17.2.10
THE RESPONSES: as you can see from the responses, we're having none of it and are definitely in to strong defense modes. My own instincts are very much in tune with the people who wrote all of these, and then some!
               
Why vitamins are hard to swallow
alan_ruth wrote:

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 at 12:00 am (UTC)
The article states: "But proof of the supplements industry's fallibility came last year, when hundreds of products were quietly removed from the shelves of UK shops". It further states: "Nina Papadoulaki, EC spokesperson for health, explains the reasoning behind this mass product cull. "Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients, but in some cases excessive intake can lead to adverse health effects," she says. "Therefore the Food Supplements Directive foresees the setting of maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals present in these supplements." This statement is totally inaccurate because it directly implies the reason for product withdrawals was excessive levels. This was not the case. The truth of the matter as follows: The Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC came into force in July 2002. One of the provisions of this directive was for lists of nutrients and their sources that can be included in food supplements. The first list covers the vitamins and minerals that may be used in food supplements. The second list covers the chemical forms (sources) of those vitamins and minerals that may be used. These lists could be added to following a favourable opinion on individual nutrients or nutrient sources from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) after consideration of a dossier containing safety data. Where dossiers were submitted before 12 July 2005, a derogation was applied in the UK for the nutrient substances list appearing on the European Commission’s website allowing them to continue to be used in food supplements in accordance with Article 4 (6)(a) and (b) of Directive 2002/46/EC. These substances could be used by any operator in any product and were allowed to remain on the market until 31 December 2009. In the UK, the derogation applied to all substances where a dossier was submitted to the EC by 12 July 2005 and therefore, under the Food Supplement Regulations, a product containing one or more of these substances could continue to be sold until 31 December 2009, provided that EFSA had not given an unfavourable opinion on their use.
If EFSA had any serious concerns about these substances, they would not have been granted such a derogation.

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Oh and on the laxative thing
ljane10 wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 11:25 pm (UTC)
A good dose of Vitamin C and Magnesium (which is a muscle relaxant) will get you um moving......The billions of dollars that are being spent on health care in hospitals to treat conditions such as bowel cancer could largely be avoided if patients were educated about healthy eating and natural supplements to regulate bowel movements. Instead people are being placed on a viscous cycle of laxatives which actually make the condition worse and eventually lead to lazy bowels! Oh a pro biotic would also be good to recolonize the gut, especially after a course of antibiotics......

I can post many excellent studies on probiotcs and their benefits in relation to the digestive system. What a lot of Doctors fail to tell patients (largely not their fault - they have no time thanks to the current strain on the health system), is that 80% of serotonin is produced in the gut, conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome often have a direct association with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. If the co factors such as B6 and magnesium are available to make serotonin then IBS symptoms can largely be avoided!

If only the Independent would write more useful and informative articles on the benefits of supplementation and healthy eating instead of selling their soul to the money hungry corrupt 'Pfizers' of this world. Our major pharmaceutical company website slogan is 'working together for a healthier world' Ha! Are they serious...........

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Good on you Indy readers!.....
ljane10 wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 10:38 pm (UTC)
Shame on this newspaper for being suckers to the pharmaceutical garb!! This article actually made me laugh out loud, 'what about the mounting evidence based literature on the protective effects of supplements' I cried!! Then I read SAFETY? In 2008 and felt a little relieved I'm not the only frustrated one.

