e-Alert - Killer Vitamin

[Guest guest]

Dear Reader, Don’t you hate it when vitamin supplements kill you? Well…you and I would hate it, but the mainstream media LOVED it about two years ago when a Johns Hopkins analysis of 19 vitamin E studies concluded that supplementing with more than 400 IU per day might slightly increase the risk of death. “Run for your lives! The vitamin E sky is falling!” That was the general tone of media coverage back then. Of course, most of the reports overlooked the fact that the Hopkins researchers actually admitted that the trials they examined were mostly small studies that involved patients with chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and kidney failure. At the time, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., noted that the Hopkins conclusion “flies in the face of decades of research, using doses up to 2,400 IU.” He might have also predicted that the conclusion would fly in the face of future vitamin E research

– such as a revealing new study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). ----------- Not right in the head(line) ----------- Some things never change. A Reuters Health report about the new NCI study led off with this headline: “Vitamin E Levels Linked to Mortality Risk.” A casual reader might glance at that headline and think, “Oh yeah – I remember reading that vitamin E can kill you. I guess that’s been confirmed.” But the headline is 100 percent misleading. In fact, in the Reuters report, Dr. Margaret E. Wright of NCI’s Nutritional Epidemiology Branch noted three important vitamin E benefits: 1) It’s a powerful antioxidant 2) It boosts immune function 3) It helps prevent tumor blood vessel growth Does that sound like a killer to you? Dr. Wright’s study actually cites the counter-intuitive conclusion of the 2005 Hopkins trial

as a jumping off point for an examination of mortality in relation to blood levels of vitamin E. STUDY ABSTRACT The NCI team examined data collected from more than 29,000 men who participated in Finland’s Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) study All of the men were smokers between the ages of 50 and 69 at the outset of the study Each subject submitted fasting blood samples that were analyzed for vitamin E content About 10 percent of the subjects reported daily use of vitamin E supplements Over a 19-year follow up period, more than 13,000 subjects died (5,776 deaths were related to cancer, and 4,518 were related to heart disease) When men with the highest levels of vitamin E were compared to men with the lowest

levels, those in the high level group “had significantly lower risks of total and cause-specific mortality than did those in the lowest quintile” ----------- Common protection ----------- Vitamin E’s immune system benefit that Dr. Wright mentioned doesn’t only apply to life-threatening diseases – it may also protect against common colds. In a 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers reported on a study in which more than 600 subjects, aged 65 or older, received either a daily supplement of 200 IU of vitamin E or a placebo for one year. The results: Vitamin E supplements had a preventive effect on upper respiratory infections. In fact, the subjects who took E supplements had a 20 percent reduced risk of coming down with a common cold. In the e-Alert “Over the Teeth, Past the Gums...”

(2/5/03), Dr. Spreen recommended a vitamin E daily dose of 400 IU. Of course, more is not always better, but doubling up on the 200 IU used in the study may help overcome problems of vitamin absorbency. Dr. Spreen also recommends supplementing with “mixed tocopherols” when taking vitamin E. Dr. Spreen also recommends an additional supplement of 200 mcg of selenium per day. As Dr. Spreen has pointed out, “Both selenium and vitamin E are intimately associated with stimulation of the part of the immune system dealing with production of immunoglobulins.” The immune system uses immunoglobulins (or antibodies) to identify and neutralize viruses and bacteria. Vitamin E dietary sources include eggs, liver, nuts and seeds, spinach, broccoli, peaches, wheat germ and vegetable oils. And contrary to whatever misleading headlines and junk research you may have read, the vitamin E in those foods will not lead to your early demise. To

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