Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

Back2N8ture — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:26:25 GMT

Health only comes from healthful living. Whole foods are the most healthy foods. Refined foods are the most unhealthy. The more refined the more unhealthy. You will often hear these buzz phrases like "Made from whole foods" or "Whole food supplement". These are just marketing tactics to get you to buy the product.

Why not eat the whole food, it's healthier. Why supplement with a refined food?

If you eat a healthy diet there should be no need for supplementation. In fact supplementation can not make up for unhealthy eating. All vitamins, minerals, enzymes, coenzymes, phytonutrients all work synergistically together in your body. For example, if Vitamin B6 needs 5 other vitamins and 6 other minerals to work effectively in the body, we are doing ourselves a disservice by supplementing vitamin B6 without providing all of the other nutrients. The whole idea of supplemeting is flawed. First we all try and self diagnose what we are deficient in. Then we need to figure out how much to take and for how long. It's impossible. There are millions of different nutrients. How are we supposed to keep track? And how do we know that if we take one vitamin/mineral etc. supplement, it won't leave us deficient in another vitamin/mineral? We aren't designed to supplement, We are designed to eat whole foods the way nature designed them. Trust in nature, it has been around longer than any other doctor, supplement manufacturer, nutritionist.

Eat whole foods people and the rest will take care of itself.

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

mohammad kazemi — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:14:14 GMT

Can anybody tell me where uncle RUSS is ? i miss his comments

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

golfizlife — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:55:03 GMT

The Bottom Line: Over 90% of us DO NOT eat a FULL balanced diet EVERY DAY! Even Dr. Mercola takes supplements every day. Sure it is difficult to weed out the inferior supplements and sure we must do our homework...but ultimately we need to know if even the GOOD ones are working. That is why my research and homework brought me to a product that stands heads and shoulders above the rest. This company also has developed an Antioxidant Bio Scanner that can non-invasively measure your carotenoid antioxidant network (90 second low level light scan on your palm)...so now there is an actual way to measure and score your fruit/vegetable/supplement diet to see if it is working and if you are actually staying or getting healthy. No joke...this is all backed by science with approvals from BSCG, NSF an ConsumerLab.

Contact me at BillHealth@aol.com and I can direct you to the facts on this.

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

pnorris_203 — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:59:58 GMT

Health Man....I provided <article citing scientific studies> .....I do not sell anything nor do I use the company's supplements.....the article cites "Immunology" and "International Journal of Immunopharmacol" ...2 somewhat trusted publications....if you've got any studies to the contrary, bring 'em on......otherwise stop your illogical speculation....

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

pnorris_203 — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:21:30 GMT

More junk science.....and ShadowMyth is correct about the dangers of excipients such as magnesium stearate.....sorry, Health Man.....do your homework.....FYI: a worthwhile article citing scientific studies radicalhealth.com/.../2006-07-05:excipients.txt

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

pnorris_203 — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:14:39 GMT

More junk science and ShadowMyth is correct about the dangers of excipients such as magnesium stearate....sorry, Health Man......do your home work....FYI:

Excipients are substances which ease the process of packaging.

For example, putting product in a capsule cost twice what pressing a caplet costs. Using a low quality, solvent rich Vege capsule costs twice what a gelatin capsule costs. Using a high quality, clean Vege capsule cost twice what a solvent rich Vege capsule costs.

Then there's the process of actually flowing product into capsules. This is incredibly complex, as many products will jam up encapsulators unless some form of flowing agent is used.

Most companies use dangerous, low quality substances like Stearates.

Study #1: Magnesium Stearate Destroys T-cells

One of the clearest statements about Magnesium Stearate comes from the article:

"Molecular basis for the immunosuppressive action of steric acid (magnesium stearate) on T-cells"

In "Immunology", July 1990:

"The ultimate effect of the observed changes in the membrane composition of the steric acid (18:0) treated T-cells lead to the T-cell membrane collapse and cell death."

This study used the same form of Magnesium Stearate which is commonly used in nutritional supplements.

Also the study cites:

"The collapse of membrane integrity was found to be time and dose dependent."

