posted
Of course, nobody seems to have asked why these people were taking supplements to begin with. Maybe it was because they were already having health problems and looking for answers that doctors weren't giving them. So, the increased mortality could have been just as easily from the underlying problems that the supplement-takers were trying to help. So their risks were higher perhaps. I never took supplements before I got sick.
And isn't it suspicious that this comes out after the Europeans have banned most supplements, and the U.S. may follow?
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The Total Woman: Mind, Body, Spirit Content provided by: Healthday
Dietary Supplements May Harm Older Women: Study Iron, vitamin B6 and others might increase the risk of death, researchers say
By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter
Iron, vitamin B6 and others might increase the risk of death, researchers say.
MONDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Far from being healthy, supplements such as multivitamins, minerals and folic acid may actually raise the odds for death in older women who take them, a new study suggests.
Dietary supplements are widely used in the United States, often with the hope of avoiding chronic disease. However, the long-term health consequences of many compounds are unknown, the researchers said.
"Our study raises concerns about the safety of a number of commonly used dietary supplements," said lead researcher Jaakko Mursu, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Eastern Finland, in Kuopio. "We would advise people to reconsider whether they need to use supplements and put more emphasis on a healthy diet," he said.
The report was published in the Oct. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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For the study, Mursu's team collected data on nearly 39,000 women who took part in the Iowa Women's Health Study. Specifically, the researchers looked for a connection between taking dietary supplements and the risk of death. The women in the study had an average age of 62 and reported their supplement use in 1986, 1997 and 2004.
Over 19 years of follow-up, 15,594 of the women died. Supplement use increased from 1986, when 63 percent of the women reported taking at least one supplement, to 85 percent in 2004, the researchers found.
One supplement decreased the risk of dying, but most did not, Mursu's group found.
Multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc and copper were associated with increased risk of death, they said. However, calcium supplements seemed to reduce risk of death, they added.
The strongest association between a supplement and an increased risk of death was for iron, Mursu's team noted. The more iron one took, the greater the risk, and as one aged, it took less iron to increase the risk of dying, the researchers said.
"This, of course, is just one study, and other similar studies have not found such a dramatic increase in mortality," said Mursu, who is also affiliated with the University of Minnesota. "Nevertheless, these studies have provided very little evidence that commonly used dietary supplements would help to prevent chronic diseases."
It should be noted that the study found an association between supplement use and health risks, but did not prove a cause-and-effect.
Speaking for the supplement industry, Duffy MacKay, vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, said that people who use supplements tend to live healthier lives.
These researchers "really do overstate the potential for harm, and understate any benefit," he said. "The researchers started out with the intention of identifying harm. I caution against making overstated assumptions and conclusions from this data."
MacKay noted that "anything, including water, can be harmful if you overdo it."
In the real world, you cannot get all the needed nutrients from diet alone, he said. So supplements are needed when you fall short. People need to analyze their diet and figure out what supplements they need, MacKay said.
Dr. Goran Bjelakovic, from the University of Nis in Serbia and co-author of an accompanying journal editorial, said that "dietary supplementation has shifted from preventing deficiency to trying to promote wellness and prevent diseases."
Consumers assume that vitamin and mineral supplements are safe, he said. "We think the paradigm 'the more the better' is wrong. We believe that for all micronutrients, there are risks associated with both insufficient intake and too large intake," Bjelakovic said.
Low levels increase the risk of deficiency; high levels increase the risk of toxicity and disease, he said. "We cannot recommend the use of vitamin and mineral supplements as a preventive measure, at least not in a well-nourished population. Consumption of a varied healthy diet seems a prudent preventive strategy," Bjelakovic concluded.
Use of calcium should be the subject of further studies, Bjelakovic said.
Another expert, Samantha Heller, a dietitian and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., added that "while some vitamin and mineral supplements are beneficial in certain instances, we cannot undo the deleterious health effects of a chronically poor diet with a pill."
It is best to get healthy compounds from a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains, Heller said. "A supplement should be just that -- a supplement to a healthy diet, not in place of a healthy diet."
More information
For more information on dietary supplements, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Certainly everyone should follow the governments recommendations on eating right.
Their guidance and helpful intervention over the years has created a society that is overweight, chronically ill, and, in spite of following their recommendations, dies anyhow.
