[graciegirl]

The results of a very large study extending over several years about the use of vitamin supplements has recently been published as many of you know. It says that multivitamin supplements have not proved successful in the prevention of cancer and other diseases and in some cases taking multivitamins can be harmful.

Yesterday it was reported that taking vitamin B supplements, (moderately) can promote eye health in older people.

It also reaffirms that nutrients obtained from food are more effective to promote general health and even if our diet is not all that "healthy" our bodies do absorb what they need.

[Freeda]

What are the citations/sources of the studies referred to?

[graciegirl]

Freeda.

I typed "multivitimins not helpful" into Google and there were many responses because it has been in recent news frequently. Here is a link to an article in The New York Times this morning. (Not MY favorite paper lol) I believe that the Fred Hutchison Cancer Center on the west coast oversaw the study that was conducted in many areas across the country over several years. If I remember correctly it included more than a thousand participants.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0...-multivitamin/

I am interested personally because our dear daughter had life threatening Cancer when she was 29 and survived. I also had Cancer four years ago. Helene lives with us and I am the cook of the house. I have tried to prepare almost every evening meal at home with two vegetables or a vegetable and a fruit along with the protein, not because of this study, but because that is how I was raised. It is comforting to know that it is "the right thing to do" according to the latest research. The study says that nutrients obtained from food were important in disease prevention, if I remember correctly.

Helene "makes" us all go to the exercise class at Odell Center three times a week. Now if I would just stop eating cookies..............

Kindest regards,

Gracie.

[rshoffer]

These studies need to read in their entirety to make informed decisions. Many are very flawed in design.

Anyone interested in nutritional supplementation should join the Life Extension Foundation.

You can read their monthly journal where all articles are referenced.... no hype, pure science.

go to www.lef.org

costs 75 dollars a year to join.... the monthly journal is fantastic.

[uujudy]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Latest LARGE study shows vitamin supplements not helpful in disease prevention..... It says that multivitamin supplements have not proved successful in the prevention of cancer and other diseases and in some cases taking multivitamins can be harmful....

Wait... What about rickets and scurvy?
Are the experts just ignoring the diseases that vitamin supplements do prevent?

[Barefoot]

I am personally wary of most studies.

I remember a time when most doctors routinely prescribed hormone replacement treatment for "mature" women. Because "reliable" studies had emphasized the many benefits. Then, suddenly a new study was published saying HRT could potentially increase the possibility of cancer and heart problems! Doctors dropped HRT like a hot potato!

As rshoffer pointed out, many studies are very flawed in design.

[BuckeyeNuts]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Freeda.

I typed "multivitimins not helpful" into Google and there were many responses because it has been in recent news frequently. Here is a link to an article in The New York Times this morning. (Not MY favorite paper lol) I believe that the Fred Hutchison Cancer Center on the west coast oversaw the study that was conducted in many areas across the country over several years. If I remember correctly it included more than a thousand participants.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0...-multivitamin/

I am interested personally because our dear daughter had life threatening Cancer when she was 29 and survived. I also had Cancer four years ago. Helene lives with us and I am the cook of the house. I have tried to prepare almost every evening meal at home with two vegetables or a vegetable and a fruit along with the protein, not because of this study, but because that is how I was raised. It is comforting to know that it is "the right thing to do" according to the latest research. The study says that nutrients obtained from food were important in disease prevention, if I remember correctly.

Helene "makes" us all go to the exercise class at Odell Center three times a week. Now if I would just stop eating cookies..............

Kindest regards,

Gracie.

Here is my 2 cents...I will only talk about the food aspect. When cooking, you must take into account the world we live in. You cook vegetables...and serve fruits...awesome. But, these are not our Grandparents fruits and veggies anymore. The soil that these foods were grown in used to flourish with vitamins and minerals...they were grown naturally!

Now this same soil is replete of what the body needs and contaminated with chemicals and pesticides. Canned foods are pretty much a waste of time. Never eat anything from a can!

So...my suggestion...very simple...though more expensive...only eat organically grown fruits and vegetables whenever possible. They taste so much better and will pump up your immune system like nothing else.

[senior citizen]

You know you should eat your fruits and vegetables, but with a "dirty dozen" list of pesticide-contaminated produce out today and the recent e.coli outbreak linked to supposedly safer organic produce, what's a would-be healthy eater to do?
The answer from health experts -- and even the people who did the study on pesticide residue in produce -- is still the same: Eat those fruits and vegetables, but get them as clean as you can.

The importance of washing produce before eating or cooking it was driven home today by the release of a "dirty dozen" list of fruits and vegetables that tested positive for the highest concentration of pesticides.

"Pesticides are toxic. They are designed to kill things and most are not good for you" said Sonya Lunder, senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group, which released the study. The non-profit organization attempts to raise awareness about pollutants and dangerous chemicals
Apples, a staple in many refrigerators, topped the list with 98 percent testing positive for a pesticide and 92 percent testing positive for two or more pesticides. Coming in second was celery, with more than 95 percent testing positive for at least one pesticide.