Just a few points: If a woman doesn't have enough folic acid her baby can be born with Spina bifida; how many British women get enough folic acid in their diet?? (I know here in Australia women are not meeting their daily requirements). We need to get real and realise that our foods (once they reach the plate) are devoid of many VITAL vitamins and minerals needed for the body to carry out its proper functions and prevent DISEASE. That is why most people take supplements now, as they are fed up with the pharmaceutical companies trying to fool us into thinking medicines are safe, has the Independent looked at the side effects of most common drugs??!! Perhaps Dan Roberts you should look at the number of suicides that have occurred from patients on anti-depressant medications. Don't get me started on ADHD medication or HRT. These poisons are killing us at an alarming rate. And you know what, these conditions: depression, learning disorders and menopause can all be controlled though supplementation, a balanced wholesome diet, behavioral therapy and relaxation techniques much more effectively. Supplements will make up for the nutrients that have not been met in the diet, and at a therapeutic dose, while under the guidance of a qualified professional can control many acute and chronic conditions. Consumers have woken up and realised there are other options available which are not only safer but more effective, without the unwanted side effects. Here in Australia we are embracing complimentary evidence based medicine, as there is a great deal of quality peer reviewed, placebo controlled studies that prove supplements work! We have some of the best natural health care practitioners in the world who care about their patients outcomes and universities where complimentary medicine can be studied. Unfortunately there is still not the funding required to carry out enough research - such a shame as this important information could be passed onto the general public so they can make informed and safe choices about their health.
Anyone reading this who suffers from high cholesterol and is on medication, speak to you Nutritionist or Naturopath, as much cheaper and safer options are available, namely fish oils and beta glucan (found in oats) scroll through PubMed and you'll find numerous placebo controlled studies to prove these both naturally lower LDL cholesterol and protect that body from heart disease. This is just one condition that can be treated effectively by supplementation.... Note I have chosen a food here as a good diet and correct supplementation go hand in hand, we would be fools to think that supplements should replace a good diet - BALANCE my friends is they key to good health, laughter is not bad either...

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BALDERDASH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
avraamjack wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 10:04 pm (UTC)
I do not know who bought you but vitamins have been shown innumerable times to have extremely significant health benefits.
Taking vitamins may mean the difference between good health and an early death from cancer.
You ill informed twits.
B vitamins are essential for DNA repair, cleaning plaque from arteries and also lower blood pressure! C vitamins, E vitamins , multivitamins should also be taken.
Please hire someone competent and incorruptible.

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BALDERDASH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2
avraamjack wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 10:17 pm (UTC)

Just out today , Vitamin C fights gout !
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Vitamin+wards+gout+Study/1373672/story.html
and that is just today !
and yes, food state is good, or you could eat a carrot, an orange and then swallow the vitamins with a glass of milk.
Always eat before taking vitamins and you have the food state!

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Why vitamins are hard to swallow
alangeorge wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 09:14 pm (UTC)
This is old news. The Cochrane review referred to (the Bjelakovic et al; meta-analysis) has been very strongly criticised by a number of eminent scientists, for its flawed methodology and its conclusions. The authors of the review omitted a massive 405 potentially eligible studies from their review because there were no deaths in the studies!! Another 69 studies were excluded because they weren’t randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has highlighted the fact that RCTs, long regarded as the ‘gold standard' of evidence, have been put on an undeserved pedestal. In the Norwegian study cited, the researchers commented: "Results were mainly driven by increased lung cancer incidence in participants who received folic acid plus vitamin B12." In commenting on the study, Dr. Andrew Shao, of the Council for Responsible Nutrition said: “The real headline of this study should be that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer. The study found that a total of 94 per cent of the subjects in the study who developed lung cancer were either current or former smokers". Last week, the Food Standards Agency (UK) published the findings of a UK dietary survey. The survey found that nearly two thirds of men and women are not meeting the recommendation to eat ‘5-a-day’ fruit and veg. In relation to the journalist's statement: "……. supplements need to be taken with extreme caution", you will be interested to know that in July last year, a study published in Nutrition Journal concluded that doctors and nurses in the United States are as likely as members of the general public to use dietary supplements and most physicians and nurses recommend supplements to their patients. This latest report adds to the growing body of published data suggesting that healthcare professionals in the United States are among the highest users of supplements. It would appear, therefore, that these well informed healthcare professionals have little fear of possibly risking their health by taking vitamin supplements. 79 percent of U.S. physicians recommend supplements to their patients. 73 percent of cardiologists in the United States believe that a regimen which includes the following — a healthy diet + vitamins and other supplements + exercise—is essential for a healthy heart. 72 percent of the cardiologists in the United States recommend dietary supplements to their patients, and more than half (57 percent) take supplements themselves. Message left by Dr. Alan Ruth