Wonder how much money was spent doing that study? What a crock.
quote:Originally posted by Tincup: Certainly everyone should follow the governments recommendations on eating right.
Their guidance and helpful intervention over the years has created a society that is overweight, chronically ill, and, in spite of following their recommendations, dies anyhow.
Wonder how much money was spent doing that study? What a crock.
- My thoughts exactly. I was just as PO'd when I heard this on the news last night. So stupid!!! And maybe some of the problem is the quality of the supplements and the additives in them.
They said Americans eat so much food that we couldn't possibly be deficient in nutritional vitamins! HAHHHAHA
Our food has NO NUTRIENTS in it~!!! We no longer have REAL FARMERS growing the majority of our food. We have corporations growing our food!! Big difference!
ok.. I quit..
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I had just barely seen this on one of the news channels this morning. I didn't hear the whole thing so thanks Lou for posting it.
There is no doubt that we are receiving extremely less nutrients in our produce (I've heard that canned spinach has 50% less iron than it had in the 50's and 60's) and even more "created" fertilizers than needed.
Also considering GMO's and the fact that we now have a "Roundup" resistant sugar beet (I'm sure that's good for us) is going to help begin the embalming process.
Just as a side note, I bought a whole chicken the other day only to discover that there was 15% added chicken broth in it! If I wanted chicken broth I would have bought some.
In addition one would think (even assume?) that a fresh chicken would be gluten free (as Silver is gluten intolerant). Now, is the chicken broth gluten free? I don't know and if it causes Silver a problem there will be a nasty gram to Fred Meyer! (Okay, I'm off my soapbox for now.)
-------------------- I have a good time wherever I go! Posts: 665 | From Lost Wages, NV | Registered: May 2006
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- My blood pressure rose and my sadness for the state of journalism sank when I saw this on the NBC Evening News last night.
Such shallow treatment of this. No one ever even thought about the quality of the supplements used or suggested people contact a nutritionist or naturopathic doctor. Most MDs are not well educated about nutrients.
And, gee, not everyone eats processed foods that have all the vitamins added -- but even those are often not the right form - and the heat from processing is not good for vitamin stability. Oy, Vey!
It would have been helpful for them to at least talk about the quality of supplements and how to find the best ones. Maybe they don't have enough time but they sure could bring on better guest experts.
Many of the "studies" done use crappy additives or the wrong kind of calcium, etc.
They also fail to look at all the variables of the study participants.
You know, they are really setting us up to take away the supplements. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Just as a side note, I bought a whole chicken the other day only to discover that there was 15% added chicken broth in it! If I wanted chicken broth I would have bought some.
In addition one would think (even assume?) that a fresh chicken would be gluten free (as Silver is gluten intolerant). Now, is the chicken broth gluten free? I don't know and if it causes Silver a problem there will be a nasty gram to Fred Meyer! (Okay, I'm off my soapbox for now.)
-- In most if not ALL cases... the broth is NOT gluten free!! I never buy chicken that has additives.
and PS... rice found in 90% of restaurants is also not gluten free for the same reason!
Asian food would be an exception in most cases... the white rice, but do ask.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Silverwolf
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9196
posted
Thanks <<<<< Lou >>>>>,
for posting more about this, I told TxC' before I left the room temporarily [darn IC and 'IBS'].
Just more choice examples of govt. and big Pharma trying to control us,and what we can and cannot have. It angers me!
And I too was wondering what might have been up w/ these 62/over62yrs. aged women,as to health problems.
<<<<< Lymetoo >>>>>, thanks for the GF/non-GF info' about chicken, rice and so on.
It is getting more and more difficult here to find foods that are safe for us.
We'll BBL [getting ready for yet another trip to Salt Lake VA Hospital/clinics for TxC' tomorrow [both tired already].
Jus' Silverwolfi and TxC' too...
