Goddess Inspired Jewelry, Folk Art & Gifts

PO Box 426

Riverdale, MD

20737-0426  USA

order@threegoddesses.com

The Real Deal on Vitamins

by Richard Laliberle, Organic Style  March 2005

Recent research shows that vitamins can stop stress and even help prevent cancer. But too high a dose can also hurt your health. Which vitamins do you really need? How much should you take? Our guide has the answers.

We work hard to squeeze exercise into our busy days, eat right, and avoid taking too many aspirins or other over-the counter painkillers—yet we feel perfectly safe popping lots of vitamin pills to help keep ourselves healthy. Maybe we shouldn't. Last fall, researchers at Johns Hopkins University concluded that regular high doses of vitamin E raise the risk of dying prematurely. Taking antioxidants to fight gastrointestinal cancer might do the same, according to a Danish study. Beta-carotene puts smokers at a higher risk for lung cancer and death, says other research.

None of this means that we should stop taking vitamins. "Vitamins and minerals are essential," according to James Penland, PhD, research psychologist at the usda Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. "You can't live without them. But there's an old saying that the poison is in the dose. At some point, any nutrient can be consumed at a level that's harmful." In the case of vitamin E, that point appears to be 400 international units (IU) per day—far lower than the megadoses previously thought to be safe but well above the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 22 IU.

The smart approach: Forget the idea that more is better, and limit yourself to a safe amount. For each nutrient, there's a healthy intake range between not enough and too much. To make it clear where to draw the danger line, the Institute of Medicine, which sets nutrient guidelines, now issues ULs (tolerable upper intake levels), which are the highest doses likely to pose no health risks.

Ideally, it's best to get your nutrients from whole foods, but since few of us eat a perfect diet, taking a daily multivitamin is a sensible way to make sure we meet basic nutritional needs. To help you figure all this out, we scoured the latest research and talked to top experts to find the most critical nutrients for a variety of conditions. Here's what—and how much—every woman needs to help prevent those conditions:

Colds
WHAT YOU NEED
Vitamin E. Despite all the hype about vitamin C over the years, studies have failed to prove that it's effective for fighting colds.

WHAT IT DOES
The cold virus may have finally met its match: Taking 200 IU per day of vitamin E cut the risk of catching a cold by 20 percent in a recent study of nursing-home residents by Tufts University. Vitamin E, an antioxidant, "helps reverse deficits in immune function that occur as you age," says study coauthor David Hamer, MD, adjunct associate professor of nutrition at Tufts' Jean Mayer usda Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. Other research suggests that no matter how old you are, getting too little E (along with selenium, another antioxidant) may make viruses more potent in your body.

AIM FOR
200 IU a day.

HOW TO GET IT
You probably get the RDA of 22 IU if you eat foods such as salad dressing; almonds and walnuts; leafy vegetables, like spinach; and whole grains. To make up the difference, you need a supplement.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
The upper limit for vitamin E is 1,500 IU far too high in light of the latest findings. Hamer advises taking no more than 200 IU daily.

Breast Cancer
WHAT YOU NEED
Folate

WHAT IT DOES
Also known as folic acid, this B vitamin is critical for healthy DNA; getting too little is thought to increase the chances of cancer. A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in June 2002 found that women who get larger amounts of folate have a lower risk of breast cancer than women who get less. That's especially true for those who drink moderate amounts of alcohol, which blocks folic acid from working with DNA.

AIM FOR
at least the RDA of 400 micrograms.

HOW TO GET IT
Folate is in asparagus, spinach, broccoli, black-eyed peas, and orange juice, as well as breads and cereals containing fortified grains or flour. A 3/4-cup serving of Total cereal, for example, meets the daily requirement. One cup of most other cereals provides at least a quarter of what you need. A supplement can give you the rest.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
the UL of 1,000 micrograms a day.

Stress
WHAT YOU NEED
Vitamin C

WHAT IT DOES
Got a make-or-break project coming up? High doses of vitamin C cause the body to secrete lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, according to research. In one study, people who took 3,000 milligrams of C a day felt less stressed and had lower blood pressure when faced with tasks such as public speaking and doing mental arithmetic.

AIM FOR
The RDA for vitamin C is only 75 milligrams for women and 90 milligrams for men; for stress Rx, take the megadoses used in the study.

HOW TO GET IT
Foods such as orange juice, broccoli, and red peppers provide the RDA; you'll need to get the rest from supplements. "Vitamin C has a very good safety profile at high doses," Guiltinan says. One reason: C is water-soluble, meaning your body excretes what it doesn't need.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
Research suggests that you can take doses as high as 3,000 milligrams without experiencing symptoms of toxicity, such as kidney stones. If a high dose causes cramping or diarrhea, cut back by 1,000 milligrams.

Fatigue
WHAT YOU NEED
Iron

WHAT IT DOES
Boost your energy level by pumping a little iron into your system. While it's widely known to help reverse the fatigue caused by anemia, iron can also energize women who don't have anemia, possibly by increasing the activity of enzymes that affect brain chemicals, according to a study published in 2003 in the British Medical Journal.

AIM FOR
18 milligrams a day if you're a woman of childbearing age, because you lose iron during your period. Postmenopausal women and men need eight milligrams.

HOW TO GET IT
Eat red meat, fish, and poultry, which contain the form of iron that's most easily absorbed, as well as spinach and legumes. Most of us get all the iron we need from food, but premenopausal women should take a multivitamin for insurance.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
the UL of 45 milligrams. High doses promote inflammatory problems like arthritis and may cause liver damage.