Others on the list of shame include: strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce and kale or collard greens.

Getty Images
A helicopter sprays an apple orchard with pesticide in Wenatchee, Wash. Apples topped a government list of fruits and vegetables with 98 percent testing positive for a pesticide and 92 percent testing positive for two or more pesticides.


The benefits of fruits and vegetables are well known, however Environmental Working Group spokesman Alex Formuzis says the pesticides they're coated with have been linked to nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system disruption and IQ deficits in children.
But even though some pesticides were still found on the produce after they were washed and peeled, Formuzis said the benefits of fruits and vegetables still outweigh the problems associated with some other snack foods.

"If it's a choice between an apple and potato chips, choose the apple," he said.

Pesticides, which are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, are used to protect produce from bugs and also extend its supermarket shelf life.
The Alliance for Food and Farming, a trade group that opposes the new study, says consumers should keep eating the fruits and vegetables in the so-called "dirty dozen."

"Not only are farmers of fruits and vegetables meeting requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for pesticide residues, but their crops are shown to have either no residues at all or with residues 10 times to 100 times below already stringent safety limits," said Teresa Thorne of the AFF.
The Environmental Working Group agrees that eating from the "dirty dozen" is better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all, but suggested that when possible, these items should be bought organic.

A portion of Americans do worry and choose to buy organic produce, which has long trumpeted itself as a healthier, albeit costlier alternative. However, after a deadly E.Coli outbreak linked to organic sprouts recently killed 36 and sickened 3,000 in Germany, is going organic really any safer?
According to Joan Salge Blake, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, the answer is simple: Eat your fruits and vegetables, whether they're organic or not.

"I don't want people being afraid of eating mother nature's finest," she said. "Fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of so many diseases and fight obesity."

"Corn", though it's on your "clean" list, is likely to have pesticides built right in, by way of genetic modification. You can't wash that off! In the U.S., genetically modified ingredients are not labeled, but they ARE prohibited from organics (at least for now).Only certified organic corn is "clean", although, as the genetically modified crops contaminate the natural ones, that may soon change."Corn" (and it's many derivatives), "Soy", "Canola", "Cotton", and soon "Sugar" (beets not cane), and 'Alfalfa" (food for dairy cows and honeybees), are likely to be genetically modified if not certified organic. I put them in quotes because they are really new species, genetically distinct from the genes of both contributing organisms, and ones that wouldn't normally occur in nature.


PAGE TWO: ABC EVENING NEWS


Pesticides in Fruits and Vegetables: Are They Really Healthy?

The best guarantee for keeping produce safe is to make sure it's thoroughly washed.

The Food and Drug Administration offers several tips for cleaning both fresh and organic produce, including:

Wash fruits and vegetables under running water just before eating or cooking.


"Everyone has a job to do -- from the farmer to the person taking the produce to the store to the people selling the produce. And when you bring your produce home, you have a job to do too," Blake said.
The EWG's "Dirty Dozen":
1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines - imported
7. Grapes - imported
8. Sweet bell peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries - domestic
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/Collard greens
The EWG's Clean 15:
1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Avocado
5. Asparagus
6. Sweet peas
7. Mangoes
8. Eggplants
9. Cantaloupe - domestic
10. Kiwi
11. Cabbage
12. Watermelon
13. Sweet potatoes
14. Grapefruit



15. Mushrooms

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

The results of a very large study extending over several years about the use of vitamin supplements has recently been published as many of you know. It says that multivitamin supplements have not proved successful in the prevention of cancer and other diseases and in some cases taking multivitamins can be harmful.

Yesterday it was reported that taking vitamin B supplements, (moderately) can promote eye health in older people.

It also reaffirms that nutrients obtained from food are more effective to promote general health and even if our diet is not all that "healthy" our bodies do absorb what they need.

MY POST Quoted here is THREE YEARS OLD.

MY goodness, I might have changed my mind since then. ..lol. I am thinking about taking Krill oil.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

The results of a very large study extending over several years about the use of vitamin supplements has recently been published as many of you know. It says that multivitamin supplements have not proved successful in the prevention of cancer and other diseases and in some cases taking multivitamins can be harmful.

Yesterday it was reported that taking vitamin B supplements, (moderately) can promote eye health in older people.

It also reaffirms that nutrients obtained from food are more effective to promote general health and even if our diet is not all that "healthy" our bodies do absorb what they need.

Good thread, graciegirl. It doesn't matter whether the study is 3 years old or 10 years old; I like it. Over the years there have been many many articles pointing out the harm of vitamins that were once thought to be beneficial. There was one really big article in The Wall Street Journal. If I can find it I'll give more information on it later.