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Re: We need supplementation
nutritionistw1 wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 08:50 pm (UTC)
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1998, a report finds that prescription drugs kill about 106,000 Americans each year – that’s three times as many as are killed by automobiles—making prescription drug death the fourth leading killer after heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Vitamin C as ascorbic acid is probably not as an effective anti oxident as true vitamin C but it's a good laxative and given the NHS massive expenditure on laxatives it's the last thing we need to worry about

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Re: We need supplementation
tommytcg wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 07:13 pm (UTC)
Dr.Sharma. Cancer is not caused by a nutritional deficiency, as are heart disease, (which is also caused by high carbs. and sugars), and osteoporosis, (a boron deficiency).
Massive vitamin D3 supplemention has interrupted the cancer pathway, and can stop a malignancy.

However the causes of all cancers have now been precisely identified by 40-yr, ex-Can. Govt. cell research biologist, H R Clark, PhD ND,
as set out in her latest 669 page, 2007 work. She used sensitive Geiger counters to identify the causative polonium from amalgams(!!), in-home radon gas, and Chlorox bleach.

She used resonance comparison to precisely identify the causative parasites, bacteria, viruses, dyes, heavy metals, benzene, asbestos, allergenic plant compounds etc. She also used Xrays and medical blood checks.
(This is hardly the `massage and prayer` that oncologists term naturapathic medicine).

Mainstream medicine refuses to accept Dr Clarks fndings, but that does NOT invalidate the science.
Didnt mainstream medicine take over 400 years to accept the natural cure for scurvy, Vitamin C, and even after 2000 years still does not accept that wormwood, artemisia absinthum, is fatal to the malaria parasite?

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We need supplementation
drsharma wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 05:49 pm (UTC)
May I please respond to the excellent article written by Mr Dan Roberts “Why Vitamins are Hard to Swallow” on 16th February 2010.

Ms Sarah Stanner is correct about needing the “matrix of nutrients” but I disagree that “if we eat healthily, most of us are meeting our nutrient needs” especially if Ms Amanda Williams is correct about our average intake being 1.3 portions nationally. In the UK, we have amongst the highest levels of cancer, heart attacks and strokes as well as osteoporosis in the developed world so clearly we are not getting enough good stuff as one can argue all of these diseases are at least in part deficiency disorders. Indeed the soil in Europe, and therefore our natural food, is up to 72% less rich in nutrients, than 60 years ago (Earth Summit Report 1992). Supplementation of effective nutrients is essential for good health. For the last 15 years, in my practice as a qualified doctor, I have found that nutrient supplementation with “food state” can dramatically improve a patient’s health.

Yours

Dr Rajendra Sharma
Medical Director
The Diagnostic Clinic
www.thediagnosticclinic.com

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Good nutrition, promotes longevity and wards of disease
kingofmumu wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 04:27 pm (UTC)
Dead soil lacking in vitamins and minerals, produces dead food. If you are fed crap, you will feel crap. I wonder sometimes, if this third rate food on supermarket shelves, that offered up to us, is intentional to reduce longevity and thus reduce pension costs. Plus when your food is nutritionally poor, it will result in the need for more pharmaceuticals. Vitamin supplements help us combat, food deficiency's. They would not be required, if we were growing and consuming only organic food. Selenium is one of the important minerals, missing from our dead soil. Volcanic rock dust added to poor soil, makes a big difference to what the soil produces. So while our soil remains dead we all need Vitamin supplements. Lets bring the soil back to life. Have a look at the British Soil association http://www.soilassociation.org
See also http://www.naturodoc.com/library/News/codex_alimentarius.htm to see why alternative medicines and supplements.

