Hi SW,
LOL, before I clicked on this thread I thought it was SPAM.
Here are some tidbits that you might enjoy..
If you smoke, or have a family history of lung cancer, you may want to forego supplementing your diet with Vitamin A, or its beta-Carotene precursors. From the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements:
In the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene (ATBC) Cancer Prevention Study, more than 29,000 men who regularly smoked cigarettes were randomized to receive 20 mg beta-carotene alone, 50 mg alpha-tocopherol alone, supplements of both, or aplacebo for 5 to 8 years. Incidence of lung cancer was 18% higher among men who took the beta-carotene supplement. Eight percent more men in this group died, as compared to those receiving other treatments or placebo [35]. Similar results were seen in the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), a lung cancer chemopreventionstudy that provided subjects with supplements of 30 mg beta-carotene and 25,000 IU retinyl palmitate (a form of vitamin A) or a placebo. This study was stopped after researchers discovered that subjects receiving beta-carotene had a 46% higher risk of dying from lung cancer [36-37].
PubMed Links:
- Redlich CA, Blaner WS, Van Bennekum AM, Chung JS, Clever SL, Holm CT, Cullen MR. Effect of supplementation with beta-carotene and vitamin A on lung nutrient levels. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1998;7:211-14.
- Pryor WA, Stahl W, Rock CL. Beta carotene: from biochemistry to clinical trials. Nutr Rev 2000;58:39-53.
Also, if you take Vitamin E to promote Cardiovascular health, think again...
The most recent published clinical trial of vitamin E and men's cardiovascular health included almost 15,000 healthy physicians ≥50 years of age who were randomly assigned to receive 400 IU synthetic alpha-tocopherol every other day, 500 mg vitamin C daily, both vitamins, or placebo [24]. During a mean followup period of 8 years, intake of vitamin E (and/or vitamin C) had no effect on the incidence of major cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular morality. Furthermore, use of vitamin E was associated with a significantly increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
PubMed Link:
And if an increased risk of stroke wasn't enough, how about prostate cancer...
Several studies have examined whether vitamin E intake and/or supplemental vitamin E affects the risk of developing prostate cancer. A prospective cohort study of >29,000 men found no association between dietary or supplemental vitamin E intake and prostate cancer risk [27]. However, among current smokers and men who had quit, vitamin E intakes of more than 400 IU/day were associated with a statistically significant 71% reduction in the risk of advanced prostate cancer. In a clinical trial involving 29,133 male smokers, men randomly assigned to take daily supplements of 50 IU synthetic vitamin E for 5–8 years had 32% fewer prostate cancers compared to subjects who did not take the supplements [28]. Based in part on the promising results of this study, a large randomized clinical trial, called the SELECT trial, began in 2001 to determine whether 7–12 years of daily supplementation with synthetic vitamin E (400 IU, as dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate), with or without selenium (200 mcg, as L-selenomethionine), reduced the number of new prostate cancers in 35,533 healthy men age 50 and older. The trial was discontinued in October 2008 when an analysis found that the supplements, taken alone or together for about 5.5 years, did not prevent prostate cancer [29]. Results from an additional 1.5 years of follow-up from this trial (during which the subjects no longer received vitamin E or selenium), showed that the men who had taken the vitamin E had a 17 percent increased risk of prostate cancer compared to men only taking placebos, a statistically significant difference [30]. The risk of developing prostate cancer was also slightly increased in subjects taking vitamin E plus selenium or selenium alone, but the differences were not statistically significant.
PubMed Links:
- Heinonen OP, Albanes D, Virtamo J, Taylor PR, Huttunen JK, Hartman AM, Haapakoski J, Malila N, Rautalahti M, Ripatti S, Mäenpää H, Teerenhovi L, Koss L, Virolainen M, Edwards BK. Prostate cancer and supplementation with alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene: incidence and mortality in a controlled trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1998 Mar 18;90(6):440-6
- Klein EA, Thompson Jr. IM, Tangen CM, Crowley JJ, Lucia MS, Goodman PJ, et al. Vitamin E and the risk of prostate cancer: the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). JAMA 2011;306:1549-1556.