There are several contributing factors here:

1) How much magnesium stearate is ingested at once, which increases when multiple supplements are taken together.

2) How frequently supplements are taken. (Time between doses.)

3) How rapidly a body can expel magnesium stearate.

This seems to indicate, least effects when supplement quantities and frequency of ingestion is reduced. So taking as few pills as possible, as infrequently as possible seems to be best.

Study #2: Inhibition of Primary Antibody Responses

From the article:

"Identification of T-helper cells as the target of stearic acid inhibition in primary antibody responses in vitro"

In "International Journal of Immunopharmacol" here's another gem:

"Collectively, these findings implicate T-helper cells as the principle target of 18:0-inhibition of primary antibody responses in vitro, possibly as a result of the inability of T-helper cells to avoid an over accumulation of stearic acid in their membrane phospholipids."

It appears steric acid loads or accumulates in T-cell membranes and eventually build to a point where the membrane will no longer hold and collapses, killing the cell.

Somewhat like using the wrong type of glue to hold two surfaces together. This may work in the short run and eventually, the glue shears away and the two surfaces separate.

Study #3: DNA Integrity Dependent

From the article:

"Inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation by free fatty acids. II. Toxicity of stearic acid towards phytohaemagglutinin activated cells."

In "Immunology" Nov 1984:

"...inhibitory effects of stearic acid (18:0) on [3H] thymidine uptake can be correlated with changes in cellular DNA content.

Excipients are bad enough by themselves. Adding in synthetic, non live-source nutrients like B-12 and the effects of excipients seem to accelerate and amplify.

Unfortunately, one of the main reasons may be mass-action absorption.

In other words, when pristine, high quality nutrients required by cells are uptaken, excipients are uptaken too.

This is similar to pouring gasoline on skin. The body's immediate action is to close up pores and block absorption. Small amounts of gasoline in air, water and food can be carried into cells.

So the worst case scenario is high quality nutrients packaged with excipients, where cells uptake both the nutrients and the excipients, somewhat like injecting a street drug, where all physical guards and protection mechanisms are defeated or circumvented.

Best to throw your excipient laden supplements on your garden…..

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

joanna507 — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:10:34 GMT

Carol M can you elaborate? I've just found out that Standard Process does not service Canada and I'm interested in more quality in my supplements Thanks!

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

chubby — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:56:34 GMT

So --- whats the bottom line of all this JAWBONING ? ---- that too many of us are recovering from being on the STANDARD AMERICAN DIET TOO LONG ?---- or that we want a MAGIC PILL --- FROM THE HEALTH FOOD STORE to cure our ills ? --- or is it that we are finnaly taking RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR OWN HEALTH --- after being BRAINWASHED for years to PUT IT IN THE HANDS OF AMA EXPERTS ? ------- or is it perhaps exposing a VITAL MISSING LINK IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ? ------- A NEED FOR A AN ONGOING CLASS IN ALL 4 YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL ON THE MARVELOUSLY DESIGNED HUMAN BODY WITH ITS HIGHLY COMPLEX AND INTER - RELATED SYSTEMS --- AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND NEED FOR PROPER NUTRITION --- WITH RELATED STUDIES ABOUT SOIL AND ORGANIC FARMING PRACTICES --- AND HOW THE ONLY REAL HEALTH IINSURANCE EACH OF US WILL EVER HAVE --- IS MAINTAING OUR GOOD HEALTH ---- FROM DAY ONE

WOULDNT BIG PHARMA AND THE AMA JUST LOVE THAT ONE ? CHUBBY

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

superprojector — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:52:20 GMT

Well indeed, natural fresh food is the best ticket for health and longevity however do not believe in the negative role of natural supplements ...This is the pharmaceutical industry paying money to come out with research that puts vitamines down>

Why would anybody support such a research when there is so much illness from unknown causes?

Why are they carrying 67 studies on the influence of vitamines and supplements in our lives?

Isn't there much more harmful things to investigate?

For God's sake isn't this obvious?

