C for Yourself : Health: Are Supplements Safe?

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" C for Yourself " <rusty

Health: Are Supplements Safe?

Sat, 13 May 2006 15:57:23 -0700

 

 

 

 

Saturday, May 13, 2006

 

Dear Newsletter rs,

 

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Yesterday on the Featured Health Story was a video interview

with two nutritionists discussing the safety of supplements. Who they

were doesn’t matter, at least to me. The discussion was the standard

blather focusing on the risks associated with supplements, mostly

herbs. It went something like this:

 

Supplement makers make wild claims, blah, blah, blah…few studies,

blah, blah…no regulation, drone…ephedra…must be careful about

vitamin E with Coumadin and aspirin, blah, blah, blah

 

It all boiled down to:

 

All this stuff might be dangerous

It not regulated by the FDA

It’s all probably worthless anyway

 

You’ve heard it all before. Let’s talk about each one of these,

specifically in relation to vitamin C:

 

Danger:

 

There has not been a reported case that I’ve heard of of anyone dying

of a vitamin C overdose. The closest thing to this is a patient in

Pauling and Cameron’s cancer study that died from an overload of

necrotic

tissue, probably as a result of the vitamin C therapy killing cancer

cells. This man was close to death at the time the C therapy started, but

he did take large doses of vitamin C and died, at least to some extent

as a result.

 

How about aspirin? According to J.S.Hochman, MD, 
Executive Director


National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain in an article NSAID

deaths (http://www.cpmission.com/main/NSAIDs2.html) these “safeâ€

over-the counter drugs account for more deaths than AIDS!

 

FDA ensures safety? How about prescription drugs? In my “In The

News†section, I discuss a study that shows that 100,000 people a

year die

of drug reactions while in the hospital

(http://www.cforyourself.com/Overview/In_The_News/in_the_news.html#drugdeaths)

 

Worthless? One of the nutritionists mentioned a site

www.supplementwatch.com On their vitamin C overview page

(http://www.supplementwatch.com/suplib/supplement.asp?DocId=1278 & templateId=100)

The standard fare is laid out about vitamin C and the common cold. Then

they discuss some studies using higher doses (now we’re talking!) The

most dramatic of these is discussed:

 

“In one large study (over 700 students), vitamin C (1000 mg per hour

for the first 6 hours followed by 3000 mg per day), reduced cold and

flu symptoms by 85%.â€

 

And if that weren’t good enough, how about:

 

“At least 3 controlled studies have shown an 80% reduction in the

incidence of pneumonia among vitamin C users.â€

 

All these discussions about supplements, the lack of regulation, the

discussion of interactions with drugs and the constant mouthing of “not

enough study data†infuriates me and ignores the 800-pound gorilla in

the room, which is “this stuff is safe and vital to healthâ€.

 

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Your comments are always encouraged and appreciated. This article is

also posted on C:The Blog

(http://www.cforyourself.com/Blog/blogger.html). Please post comments

for others to see there.

 

Here's to your health from Cforyourself,

 

Rusty

 

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