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SAFETY? In 2008..
tommytcg wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 04:19 pm (UTC)
there were no deaths reported worldwide from supplemental vitamins, minerals and herbs.
Annually, approx. 250,000 (one quarter of a million) people die in the US alone from the side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs.
There exist over 30,000 peer reviewed (before climate-gate), scientific studies showing the efficacy and safety of vitamins, minerals herbs, amio acids and other naturally occurring substances.
Re. the Danish beta carotene study. This was designed to fail. How? Elderly Danish smokers, (health already compromised) were chosen as the subjects. One group were given a twice daily dose of 25mgs of useless and toxic synthetic beta-carotene. The other group got no supplements.
Quite by chance, the group on the synthetic beta carotene had more cancer deaths. The newspaper headlines screamed..Beta carotene causes cancer. Scare articles on the possible harm of vitamins mostly cite this fake study.

Last week CNN interviewed the US surgeon who operated on Ex. Pres. Clinton. That surgeon`s hospital has done 14,000 heart by-pass ops. On the same program was a Dr Ornish, and ex by-pass surgeon.
Dr Ornish claimed that on his vitamin supplemented diet, his patients heart disease progress was stoppable and reverseable. Pres.. Clinton`s doctor was then asked his opinion of this concept. He mumbled.., I dont know anything about those things, all I know is that when the arteries are blocked, we have to...
Dr Ornish`s results from the supplementation follow the published literature. That is that arterial narrowing is caused by high blood homocysteine, an insufficiency of B6, B12 and folate vitamins; also caused by high lipo-protein alpha, an insufficiency of anti-oxidents, Vitamins E, C, selenium etc.
Dr Ornish includes a low cholesterol diet in his protocol, but I think that is just to appease mainstream medicine. I am sure he is smart enough to know that the 1953 study in Framingham MA USA, that started the cholesterol hoax, had a faulty conclusion.
                            
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/05/Does-High-Cholesterol-REALLY-Cause-Heart-Disease.aspx
                            
What is the point of asking your GP whether you should supplement, when the GPs total knoiwledge of nutrition rests on the fallacies they were taught, in just a few hours, at Med school. These being cholesterol is bad, calories count, DO NOT to supplement, (its all in your food), and, follow the daft food pyramid (that causes obesity and raise heart disease-causing triglycerides with its high carbs).

The dieticians must tow the same line of misinformation.

These hits against supplements will now get bigger and more vicious, as the EU, under control of Big Pharma, attempts to buldoze through the Codex Alimentarius, allegedly to protect you. The EU would ban all natural herbs and vitamins above a ridiculously low dosage level, that in no way could raise ones health to an optimum level. As manufacturers would be forced out of business, even a forward looking GP, (any in UK)?, would not be able to prescribe such.

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Pure rubbish!
truthwillwin wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 04:08 pm (UTC)
Shame on you INDEPENDENT!
How naive of me thinking this newspaper wouldn't "be bought" by the Pharmaceutical companies...
Vitamins are safe and essential! I've been taking them for almost 10 years and I don't remember when last I got sick.
What about an articles on the truth about the vaccines?

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Isn't it interesting...
sickofstupidity wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 01:24 pm (UTC)
Isn't it interesting that there is talk of banning nutrutional supplements because they either don't work as advertised or may actually have harmful side-effects. And yet, exactly the same thing can be said about many of the pharmaceuticals on the market, both over-the-counter or prescription drugs. And how often do we here of these being banned, or people being warned not to take them. Not nearly as often as we hear similar stories about nutrional supplememts.

One might be tempted to believe that this is because pharmaceuticals are produced by multi-billion dollar international drugs companies, which have well-funded PR departments, legal departments and political lobbyists, and hence a lot of clout with the media and with politicians.

