The Safety of Antioxidants and Vitamins A, C, and E

The Safety of Vitamins and Antioxidants

The next time your doctor asks about your supplement use, don’t be surprised if he tells you that the antioxidant supplements you’re taking may lead to an early demise.

That’s right – according to a new study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last week, “Treatment with beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E may increase mortality.” The study also found “evidence” that vitamin C and selenium need further study to determine their effect on mortality.

I’m all for further study, because this particular research does nobody any good (unless you happen to run a giant drug company).

Something’s missing

For conventional doctors entrenched in the medical mainstream, this study is like red meat thrown to a pack of hungry wolves. So we can expect to hear about it for years to come. But anyone who cares to closely examine the details will find that it’s just another in a long line of clumsy pot shots at the dietary supplement industry.

Dr. Andrew Shao, Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, called the JAMA study a “pre-determined conclusion in search of a method to support it.”

HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., put it another way: “The key is this is a ‘review,’ meaning they can use any studies they want, regardless of dosage, length of trial, and even quality of study design (most of which are rubbish when conventional medical types with an agenda are going after nutrients). They say it themselves: ‘We included all trials,’ using ‘antioxidant supplements at any dose, duration, and route of administration.’

“This means all studies get equal weight, and since most conventional studies use synthetic nutrients, in too little dose, for too little time, the outcome is almost predetermined.”

But it turns out that the Dutch researchers who conducted this study didn’t actually use ALL relevant trials. Nutritionist Patrick Holford noted that some key studies were simply not included. For instance, missing from the review is a 1993 New England Journal of Medicine study in which more than 87,000 nurses were divided into two groups to receive either 67 mg of vitamin E per day or placebo. After two years, subjects in the vitamin E group were found to have a 40 percent lower risk of heart attack compared to those in the placebo group. A similar study that followed 39,000 men yielded almost identical results. It was also not included in this review.

Imaginary toxic buildup

Reporting on this study for ABC News, Beth M. Wicklund, M.D., notes that the fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) are stored in body fat tissues, so large doses “can lead to toxic buildup in the liver, brain and heart.”

When I asked Dr. Spreen about this, he called it “half-baked” and elaborated: “Fat-soluble nutrients are, of course, stored in fat-soluble locations, which makes them more amenable to long-term storage than water-soluble vitamins that are carried straight to the kidney, dumped into the early urine, and then brought back on board as the body sees fit. This makes the fat-soluble vitamins more demanding of respect over the long haul if you’ve decided to take HUGE doses for extended periods (though the heart thing is a bit of a stretch since it’s mostly muscle with some fat globules hung around the outside).

“The real concern about the fat-soluble nutrients has always been vitamin A, which is touted as dangerous. What they kinda forgot to tell you was that the reported damage from vitamin A has almost entirely been with the use of synthetic vitamin A.

“I would have no problem whatsoever with a contest where I take (natural) 10,000 iu vitamin A capsules, pill for pill, against an opponent taking common aspirin, available from every grocery store and pharmacy in the country. I strongly recommend that nobody take me up on it (except perhaps the director of the FDA).

“Vitamin E toxicity is a joke, period. You could, perhaps, get a bit nauseated (and probably throw up) from the quarts of oil you’d have to swallow before you’d die.

“Vitamin D was always one to ‘be careful’ over. Oddly enough, however, we were all told not to take more than the daily dose of 400 iu. Now, however, even the conventional guys are touting the need for at least 5 times that amount, and the alternative practitioners are universally going with 10 times (4,000 iu/day)so, whoops, kinda missed the toxic threshold on that one.

“Vitamin K is the odd man out. It’s rarely put into regular garbage supplements because everyone’s afraid of it (and lean on the theory that we all have enough). Even it has been found to not be the bad guy everyone worried about (other than in those using blood thinners), and it’s become more and more available.”

One last point illustrates the absurdity of warning people away from beneficial vitamins. The Dutch team notes that we should not avoid fruits and vegetables that contain the vitamins examined in this study. Thanks for the tip, guys. Based on your research we were about ready to convert to an all-McDonald’s diet.

Sources:
“Mortality in Randomized Trials of Antioxidant Supplements for Primary and Secondary Prevention” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 297, No. 8, 2/28/07, jama.ama-assn.org
“International Experts Dispute Conclusions of Antioxidant Review” International Alliance of Dietary Supplement-Food Associations, 2/27/07, npicenter.com
“Antioxidant Review is a Stitch Up” Patrick Holford, 100% health e-news, 2/28/07, patrickholford.com
“Are Too Many Vitamins Bad for Your Health?” Beth M. Wicklund, M.D., ABC News, 2/27/07, abcnews.go.com