• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Health Risks Induced By Taking Vitamins & Dietary Supplements

One of the dogwalkers was definitely starting with a cold yesterday, y'know, a bit of hoarseness, a dry throat...
He reckoned he'd 'sweat it out' with a run later on. 'We'll see', I thought. ;)
 
Had another 50 ug today: up to 4 sniffs.

However I'm still at work, this is not Man-flu!
 
I have been taking cod liver oil capsules (Vitamin D and Omega 3 fatty acids from a natural source) for more than three years and I haven't had a single cold or bout of the flu since.

I did experience sinus trouble two years ago but that was likely brought about by a general deterioration of my physical condition caused by Crestor, an anti-cholesterol statin that was prescribed by my doctor to reduce my blood cholesterol level and that turned out to be disastrous for my bones, muscle tone, mood, endurance, sexual prowess and general health, besides causing a lack of coordination that made me fall on the ice and break every bone in my left arm in December 2006.

Further study of the question has led me to believe that most of what we read about cholesterol (good or bad) is false, that most blood vessel clogging and damage is caused by man-made trans fats (Crisco, oxygenated vegetable oils), not cholesterol intake, that no one has ever added a single day to their life by reducing their blood cholesterol level by any means and that statins have caused more deaths than mad cow disease. I stopped taking Crestor after six months, joined a gym and have never felt better.
 
Exercise is certainly a great help in staying healthy - much better than dieting or other fads.

disastrous for my bones, muscle tone, mood, endurance, sexual prowess and general health, besides causing a lack of coordination that made me fall on the ice and break every bone in my left arm in December 2006.

You put up with all that AND the 'sexual prowess' problem? :lol:
 
escargot1 said:
disastrous for my bones, muscle tone, mood, endurance, sexual prowess and general health, besides causing a lack of coordination that made me fall on the ice and break every bone in my left arm in December 2006.

You put up with all that AND the 'sexual prowess' problem? :lol:

My doctor had prescribed Crestor after painting a dire picture of what would happen to me if my blood cholesterol stayed as high as an Eskimo's. (Eskimos - who eat mostly seal blubber - never die of heart disease, by the way.) At that time, I thought the doctor knew more than I did. I was wrong.
 
So...how's the old sexual prowess these days? :D
 
I take 1-a-day multivitamin tablets. I haven't a clue whether or not they really prevent colds or have any other health benefit - they do however enable me to say "yes" without lying when my Mother asks me if I'm still taking them.
 
Vitamins linked with higher death risk in older women
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15238610
By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News

A healthy diet should provide enough nutrients without the need for supplements, experts advise
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories

Pale people 'need more vitamin D'
Vitamin A 'could save children'
Denmark: Marmite could be illegal
When it comes to vitamins, it appears you could have too much of a good thing, say researchers who report a link between their use and higher death rates among older women.

Experts have suspected for some time that supplements may only be beneficial if a person is deficient in a nutrient.

And excess may even harm, as the study in Archives of Internal Medicine finds.

All of the women, in their 50s and 60s, were generally well nourished yet many had decided to take supplements.

Multivitamins, folic acid, vitamin B6, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron in particular appeared to increase mortality risk.

The researchers believe consumers are buying supplements with no evidence that they will provide any benefit.

Harms v gains
Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

Based on existing evidence, we see little justification for the general and widespread use of dietary supplements”

The study authors
They are quick to stress that their study relied on the 38,000 US women who took part in it recalling what vitamins and minerals they had taken over the previous two decades.

And it is difficult to control for all other factors, like general physical health, that might have influenced the findings.

But they say their findings suggest that supplements should only be used if there is a strong medically-based cause for doing so because of the potential to cause harm.

"Based on existing evidence, we see little justification for the general and widespread use of dietary supplements," Dr Jaakko Mursu of the University of Eastern Finland and his research colleagues said.

Less is more
In the study, iron tablets were strongly linked with a small (2.4%) increased death risk, as were many other supplements. The link with iron was dose-dependent, meaning the more of it the individual took, the higher their risk was.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

Too much can be toxic and it is easy to inadvertently take more than the recommended daily amount”

Helen Bond
British Dietetic Association
Conversely, calcium supplements appeared to reduce death risk. However, the researchers say this finding needs more investigation and they do not recommend that people take calcium unless advised to by a doctor in order to treat a deficiency.

