Vitamins and Teenagers: A Personal Statement

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, January 26, 2010

 

 

Vitamins and Teenagers: A Personal Statement

by Stephen H. Brown, PhD

 

 

(OMNS, Jan 26, 2010) In our house, vitamin supplements sit on the counter

in open bowls like nuts, dried fruits, or jelly beans.

 

 

Colds, respiratory illnesses, intestinal viruses, mono, and other

infectious diseases are constantly present in American schools. In response, my

teenage kids have placed four bowls on the kitchen counter - a large one in

the middle full of vitamin C surrounded by three smaller bowls of niacin,

vitamin D, and thiamine tablets. They help themselves to the vitamins when

they feel the need, and many of their friends have adopted the idea as well.

Regularly, the kids report that the vitamins actually work. The most

frequent comments are, " Wow, I can breath through my nose again! " , and " I was

sure

I was getting sick yesterday but I feel fine today. "

 

 

How did this start? My father introduced me to vitamin C as a teenager and

I was further inspired by Linus Pauling's " How to Live Longer and Feel

Better. " (1) In order to safely raise my kids on extra vitamins with maximum

effectiveness, I started actively researching orthomolecular medicine. As a

result, I advised my teenage children to focus on responsive dosing of four

vitamins that are underrepresented in modern diets. I provided the

following suggested daily doses as a starting point:

 

 

6000 mg of vitamin C

4000 IU of vitamin D

200 mg of thiamine

250 mg of time-release niacin

 

 

There is an obvious association between vitamin intake and poor health.

Teenagers can understand this. Some might think that it is not good parenting

to let teens have unfettered access to nutrients. We need to constantly

remember that these and other vitamins are non-prescription for a reason. (2)

As previous Orthomolecular Medicine News Service articles have pointed out

(3), vitamins are remarkably safe. They are far better then sugary candy,

fast foods loaded with sodium and fat, or caffeine-laced soft drinks.

 

 

Vitamin supplements have been widely available for only a few decades. For

the first time, families have the ability to independently control intakes

of essential nutrients. A very large amount of research has repeatedly

shown that proactively controlling micro-nutrients is necessary to optimize

health.

 

 

Easy access, peer acceptance, and occasional obvious usefulness, in that

order, appear to me to be important motivators for teenagers. I am hopeful

that my kids are more sensitive to their own health and the health of their

friends, and are looking for an association between supplement use and

improved health.

 

The kids know I'm the family " expert " on vitamins and I have occasional in

depth conversations. I rarely maintain their interest. Vitamins have not,

in my opinion, taken health care's center stage because this theory is not

particularly exciting. But you can prove it works by giving it a fair

trial.

 

 

The vitamin revolution is about behavior. I don't care why the kids take

vitamins B1, B3, C, and D. I just care that they take them, and stay well as

a result. Watching my children and their friends independently control

their vitamin intake has been a turning point for me. I believe that my kids

are ordinary kids and that most kids will respond similarly.

 

 

Media scare stories aside, the overwhelming scientific evidence is that we

are living in a time of epidemic vitamin deficiency. Supplements correct

that when food groups eating does not or can not. Deficiency of just these

four vitamins is often responsible for the multitude of disorders that

qualify children for special education and asthma medication. Later in life,

inadequate vitamin intake clearly contributes to heart disease, cancer,

diabetes, excessive dental cavities, anorexia, depression, dementia, and sleep

disorders. Persons wishing to confirm or question this statement are

encouraged to look at the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service archive, freely

accessible at _http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml) .

 

 

With the stakes so high, all methods of increasing consumption of these

four vitamins are worth consideration. My kids have definitely benefited from

supplemental vitamins. I'm hopeful that other parents will find this

simple option equally useful.

 

 

(Stephen H. Brown received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale. He has worked

for industry in the field of heterogeneous catalysis since 1988 and has 80

patents. Dr. Brown has been blogging at _www.cforyourself.com_

(http://www.cforyourself.com) since 2006, and contributing to the

Orthomolecular

Medicine News Service since 2007.)

 

 

References:

 

(1) Reviewed at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/livelonger.html_

(http://www.doctoryourself.com/livelonger.html) .

 

(2) Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin

SL. 2008 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control

Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS): 26th Annual Report. Clinical

Toxicology (2009). 47, 911-1084. The full text article is available for free

download at _http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/Portals/0/2008annualreport.pdf_

(http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/Portals/0/2008annualreport.pdf) . Vitamins statistics

are

found in Table 22B, journal pages 1052-3. Minerals, herbs, amino acids and

other supplements are in the same table, pages 1047-8.

 

(3) More than 75 OMNS news releases are available at

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml)

 

 

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

 

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight

illness.

For more information: _http://www.orthomolecular.org_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org)

 

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and

non-commercial informational resource.

 

 

Editorial Review Board:

 

Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (Canada)

Damien Downing, M.D. (United Kingdom)

Michael Gonzalez, D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)

Steve Hickey, Ph.D. (United Kingdom) J

ames A. Jackson, PhD (USA)

Bo H. Jonsson, MD, Ph.D (Sweden)

Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)

Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)

Erik Paterson, M.D. (Canada)

Gert E. Shuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)

 

 

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA),

Editor and contact person.

Email: _omns_ (omns)

 

 

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