VITAMINS AND MINERALS ARE VITAL FOR HEALTH

This article was published in The Independent on 16th February 2008.





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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/vitamin-deficiencymay-cause-modern-ills-782990.html

Breda's comments in green

It is interesting to note that scientists finally recognise the value of micro-nutrients for health.

Having said that, it does not mean that one can eat junk and then take the 'pills' to negate any negative effects. I am also against the supplements being sold without a professional prescription. Most supplements (and herbs) have medicinal effects in large enough doses.

Very often members of public take a range of pills, containing same ingredients (eg vitamin A or vitamin E) and end up taking excess amounts of these fat soluble vitamins which are stored in the liver and in large enough doses can contributive to toxicity. Furthermore, most supplements interfere with medications, so individuals taking prescription drugs are particularly vulnerable. While I am a great fan of vitamins and minerals and I take them regularly, I know what I am doing, while an ordinary Jo Blog does not, which can cause harm and give bad name to the whole industry. That's my personal opinion, anyway.

Vitamin deficiency may cause modern ills

by Steve Steve Connor

A chronic shortage of vitamins and other "micronutrients" in the diet may be responsible for triggering many of the ills of modern life such as cancer, obesity and the degenerative diseases of ageing.

Professor Bruce Ames, of the University of California, Berkeley, who invented one of the standard tests for cancer-causing chemicals, said many people's diets were deficient in one or more of the 40 micronutrients essential for a healthy life.

Taking dietary supplements in the form of vitamin pills could help to counteract many of the disorders associated with ageing, Dr Ames told the American Association meeting.

He said many people on a high-calorie diet in the West or poor diet in developing countries were short of micronutrients and this caused the body to go into an emergency "triage" response in which it tried to keep its metabolism in balance by a process of compensation. This ensures immediate survival, but the consequences are an increase in DNA damage, which causes future cancers, a lowered immune defence, and a decay of the mitochondrial "power plants" of the cells, which causes accelerated ageing," he said.

He said a shortage of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients could also be partly responsible for obesity.