Drs Christian Gluud and Goran Bjelakovic, who review research for the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to evaluate best evidence, said: "We think the paradigm 'The more the better' is wrong."

They say dietary supplementation has shifted from preventing deficiency to trying to promote wellness and prevent diseases, and caution: "We believe that for all micronutrients, risks are associated with insufficient and too-large intake."

Helen Bond of the British Dietetic Association said some people, like the elderly, might need to take certain supplements. For example, vitamin D is recommended for people over the age of 65.

But she said that generally, people should be able to get all the vitamins and minerals they needed from a healthy, balanced diet.

She said some took supplements as an insurance policy, wrongly assuming that they could do no harm. "But too much can be toxic and it is easy to inadvertently take more than the recommended daily amount."
 
Doubt cast on vitamin D's role against disease
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25234313

Vitamin D supplements are recommended for young children and the elderly

Scientists have cast doubt on the value of vitamin D supplements to protect against diseases such as cancers, diabetes and dementia.

Writing in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, French researchers suggest low vitamin D levels do not cause ill health, although they did not look at bone diseases.

More clinical trials on non-skeletal diseases are needed, they say.

Vitamin D supplements are recommended for certain groups.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

What this suggests is that decreases in vitamin D levels are a marker of deteriorating health. ”

Prof Philippe Autier
International Prevention Research Institute
Recent evidence has shown it may also have a role to play in preventing non-bone-related diseases such as Parkinson's, dementia, cancers and inflammatory diseases.

Prof Philippe Autier, from the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, carried out a review of data from 290 prospective observational studies and 172 randomised trials looking at the effects of vitamin D levels on health outcomes, excluding bone health, up to December 2012.

'Discrepancy'
A large number of the observational studies suggested that there were benefits from high vitamin D - that it could reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by up to 58%, diabetes by up to 38% and colorectal cancer by up to 33%.

But the results of the clinical trials - where participants were given vitamin D supplements - found no reduction in risk, even in people who started out with low vitamin D levels.

And a further analysis of recent randomised trials found no positive effect of vitamin D supplements on diseases occurring.

Prof Autier said: "What this discrepancy suggests is that decreases in vitamin D levels are a marker of deteriorating health.

Continue reading the main story
What is a vitamin D deficiency?

A vitamin D level less than 25nmol/L in the blood is a deficiency, but experts increasingly believe that lower than 60nmol/L can also be damaging to health.

Most people get enough vitamin D by being exposed to the sun for 10 to 15 minutes a day.

A small amount of vitamin D also comes from foods such as oily fish and dairy products.

Recently England's chief medical officer said free vitamins should be given to all young children because more and more of them were being diagnosed with the bone disease rickets, lack of calcium and other bone and muscle diseases.

"Ageing and inflammatory processes involved in disease occurrence... reduce vitamin D concentrations, which would explain why vitamin D deficiency is reported in a wide range of disorders."

High risk
In the UK, vitamin D supplements are recommended for groups at higher risk of deficiency, including all pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under five years old, people aged over 65, and people at risk of not getting enough exposure to sunlight.

People with dark skin, such as people of African-Caribbean and South Asian origin, and people who wear full-body coverings, as well as pale-skinned people are also known to be at higher risk.

In recent years, there has been a four-fold increase in admissions to UK hospital with rickets - a disease that causes bones to become soft and deformed.

Dr Colin Michie, consultant senior lecturer in paediatrics and chair of the nutrition committee at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the review had little to contribute to the problem in the UK because it excluded the measurement of bone health.

"It has been known for almost a century that vitamin D supplements given to those with deficient vitamin D levels results in improved bone health, preventing hypocalcemic seizure and rickets."

He added that it was important to provide appropriate supplements, such as vitamin D, to improve bone health.

More research
Peter Selby, consultant physician and honorary professor of metabolic bone disease at Manchester Royal Infirmary, said the French review was limited.

"It could very well be that the apparent negative results of this study have been obtained simply because they have not been looking at people with sufficient degree of vitamin D insufficiency to have any meaningful biological effect."

