[lit-ideas] On nutritional supplements, from Bloomberg
- From: Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:29:12 -0700 (PDT)
It doesn't say it in this article, but iron acts as a pro-oxidant (you heard of
anti-oxidant); iron attracts the highly unstable oxygen molecule and rampages
it through cell walls (basically an organic (i.e., carbon based) version of
rust). Tumors love iron, they need it to grow (meat is loaded with highly
absorbable iron). (BTW, veganism for children needs to take into account the
extra protein requirements of growth, just thought I'd mention it.) Iron
is vital for carrying oxygen in the blood, we must have it, the problem is
when it becomes too much of a good thing. The other minerals I don't know the
pathway of offhand.
Regarding folic acid, it seems that when it was first supplemented the
presumption was that folic acid would be converted to folate in the body, the
form that appears in food. Instead, the body doesn't make the conversion and
folic acid appears to build up in tissues and nobody knows (as far as I know),
what happens with all this excess folic acid. Folic acid supplementation
began because it reduces neural tube defects (spina bifida, very devastating,
where the neural tube doesn't close in fetal development). This happens before
a woman knows she's pregnant, so widespread supplementation began I think
around 2004 in flour-based products. It reduced spina bifida incidence by 30%,
but for older people who don't need folic acid, eating supplemented breadstuffs
can be a potential problem. Because refined flour (i.e., white flour) is so
devoid of nutrients, its widespread use in the early 20th century resulted in
deficiency diseases like beriberi
and pellagra, so refined flour was supplemented with basically four nutrients
(iron, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin); now the total is five adding in the
folic acid. The rest of what is refined out (a myriad of phytonutrients) can't
be put back. That's why white flour doesn't compare to whole wheat (not wheat,
which is just white flour with caramel coloring, but whole wheat).
As far as vitamin E, there's no such thing as vitamin E. Vitamin E is at least
three vitamins, of which to date only one has been thought to be active (alpha
tocopherol), and that's what's in vitamin pills. It was thought to be a magic
bullet for heart disease for a while there but it backfired, no pun intended.
Supplementation took off in the 90's after supplements were deregulated
basically, and advertising began. Last point, vitamins are dirt cheap. That's
why manufacturers love them. It costs them nothing to add them to their
products while having another "benefit" to plug.
K (it still looks weird), that's it, here's the article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-10/vitamins-may-boost-death-risks-in-older-women-study-suggests.html
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