Girlie said...
that is odd - you're taking so much and your level is still low.
Is that really odd? I know I harp on it a lot -- and, my apologies to everyone for doing so -- but, like I noted in today's thread on magnesium, driving-up one's blood/lab values isn't likely correcting the root cause of the original deficiency.
[
e.g. If I had high cholesterol, I could take Niacin to lower it. Okay, so I lowered my lab value. Great, my doctor is happy. But, did I halt or reverse any pathology? Did I reduce my disease risk? Probably not.]
Also, we can't change only one thing in the body and hold all other variables constant. Many compounds are interrelated and need to maintain a delicate balance, like a seesaw. Drive one side up and the other goes down.
I'm not telling people to supplement or not supplement.
Rather, I'm suggesting people zoom out a bit and consider the bigger picture. If eating a variety of foods containing the vitamins/minerals that are [allegedly] low doesn't help, then maybe supplementing is appropriate, while the root cause continues to be investigated. That's between the person and their healthcare team.
Many of us, myself included, have an understandable desire to get a test, see what values are low/high, then take something to raise/lower it. But, do we really know what's a "Normal" range for the many things we measure?
We can measure what's in the blood, at that moment in time, but that value might be vastly different in 10 minutes. Aside from what we measure in the blood, how much of those compounds are stored in the organs? The bones? Elsewhere? More importantly, what does any of it really mean?
When we take 1,000 mg of Vitamin C, it may raise our serum levels. But, how is that synthetic, isolated compound affecting the many other biological pathways? Why not just eat an apple? Well, because that 1,000 mg of supplemental Vitamin C will have
waaay more Vitamin C than a measly apple, right?
Consider:
T. Colin Campbell, PhD said...
Professor Liu and his research team began by choosing to focus on vitamin C and its antioxidant effect. They found that 100 grams of fresh apples (about four ounces, or half a cup) had an antioxidant, vitamin C-like activity equivalent to 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C (about three times the amount of a typical vitamin C supplement). When they chemically analyzed that 100 grams of whole apple, however, they found only 5.7 milligrams of vitamin C, far below the 1,500 milligrams that the level of antioxidant activity associated with vitamin C indicated. The vitamin C-like activity from 100 grams of whole apple was an astounding 263 times as potent as the same amount of the isolated chemical!....there is a treasure trove of such vitamin-C-like compounds in apples. These include other antioxidants with names like quercitin, catechin, phlorizin, and chlorogenic acid found only in plants, each of which may exist in many forms within the apple. The list of these chemicals in apples and other fruits is long, and likely reflects just the tip of the iceberg.
Source: Campbell, T. C., & Jacobson, H. (2013). Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition (pp. 152-153). Dallas, TX: BenBella Books.
and...
T. Colin Campbell, PhD said...
"Calcium decreases iron bioavailability by as much as 400%, while carotenoids (like beta-carotene) increase iron absorption by as much as 300%. Theoretically, in comparing a high-calcium, low-carotenoid diet with a low-calcium, high-carotenoid diet, we might see an 800-1,200 percent difference in iron absorption....for some nutrients, tissue concentrations varying by more than 10-20 percent can mean seriously bad news....Nutrient pairs that were found to influence each other and in turn, to influence components of the immune system include vitamin E-selenium, vitamin E-vitamin C, vitamin E-vitamin A, and vitamin A-vitamin D. The mineral magnesium influences the effects of iron, manganese, vitamin E, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and sodium, and through them the activities of hundreds of enzymes that process them; copper interacts with iron, zinc, molybdenum, and selenium to affect the immune system; dietary protein exerts different effects on zinc; and vitamin A and dietary fat affect each other’s ability to influence the development of experimentally created cancer....the common belief that we can investigate the effects of a single nutrient or drug, unmindful of the potential modifications by other chemical factors is foolhardy. This evidence should also make us extremely hesitant to "mega-dose" on nutrients isolated from whole foods. Our bodies have evolved to eat whole foods, and can therefore deal with the combinations and interactions of nutrients contained in those foods. Give a body 10,000 mg of vitamin C, however, and all bets are off."
Source: Campbell, T. C., & Jacobson, H. (2013). Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition (pp. 70-71). Dallas, TX: BenBella Books.
In closing, once again, my goal isn't to convince people to stop using vitamin/mineral supplements. My desire is that people not ignore the larger view, consider the limitations of testing, and think more [w]holistically.
If people
are already doing so, then, by all means, please disregard what I've written.
Thanks,
Dude
p.s. I've been awake for 30+ hours, so keep that in mind.
I may need to read this again, once I'm able to get some sleep.
.
Post Edited (The Dude Abides) : 11/15/2019 7:25:30 PM (GMT-7)