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

ShadowMyth — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:33:36 GMT

You also need to make sure there is no magnesium stearate in the product, as it is toxic and kills T-cells. Almost all supplements on the shelf contain it, and usually it is only online you can find them without it. I capsule my own supplements whenever possible, to avoid fillers and garbage supplement companies add in.

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

Dr Rik — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:48:15 GMT

There have been research articles, magazines and books showing the benefits of supplementation for decades and generations. One article and now, all of the sudden, it's all poison.

Knock, knock, anybody home upstairs?

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

Croft Woodruff — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:34:12 GMT

A CBCTV News World Documentary - Nature of Things April/10/08 'Living forever: the longevity revolution' showed mice, genetically engineered to have a short life span, fed a caramel colored 'elixir' made up from a variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acid and essential fatty acid supplements. lived 30 percent longer than controls fed an un-supplemented diet. The long lived were very healthy, highly intelligent, with rich coats and quite virile!

In 1981, the Federation Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences published a landmark study on the positive effect of high dosages of vitamins A, C, E, B complex and minerals had on children who were brain damaged and on anti-seizure meds or had Down Syndrome. The B vitamins alone were as much as 100 times the potency one might find in the cheapest multiple vitamin available. Space does not permit to list the very significant potency of vitamins A, C and E and the minerals. Children on this regimen had no more seizures and no need for anti seizure drugs and there was no toxicity. The Down children, who were also given thyroid extract, had significant increases in their IQ. There was no toxicity observed.

40 years ago Health Canada arbitrarily decided that Vitamin A (retinol) from fish liver oil was toxic and reduced the amount available without a prescription to 10,000 International Units (IU).This was in spite of the fact that 25,000 IU's were available over the counter in the United States. What makes Vitamin A more toxic in Canada than in the US?

3.5 to 4.5 ounces of fried beef liver contains 35,000 to 45,000 IU's of Vitamin A. If one follows the arbitrary reasoning of research challenged health bureaucrats - liver should be available by prescription only and butchers who sell liver should be charged with practicing medicine without a license.

My grandnephew at age 3 swallowed 1 million IU of vitamin A and 40 thousand IU of D-3 from fish liver oil at once. No toxicity. Alive & well & now 22 years old.

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

Albro — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:23:38 GMT

Aside from the HIGH cost of the Infinity 2, reading the contents and the amount of each nutrient the pill contains, I'll not be buying this product. Sure, they sound very good, but what are you supposed to do to get the REST of the MDR the pill is very short of for each of the ingredients? We mostly take supplements because our main intake is from poor nutritional habits and such. So, using their product, at a HIGH cost will still have me lacking and forced to make it up with what?, another multi pill, or double the dose of the Infinity 2 to make up the shortfall, thus forced to pay TWCE the already HIGH cost? Just does not compute.

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

USMom68 — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:51:23 GMT

Food combining is the key to getting the most nutrients out of your food. Hey. I've tried every whole food vitamin, mineral or amino acid there is (exaggerated of course). However, since my body doesn't digest food well in the first place (celiac sprue and pernicious anemia), I HAVE TO rely on properly combining food so that I don't starve to death (and that's not a joke). I can control my PH balance and acid production by the food I eat and that's pretty remarkable. I can eat gluten and don't take B12 injections.

I don't currently take vitamins, but do when I'm stressed or recovering from an illness. I listen when my body is saying that it needs the extra nutrients for my body to properly heal and rebuild. However, I do not believe the body needs a constant supply of extra nutrients every single day (unless there is a healing crisis). Vitamins and minerals have to be taken in a balanced format (for you) and no "recommended dosage" on a bottle is going to be precisly accurate for you.

We all need to get back to the basics. Educate yourself and LISTEN to your body. It tells you what it needs, you just need to listen. Don't get me wrong...my body has told me it needs vitamins or minerals and when I do, they are only whole food concentated vitamins. Period. That just makes common sense.

re: Can Vitamins Shorten Your Life?

fingurl — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:34:42 GMT

I was unknowingly taking a multi-vitamin that contained sodium laurel sulfate. Note "was". It is imperative that we read the ingredients before buying.