One might also wonder whether some of these companies might have a vested interest in seeing the makers of nutritional supplements put out of business by all these scare stories, because (a) they see them as competing for many of the same consumers, and (b) a population that is kept healthy by dietary suppliments is less likely to need pharmaceuticals, and so supplements are a direct threat to the drugs companies' profit margins.

This being the case, I wonder if anyone has looked at who might be spreading these scare stories about supplements, and where the funding for their research and media campaigns might ultimately be coming from. I wouldn't be very surprised to find a few drugs componies somewhere down the money chain...

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Vitamins are safe and effective
graham_keen wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 11:32 am (UTC)
I take issue with the suggestion that vitamins are harmful. We all agree that vitamins and minerals are essential for good health and wellbeing. In an ideal world, our diet would provide us with all the vitamins that our body needs for good health. But evidence from the FSA’s latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey, backed up by the HFMA’s own research released in January 2010, shows that a significant proportion of the UK population simply doesn’t achieve nutritional sufficiency through diet alone.

The best solution for most people is to eat as healthy a diet as possible, combined with other health-related lifestyle changes. Daily vitamin supplements, which have an exceptional record of safety both in the UK and worldwide, also provide important nutritional insurance for millions of users looking to safeguard their nutritional intake.

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E.U. Food Directive
kaijansen wrote:

It's pointless going to a GP for 'advice' on supplements or nutrition because they are not taught these subjects in depth at medical school. They usually know less than I do. Oh they know all the propaganda, but not the real facts. Check out 'NaturalNews.com' or 'Mercola.com' for something resembling honesty and truth in this debate. Most of it, coming via radio, t.v. or newspapers is based on prejudice and consequently, ignorance. Apart from the fact that the Pharma-industry is attempting to hijack the supplements trade and has the ignorance of the European Parliament behind it, career politicians who won't say 'boo' against the Commission, Nigel Farage has it right: they ARE a shower!
There is another thought which most of these 'statists' completely overlook: I, for one, am capable of taking care of my own health and do not need them to hold my hand. I gave up on the medical profession years ago for being blinkered, tied to the pharmaceuticals and almost totally unwilling to break away from allopathy and consider PREVENTION as the best means to stay healthy. Ignorance is fear enshrined, and the orthodox medical system is a failed and corrupted system that allows thousands of people to die from hospital contracted diseases, mistakes on the operating tables, diagnostic blunders and stupidities, coupled with a beaurocratic. management-heavy, generally uncaring National Health Service. Allopathic medicine does certain things well, but the system is stacked against the very sensible notion of preventative medicine, which is far older than this modern orthodoxy. The very reason W.H.O. were allowed to propagate the fraudulent claims made by Big-pharma over the 'swine-flu', allowing it to be elevated to a Pandemic level-6, shows that ignorance is bliss, especially amongst the medical fraternity who are busy protecting their incomes and watching their backs. How can honesty and truth flourish in this kind of atmosphere?
I think it is fairly well known now that the 'pig-flu' was nothing more than hype and big business, as is evidenced by many European countries unloading their now useless supplies of swine-flu vaccine. My point? Trust yourself, do your own thing, and live with the consequences, which are NOT what the orthodoxy would have you believe.

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As usual the media haven't done their homework
mind_ful wrote:

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 at 10:12 am (UTC)
before you pedal such ignorant misinformation , maybe you should read the mass of data giving randomly controlled trials which support homoeopathic medicine! It is a myth that threis no science for this 200 year old practice. Vitamins too are essentially harmless. In contrast, one of my clients just died from swine flu jab. if you want to take ooisons and call it medicine then that is your right. we have freedom of choice at present in this country to opt for non-drug based medical treatment - but dont talk garbage about homoeopathy and vitamins!! Leave us alone to choose safe, scientific medicine that really works. The fact that people in the media keeps keeps picking at the subject suggests they aren't hapy with any one dissenting - that is dangerous ground to be standing on in a democratic conuntry. THe fact is the current drug company propogaand campaign is just that. dont be fooled by it.