Heart Disease
WHAT YOU NEED
B-vitamin complex

WHAT IT DOES
Keep your heart healthy with the Bs, which include folate and vitamins B6 and B12. They help lower blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that is thought to promote atherosclerosis.

AIM FOR
no more of the Bs than the recommended daily allowance: 400 micrograms of folic acid, 1.3 to 1.7 milligrams of vitamin B6, and 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12.

HOW TO GET IT
Meat, poultry, and fish are good bets because they contain both B6 and B12. But make sure to take your daily multivitamin tooit contains a form of B12 that's easier to absorb than the kind found in food.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
the UL for B6, 100 milligrams (extremely high doses of B6 are known to cause nerve damage). There's not yet a UL for B12. Best strategy for now: Stick to the RDA.

Poor Sleep
WHAT YOU NEED
Magnesium

WHAT IT DOES
This mineral helps put you to sleep, literally. Researchers at the usda found that getting insufficient magnesium changes electrical activity in the brain, and those anomalies may interfere with rest. Other studies show that lack of magnesium may disrupt normal sleep stages or contribute to such sleep disorders as restless leg syndrome.

AIM FOR
the RDA, which is 320 milligrams for women and 420 milligrams for men.

HOW TO GET IT
Eat foods such as spinach, broccoli, legumes, and whole-wheat bread, and take a multivitamin. Get as much as you want from food; supplements can cause diarrhea. The UL for supplements is 350 milligrams.

Depression
WHAT YOU NEED
Folate

WHAT IT DOES
Call it the happiness pill. This B vitamin helps the brain use mood-regulating chemicals, such as serotonin and dopamine. Researchers at Tufts University found that people with a history of depression have lower concentrations of folate in their blood than people who have never been depressed.

AIM FOR
the RDA of 400 micrograms.

HOW TO GET IT
Enriched grains in bread, pasta, and breakfast cereal add 80 to 200 micrograms a day to the average diet. Take a supplement to get the full RDA some research suggests it may boost the performance of anti-depressants. In the Tufts study, folate levels stayed low even when depression lifted, suggesting that you should continue supplements for as long as a year afterward.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
1,000 micrograms of folate.

Asthma
WHAT YOU NEED
Selenium

WHAT IT DOES
This mineral will help you breathe easier: In a British study, asthma was less common in adults who had higher intakes of selenium.

AIM FOR
The RDA is 55 micrograms, though people in the study took as much as 97 micrograms.

HOW TO GET IT
Selenium is in the soil in which our vegetables and grains are grown. But soil varies widely in mineral content, so it's a good idea to take a supplement that provides the RDA. Produce grown in areas with poor air quality may contain little selenium. That's because ions produced by burning fossil fuels make the soil more acidic, and that in turn keeps plants from drawing selenium from it.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
the UL of 400 micrograms.

Colon Cancer
WHAT YOU NEED
Vitamin D

WHAT IT DOES
Got milk? It contains vitamin D, which is associated with a lower risk of the type of polyp that can lead to colon cancer. Vitamin D is thought to control the proliferation and growth of cells in the gut, says David Lieberman, MD, chief of gastroenterology at Portland VA Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University and the lead author of a study on colon cancer. "If cells don't turn over as fast, you may be less likely to have defects or mutations in the colon," he says.

AIM FOR
People who got more than 645 IU of vitamin D a day in the study had significantly fewer polyps the growths that can turn cancerous.

HOW TO GET IT
Many of us don't get enough vitamin D from foods such as fortified milk, so you probably need a supplement, especially if you can't tolerate dairy foods.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
the UL of 2,000 IU.

What No One Ever Tells You About Vitamins
Nutritional supplements are largely unregulated. When it comes to safety and quality, "you're trusting the manufacturer completely," says Tod Cooperman, MD, president and founder of the supplement-rating Web site consumer lab.com. All of which makes us wonder:

Why do vitamins smell so weird? Blame the natural aroma of degrading B vitamins, which contain sulfur compounds that make them slightly pungent even while they're still good, says William Obermeyer, PhD, consumer lab.com's vice president for research.

Do vitamins go bad on the expiration date? It's wise to trust the dates, which are not required but tend to be listed by more reputable manufacturers, Cooperman says. For freshness, look for a date that's at least nine months in the future.

What's in vitamins besides vitamins? Pills contain extras such as coatings, to prevent degradation, and "flow agents," which make contents easier to handle during manufacturing. None pose a problem unless you have a rare allergy to one of them, Obermeyer says.

Are some brands better than others? Definitely. That's why Cooperman began rating them. There are no guarantees, but the usp seal, from U.S. Pharmacopeia (which sets manufacturing standards), and the consumerlab.com seal are good signs. No brand is problem-free, including store brands from big-name pharmacy chains. One standout is Wal-Mart's Spring Valley line, whose products are often above average, Cooperman says.

Do kids need to take vitamins? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children who eat a well-balanced diet don't need supplements. The exceptions: kids who have poor appetites or those whose diets are erratic. The AAP concedes that children's multivitamins are generally safe, so your decision should not be too fraught. To prevent overdosing, give children under age four half a pill, Cooperman advises.

Are children's chewable vitamins loaded with sugar? Most contain small amounts of sugar or artificial sweetener for taste, but not enough to cause a child health problems, Cooperman says. A bigger concern is overdosing on candy like pills; always keep vitamins out of the reach of children.