Guest guest Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Wed, 3 Mar 2004 08:21:09 -0500 HSI - Jenny Thompson Hit Parade Hit Parade Health Sciences Institute e-Alert March 3, 2004 ************************************************************** Dear Reader, Like clockwork, every few months I come across a new article that dismisses vitamin supplements as useless or even bad for you. They almost always make one very good point: Supplements should not be used to offset the effects of a diet that's low on nutrition and high on processed junk. And I agree completely. But after that we generally part company. I recently received an e-mail from an HSI member named Mary who found a web site that attacks the use of supplements. The site provides a long list of supplement drawbacks, and Mary included the list in her e-mail, along with this request: " Please let me know what Dr. Spreen makes of it. " HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., is known throughout the alternative medicine field as " The Nutrition Physician " and a passionate advocate of dietary supplements. Nevertheless, his response to the " Hit List " is not so much a defense as it is an insightful look at what we can realistically expect from our supplements. ----------------------------- First... consider the source ----------------------------- The web site Mary quotes is an alternative healthcare site that states: " All man-made vitamin supplements are harmful, NOT helpful for you. " And yet this quote appears on a page where they advertise their own multi-vitamin product. In spite of this paradox, their message is clear: You can't trust other supplements, but you can trust ours. And that's where Dr. Spreen begins his comments with this observation: " I tend to be suspicious when an information source puts down one type of supplement, only to push their own. " Putting aside the obvious bias of the source, the list of supplement drawbacks starts off with what we'll call Hit Number One: " 95 percent of all supplements sold today are synthetic. " If this is actually true (no sources are cited for any of these claims), it probably has more to do with the popularity of vitamin C than with inferior supplements. Dr. Spreen explains: " Perhaps the writer is taking license by referring to volume instead of types. It is well known that most of the vitamin C taken today is synthetic. Since more people take vitamin C than any other supplement, that would increase the number upwards concerning the total amount of synthetic supplements. " It's also true that the synthetic form of vitamin C is not absorbed the same as natural, but not because the molecule is synthetic - it's because the other nutrients may not be present (such as bioflavonoids) that would be there in the natural state for improved absorption and utilization. In the case of vitamin C the synthetic molecule is absolutely identical to the natural vitamin C molecule (at least double- Nobel Prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling has said so). " ----------------------------- Natural born ----------------------------- Hit Number Two also addresses the " natural " question: " Supplements are not natural, though labeled as such. " This blanket statement would have you believe that you can never trust the word " natural " when you see it on a product, which simply isn't true. The fact is, vitamin and mineral supplements typically come from a combination of plant, animal and man-made sources. And this is just one of the reasons why we need to take special care in making sure that we get our supplements from reliable manufacturers. As Dr. Spreen points out: " You have to be careful, especially when reading labels. " Hit Number Three brings this sweeping generalization: " Supplements are considered by the liver 'foreign' substances, eliminating most of them through the kidneys. " Dr. Spreen says, " I have a problem with this one. If only in the case of vitamin C the liver wouldn't know the difference (except for the presence of other accompanying nutrients). " " Supplements can change or alter normal cells to abnormal cells, " reads Hit Number Four. But Dr. Spreen points out that ANY abnormal molecule can abnormally affect human cells. He writes, " That's why I'm so against most drug therapies (including synthetic hormones). However, I don't know how anyone can prove that all vitamins turn normal cells to abnormal ones. It would depend on the molecule and the nutrient. " ----------------------------- What goes in ----------------------------- Several of the Hits on the list concern the sources of vitamins. For instance, Hit Number Five reads: " Most B vitamins are made from coal tar derivatives (what causes lung cancer in smokers) or from petro-chemicals (known central nervous system depressants, carcinogens, and respiratory irritants). " That sounds pretty unappealing if you take it at face value. But things are not always as they seem. There's a huge difference between swallowing the nutrient (of any form) and taking, in Dr. Spreen's words, " coal tar-laden smoke into one's lungs. Minor alterations to a molecule can make a huge difference in many substances. H2 is hydrogen gas, highly explosive. Add one oxygen atom and you have water. Cyanocobalamin is vitamin B-12 (which I've shot into | hundreds of people without negative reaction). I'd hate to try that with cyanide, which is the same molecule, minus the cobalamin. " Hit Number Six reads: " Almost all B-12 is made from toxic cow livers or human sewage sludge!!! " Dr. Spreen says that he's never heard this " sludge " claim before, but has this to say about cow livers: " B-12 must come from some animal source or you won't get it... it's an animal nutrient. Whether all the sources are toxic is another matter. We're all probably toxic today, unless we live in the Andes, etc., and eat toxin-free foods. " There's also the matter of different types of B-12. Dr. Spreen notes that there are three - cyanocobalamin, hydroxocobalamin, and methylcobalamin - and because they're different molecules he adds, " I'm sure the source is more involved than sick cows and sludge. Plus, what about B-12 by injection (which is definitely from pharmaceutical houses)? Is injectable okay, but oral not okay? There are too many details involved for such a dismissive blanket comment to be considered factual. " ----------------------------- Buyer beware ----------------------------- I don't have enough space in this e-Alert to include the entire Hit List that Mary sent or all of Dr. Spreen's responses. Suffice it to say that the arguments that would have us believe that all supplements are worthless or harmful are thin at best. The list does provide a good reminder that we can't take any supplement claims at face value. But we can rest assured that we're on the right track when we research claims, ask questions, and do whatever else it takes to make sure we're getting the highest quality supplements available. ************************************************************** ... and another thing There it was, amidst the hundreds of e-mails we receive every day. It sat in our inbox just like any other e-mail, sandwiched between one asking us to clarify something we said about vitamin E and one thanking us for information on foods that contain trans fatty acids. It began, " Approximately a week and a half ago you referenced our son's death when you were writing about acetaminophen. His name is Marcus. " And it made me - and everyone else who read it - gasp. Not because of what the note actually said, but because of the shock that our original e-mail would end up reaching the family we were writing about. After we got over the initial surprise, we refocused on the matter at hand. This family lost their son to one of the drugs most of us believe to be remarkably safe. You've seen the commercials, I'm sure. It's advertised as being the only thing hospitals trust for pregnant and nursing mothers. What could be safer than that?! Sadly, Marcus Trunk regarded acetaminophen pretty much the same way most of us do. But his parents, Kate and Carmen, are determined to make sure other families learn from their tragedy. They've created a website (drug-warning.org) that details the dangers of acetaminophen and explains what actions we can all take to make sure people know that this " safe " and innocent drug is anything but. On behalf of all of us at HSI, we wish the Trunk family continued strength. And we join them in their hope that no other family will ever suffer this needless tragedy. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/tylenolx.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** Copyright ©1997-2004 by www.hsibaltimore.com, L.L.C. The e-Alert may not be posted on commercial sites without written permission. 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