But he said the authors were right to say that more interventional research looking at disease outcomes was necessary.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), an independent group of scientific experts who advise the government on nutrition, is currently reviewing the dietary recommendations for vitamin D for all population groups in the UK.

Their report on vitamin D is expected to go out for public consultation in 2014.
 
A balanced diet should provide as much vitamins as we need.
 
Not vitamin D, apparently. I have been advised to take vitamin D supplements (not to prevent cancer or dementia or disease, but because I'm low in vitamin D) because the only other way to get my levels up would be to get more sun, and I have an ongoing issue with Basal Cell Carcinoma due to my coloration.

I mentioned the fact that I drank less milk these days, and both my GP and nutritionist told me that dietary sources are of minimal effect, and if I need to raise my vitamin D levels, I need to take a supplement (which contains significantly more than dairy products).
 
Ok, i'll add the caveat, a healthy person with no aggrivating medical conditions should get enough vitamins from a healthy diet and getting outdoors now and again.
 
I've read that people in northern Britain and especially Scotland might not see enough sunshine to enable them to produce their own vitamin D.
 
I have to take 5mg of folic Acid once a week, I can't afford to pay for the prescription only 5mg tablets so I buy the cheap 400 microgram ones and take 12 at once, I feel like a maraca.
 
But Vitamin E has its uses.

Vitamin E 'beneficial' in dementia
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25552768

Vitamin E is found in foods such as eggs, nuts and oils

A daily dose of vitamin E could help people with dementia, research suggests.

A study in the journal JAMA found people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease on high doses of vitamin E had a slower rate of decline than those given a dummy pill.

They were able to carry out everyday tasks for longer and needed less help from carers, say US researchers.

The Alzheimer's Society said the dosage was very high and might not be safe.

In the study, 613 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease received either a daily dose of vitamin E, a dementia drug treatment known as memantine, a combination of vitamin E and memantine, or placebo.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

It is vitally important that people always seek advice from their doctor before considering taking supplements”

Dr Doug Brown
Director of research and development at the Alzheimer's Society
Changes in their ability to carry out everyday tasks - such as washing or dressing - were measured over an average of two years.

The study found participants receiving vitamin E had slower functional decline than those receiving placebo, with the annual rate of decline reduced by 19%.

Those on vitamin E (also known as alpha tocopherol) also needed less help from carers.

"These findings suggest that alpha tocopherol is beneficial in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease by slowing functional decline and decreasing caregiver burden," said a team led by Dr Maurice Dysken of Minneapolis VA Health Care System.

Commenting on the study, Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer's Society, said treatments which can help people with dementia carry out everyday tasks are key to enabling those with the condition to live well for as long as possible.

But he said more research was needed to see if vitamin E really does have benefits for people with dementia, and whether it would be safe to be taking such a high dose on a daily basis.

'Talk to GP'
"It is vitally important that people always seek advice from their doctor before considering taking supplements," he said.

"In this instance, the dosage of vitamin E taken by participants was much higher than the recommended daily allowance and was at a level that could be significantly harmful for some."

Dr Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said the trial suggested vitamin E may modestly slow the decline in day-to-day functioning in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, but without having an effect on memory and thinking skills.

He said it was too early to recommend vitamin E as a treatment.

"Until the findings from this trial have been replicated, we would not encourage people to take high doses of vitamin E supplements to try to prevent or treat Alzheimer's," he added.

"If people are concerned about their vitamin intake or diet, they should talk to their GP."
 
Feature: Revealing the hidden dangers of dietary supplement

... Since 2005, when he found his patients were being sickened by a Brazilian weight loss supplement containing anti-depressants and thyroid hormones, Cohen has become something of a mix of Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes in the supplement world. With chemist colleagues in the United States, Brazil, and Europe, he hunts for drugs illegally buried in supplements. Then he goes public. His unorthodox public relations strategy is to publish research fast in low-profile, specialty journals, reach out to a network of hand-picked journalists, and, he hopes, ultimately inspire new regulations. He has virtually no funding, nor does he aspire to secure any. “I have total freedom,” he says. So far, he and his collaborators have identified three hidden stimulant drugs in supplements.