What impressed me the most was a health book (not sure which one) that stated vitamins are not the same as food. For example, vitamin C is not the same as an orange, tomato or broccoli. Although those foods contain vitamin C they also contain lots of other nutrients that are balanced by nature. And it was estimated that something like 25% of the nutrients in foods are still unknown. So, it's kind of silly, in my opinion, to put much faith in multiple vitamins. I have never taken any multiple vitamins and I'm perfectly healthy at 71. (No drugs either.)

I just read in the Alzheimer's book (100 Simple Things You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's) that older people should not be taking a multiple vitamin containing iron and copper. Those two items greatly increase your risk for Alzheimer's. (And, by the way, what does red meat contain? A lot of iron and copper.)

Multi-vitamins are designed for people who don't like healthy foods and want to ease their conscience. They can go through the day eating junk and think, "I'm going to be okay because I took my multi-vitamins this morning."

[BarryRX]

Originally Posted by uujudy

Wait... What about rickets and scurvy?
Are the experts just ignoring the diseases that vitamin supplements do prevent?

Of course vitamins prevent diseases that are caused by vitamin deficiency. I understood Gracie to be referring to all sorts of claims made by the nutritional supplement industry that high doses of this or that prevents cancer or arthritis or colds, etc.

[asianthree]

three years old or not when you have an egd/colon they can sometimes be found still intact, see them more than you want to know

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

Good thread, graciegirl. It doesn't matter whether the study is 3 years old or 10 years old; I like it. Over the years there have been many many articles pointing out the harm of vitamins that were once thought to be beneficial. There was one really big article in The Wall Street Journal. If I can find it I'll give more information on it later.

What impressed me the most was a health book (not sure which one) that stated vitamins are not the same as food. For example, vitamin C is not the same as an orange, tomato or broccoli. Although those foods contain vitamin C they also contain lots of other nutrients that are balanced by nature. And it was estimated that something like 25% of the nutrients in foods are still unknown. So, it's kind of silly, in my opinion, to put much faith in multiple vitamins. I have never taken any multiple vitamins and I'm perfectly healthy at 71. (No drugs either.)

I just read in the Alzheimer's book (100 Simple Things You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's) that older people should not be taking a multiple vitamin containing iron and copper. Those two items greatly increase your risk for Alzheimer's. (And, by the way, what does red meat contain? A lot of iron.)

Multi-vitamins are designed for people who don't like healthy foods and want to ease their conscience. They can go through the day eating junk and think, "I'm going to be okay because I took my multi-vitamins this morning."

I agree with your last paragraph totally, but will add.....
Many near anorexic type folks who do not want to consume "calories" think that popping a vitamin will be sufficient. The vitamins' components are no way comparable to eating the whole food.

My pet peeve is seeing our own mature and elderly family members traveling with bags and bags of "supplements".......some could be overdosing on these alone. Subscribers to "Prevention Magazine", they try every new supplement out there........

I doubt if our bodies were meant to use vitamins solely as a food source.

Topic for another thread is that the "wheat" we eat today is not the wheat of old.......ditto for the meat. Our younger family members have educated us in the positive changes of buying organic whole foods, not by preaching, but by example.....and in what they've encouraged their own "little ones" to consume. Treats are saved for special occasions and nothing is totally restricted.....or that would make for a very boring existence.

We all can be proud of this younger generation of parents.
The children love their RAW veggies and gobble them up, or fresh fruit in abundance......

[shcisamax]

Yes there is a lot of hope with the new generation of parents looking further than what they read on the bottle/bag or in the advertisements. I have recently been educated as to Mosanto's mission: They are genetically engineering these food sources that perform better for profits but not necessarily for the benefit of human kind. In fact, they are already modifying food sources so they do not reseed so that farmer need to repurchase. Eventually, if they have their way, they will control the food supply.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by shcisamax

Yes there is a lot of hope with the new generation of parents looking further than what they read on the bottle/bag or in the advertisements. I have recently been educated as to Mosanto's mission: They are genetically engineering these food sources that perform better for profits but not necessarily for the benefit of human kind. In fact, they are already modifying food sources so they do not reseed so that farmer need to repurchase. Eventually, if they have their way, they will control the food supply.

Now that would be an interesting subject, for sure.

All of the processed food boxes, etc. have such a LONG list of "additives" and such.....that in reality should NOT be there at all.

We've watched several documentaries on CORN and other such commonly used ingredients. CORN is in everything !!!

Having a family member whose parent formed and ran a HUGE agricultural pesticide/herbicide type chemical corporation that sold to farmers all over our U.S. and the world, it's interesting to see this young person SHUN totally anything "artificial" as pertains to our food source. They are meat eaters but only organically grown.

Believe it or not, young couples in our state and other states are now RAISING their own "laying hens".....chickens for the purpose of the daily egg collection........others are raising chickens for meat sources.

It's a new trend I guess.......but we've seen it in action.

We also know young (twenty somethings to thirty +) couples who are making their own cleaning products to keep their progeny safe from harmful chemicals.
Like our moms used vinegar and water to clean, etc.