Movement, in its protest march in central London on Sunday, June 15.

 

We're meeting in Hyde Park (north Carriage Drive) from 11am, and we'll be

setting off for Trafalgar Square at 12 noon.

 

As you know, WDDTY is a for-profit publishing house, but we feel so strongly

about this that we have given a great deal of our time and expertise to support

the movement. Sadly, our efforts have not been matched by the nutritional

industry (which, instead, is happy to fall in line with the EU guidelines), and

retailers such as Holland & Barrett and GNC have refused to put up our posters,

or tell its customers about our march.

 

We've depending entirely on small contributions from consumers, and it's for you

that we are continuing the fight. Please support us. Two weeks after the

march, Parliament will vote to decide whether the UK will ratify the first of

the EU directives. Let's show the politicians that there are enough of us who

care, and give them the courage to vote " NO " .

 

 

Listen to Lynne

 

On the radio: Hear Lynne McTaggart on Passion the new DAB Digital Radio Station

focusing on your health and your environment -

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_main.asp.

 

On demand: Select and listen to any of Lynne's archived broadcasts on Passion,

there's a new one each week - http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_archive.asp.

 

 

 

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free by clicking on the followinglink:

http://www.wddty.co.uk/e-news.asp. Thank you.

 

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