Cohen’s discoveries highlight a broader problem, he and others contend: a dys-functional system for policing dietary supplements. “It comes to this,” says Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who published a book called Do You Believe in Magic? about alternative medicine. “Essentially a private citizen [is] doing the testing to make sure what’s on the label is in the bottle. … It’s absurd.”

But that private citizen is having an impact. FDA actions have cited Cohen’s work or followed his publications, as the DMBA warnings did. He has also caught the attention of supplement companies, including in a lawsuit filed against him in April seeking $200 million in damages. “Everything I write gets such scrutiny” that it creates tremendous pressure, he says. “I want our science to 
be bulletproof.”

http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2015/08/feature-revealing-hidden-dangers-dietary-supplements
 
This UK man massively overdosed on vitamin supplements (allegedly on the advice of a "nutritional therapist") and suffered severe health complications.
Man Vomits For Months After Taking Vitamin D at Almost 400x Daily Recommended Dose

Doctors have issued a warning that not only is it entirely possible to overdose on vitamin D, it's also incredibly dangerous, after a man in the UK was hospitalized as a result of taking almost 400 times the daily recommended vitamin D.

While studies have hinted at the benefits of healthy levels of vitamin D throughout the pandemic, the reality is that 'hypervitaminosis D', or vitamin D intoxication, is on the rise. And it's not something to be taken lightly.

"Globally, there is a growing trend of hypervitaminosis D, a clinical condition characterized by elevated serum vitamin D3 levels," the authors of the new case study in BMJ Case Reports write.

"Given its slow turnover (half-life of approximately 2 months), during which vitamin D toxicity develops, symptoms can last for several weeks."

In the latest case study, the doctors describe a middle-aged man in the UK who was hospitalized after going to his doctor for recurrent vomiting, nausea, leg cramps, tinnitus, abdominal pain, dry mouth, increased thirst, and diarrhea.

His symptoms had lasted for almost three months and he'd lost 28 pounds (12.7 kg) by the time he was seen.

Tellingly, the symptoms had started around one month after the man began an intensive vitamin regime on the advice of a nutritional therapist.

He was seeking out extra treatment after he'd previously suffered from multiple health issues including tuberculosis, a build-up of fluid on the brain, chronic sinusitis, bacterial meningitis, and an inner ear tumor.

On the basis of the nutritional therapist's advice he started taking more than 20 over-the-counter vitamin supplements containing a cocktail of potent molecules. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/man-ov...taking-almost-400x-recommended-vitamin-d-dose

PUBLISHED CASE REPORT: https://casereports.bmj.com/content/15/7/e250553
 
A "nutritional therapist", not a nutritionist ... I suspect this "therapist" wasn't exactly a board-certified and / or licensed professional.
I don't think 'nutritionist' is a protected term or a real thing either.
 
From my college health/science studies in college, water soluble vitamins C and B are not stored in the body and supposedly not dangerous.

Oil soluble vitamins A, E, D, and K are stored and can be dangerous when taken to much.

People need to be educated.

When it comes to herbs, eatable plants, and mushrooms I don’t know about these things.
 
I don't think 'nutritionist' is a protected term or a real thing either.

I think the standard is to have an academic qualification with the word nutrition in the title.

I have one friend with a degree in animal nutrition and physiology (I think); he isn't a vet, but most people would accept him as an animal nutritionist.
 
I think the standard is to have an academic qualification with the word nutrition in the title.

I have one friend with a degree in animal nutrition and physiology (I think); he isn't a vet, but most people would accept him as an animal nutritionist.
My point was that anyone (in the UK) can call themselves a 'nutritionist' whether they have qualifications or no.
 
My point was that anyone (in the UK) can call themselves a 'nutritionist' whether they have qualifications or no.


thumbnail


Doctor Gillian McKeith.

maximus otter
 
thumbnail


Doctor Gillian McKeith.

maximus otter
Ben Goldacre mentions her in "Bad Science". A lot.
Wiki: She is a member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, but this association runs no checks on the qualifications of its members; this allowed British physician Ben Goldacre to register his dead cat for the same membership held by McKeith.

On twitter:
"I am Ben Goldacre's dead cat Hettie. I am a certified professional member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants."
 
Back
Top