-------------------- 2006,May-August2006 Dx w/ Lyme/Bartonella/White Matter Lesion Disease on Brain. [ Clinical Dx w/ two positives and several IND's on the tests from Igenex ], Prior Dx of CFIDS/CEBV 1992, and FMS '93-'94 Diabetes*2 Dx 10/'08 Posts: 3581 | From SE Idaho | Registered: May 2006
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James1979
Unregistered
posted
About the chicken broth - aren't you guys worried that it's probably just a concoction of all of the "throw out" chicken pieces, boiled down for hours at very high temperatures until it becomes a liquid? I'm not sure (and maybe I'm being unrealistically pessimistic), but that's what I imagine it would be. I just don't trust those people.
About the media coverage on the supplements - I think one of the REALLY AWESOME things about these "Occupy" protests is that people everywhere are beginning to learn that MSM (mainstream media) is full of lies.
Silverwolf
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9196
posted
Hey <<<<< James >>>>>,
About the 'chicken broth' gunk, we did not want chicken broth in the chicken.
TxC' tho't he was just getting plain chicken, he is blind in one eye, and even trying to check carefully he occasionally misses fine print.
We found the info' after we got home,both to weary to go out again that day.I wont be eating any of the chicken.
About Mainstream media,we haven't trusted most of the news for years.
Jus' Silverwolfi
-------------------- 2006,May-August2006 Dx w/ Lyme/Bartonella/White Matter Lesion Disease on Brain. [ Clinical Dx w/ two positives and several IND's on the tests from Igenex ], Prior Dx of CFIDS/CEBV 1992, and FMS '93-'94 Diabetes*2 Dx 10/'08 Posts: 3581 | From SE Idaho | Registered: May 2006
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
i agree with you guys of course and have known this was in the works for awhile
i assume it is just big $ making sure they keep us sick so they can make more $ selling us pills that dont cure us
it concerns me so much but i refuse to stress over it until 8i know there is something constructive i can do
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I hate that about tuna, too. Packed in water? Yeah, right. sigh. I have to buy tuna from the health food store in order to find it without a mysterious broth of somesort added.
-------------------- IgM: [18++,31+++,34++,41++,83-93+] [39 IND] IgG: [41 IND] Positive according to IGeneX. Negative according to CDC. Negative for co-infections. Currently treating for Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia Posts: 225 | From Minnesota | Registered: May 2011
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
don't ever ever eat a hotdog. you'd gag or die if you saw how and what those are made of.
but on supplements, new study said that senior women are 17 percent more at risk of dying by taking supplements that somebody who doesn't.
geez, i take a ton...
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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You know, they are really setting us up to take away the supplements.
-
That is the entire thing!!
randi.. read the first 2-3 posts here
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
i read the posts. all i'm saying is that this study supports their efforts to either reduce or do away with our ability to buy what we choose.
notwithstanding, our food is not all "organic" either, so we're not getting the vitamins we need.
my doctor has stated that most otc vitamins are simply passed through the body and a very minute amount is absorbed, making the possibility of overdose or death miniscule. he's not talking about the massive megadoses that a very small majority of people take.
for those who are immunocompromised, the supplementation is often necessary. in some cases, vital to supporting our good health. providing, of course, that they will let us get them.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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phyl6648
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 28522
posted
I think the drug companies are behind this. Take away supplements to sell more harmful drugs.. Gee everything we eat, drink or take is harmful. So discouraging..
If we only knew what is in and how the food we eat is prepared we would probalby starve, even with the organic foods. Have read a lot of negativie things about them.
Oh, well.. sad World.
Posts: 1058 | From VA | Registered: Oct 2010
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posted
I was so sickened by this story! I also heard it on the news and rolled my eyes. Yet another attempt for big pharma to line their pockets even more! And yet another thing for the government to control. Pathetic.
-------------------- "The simple things can get you through the hardest times." Posts: 628 | From Connecticut | Registered: Sep 2010
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powers that be (those fat rats knawing on money here and there) work with media to dribble out this kind of drivel to get mainstream media consumers to think regulation of supplements is necessary.
this is the age old set up to get bills passed. by the time nutritional health experts justify a pro supplement arguement, it will be too late because of the propaganda.
mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
Next thing you know, we'll be required to ask the govt. for permission to go to the bathroom.
-------------------- 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28 Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
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James1979
Unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by linky123: Next thing you know, we'll be required to ask the govt. for permission to go to the bathroom.
...and they'll only allow us to pee in the Merck brand toilets.
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linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
James,
I hear ya!
-------------------- 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28 Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
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