So, if you smoke or are a former smoker, take Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) but avoid Vitamin A or beta-Carotene.
Of course, the idiots that designed most of these Vitamin E studies used a synthethic isomer of Vit. E (dl-alpha tocopherol) which doesn't exist in nature, so who knows.
I've used nutritional supplements for my entire adult life, but now I'm focused on growing select nutrients in my garden. Learning what plants to grow for certain micronutrients, and how to grow them to maximize their micronutrient content is truly fascinating to me. Someday I will do a huge post about it in the Permaculture thread.
Best...Jeff
There are five vitamins that, when lacking in a human diet, are associated with deficiency diseases: Vitamins A, B1, B3, C, and D.
Since vitamins don't store well, how can you avoid vitamin deficiency diseases by eating right?
Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness, lower immune fuction, and can cause total blindness. While fortified foods and supplments are now cheaply and readily avilable, it's good to know that diet can also keep you healthy regarding vitamin A. Animal protien is a good source. But if that's scarce carrots--and other orange and yellow vegtables and fruits-- contain beta carotene. In fact, non-animal sources of vitamin A which contain pre-formed vitamin A account for greater than 80% of intake for most people in the developing world.
So most of us can manage to grow or get enough vitamin A. It's important to note that you can overdo it vitamin A - too much is toxic. Since vitamin A is fat-soluble, disposing of any excesses you ingest is much harder than with water-soluble B vitamins and vitamin C. But it's extrordinarily hard to get a toxic dose of vitamin A from food (unless you are eating polar bear, seal, walrus or husky livers. Yuck.)
Vitamin B1 (Also known as thiamine) deficiency can cause beriberi. Breiberi can cause difficulty walking, pain, edema, mental confusion, paralysis, and death. It's an evil disease that we rarely see in the developed world, but if there is a long economic decline, or an economic crash it might make a comeback. One way to avoid pellegra is not to live on white rice: add other foods or use whole grains. My family has brown rice in our emergency pantry for this reason. Also good sources: other unrefined grains, fresh meat, legumes, green vegetables, fruit, and milk.
Vitamin B3 (also known as niacin) deficiency cause pellagra (warning, graphic images at the link). Pellagra is usually described by "the four D's": diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia and death. Other symptoms include a high sensitivity to sunlight, aggressive behavior, weakness, skin problems of epic propotion (everything from incredible dermatitis to red shiny skin to red skin lesions), paralyiss of extremities, and a weakened and enlarged heart.
Corn that has been treated with lime will release availalbe vitaimn B3. Without it, a diet of mostly corn can led to pellagra. Niacin is found in MANY foods, listed below by category.
Animal products containing niacin:
Fruits and vegetables:
Seeds:
Fungi:
Vitamin C deficiency casues scurvy. Scury's symptoms include lethargy, spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from mucous membranes. Spots are most common on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. As scurvy advances, it can cause open sores, tooth loss, jaundice, fever, numbness in the extremities, and death. Humans cannot make thier own Vitamin C, so they have to get it from their diet. Vitamin C is widespread in plants, especially citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits), tomatoes, potatoes, cabbages, and green peppers. Believe it or not, saurkraut has a higher concentration of vitamin C than fresh cabbage.
Vitamin D deficiency is especailly dangerous to children. It causes rickets, and although it is thought of as a childhood disease it can also occur in adults. It causes malformed bones and is usually associated with malnutrition.
Prevention (and treatement) involves increasing dietary intake of calcium, phosphates and vitamin D. Exposure to sunshine when the sun is highest in the sky (darker-skinned people need longer exposures) and cod liver oil are sources of vitamin D. Foods high in phosphorus include fruits, nuts, whole grains, leafy vegetables, meats, milk and eggs. Calcium can come from dairy products, blackstrap mollasses, canned salmon or sardines (because of the softened bones), dried beans, and nuts: almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, or hazelnuts.
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A varied diet is the key. Keep these nutritional tips in mind when building a deep larder and the permaculture garden that supplements it and you can avoid the five major viatmin deficiency diseases.