SuperNutrition News

Vitamins & Minerals: The Proof Is In The Potency

Whats the Right Dose for You? Most people know that taking vitamins and minerals is good for their health. But did you know that there are more than 20,000 studies in the National Library of Medicine showing the health benefits of vitamins and some essential minerals at higher levels than the U.S. government Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs)? To understand why the new dosage levels of vitamins and essential minerals, called optimal doses, are higher than the RDAs, we need to look back in time to how supplements became part of our diet. In the 1940s, the U.S. government first established Recommended Daily Allowances for certain vitamins and essential minerals. These RDAs were established to ensure that people would get enough vitamins and essential minerals to protect themselves from the earliest known deficiency diseases: scurvy, pellagra and rickets. It was the first step in establishing suggested doses for overall health protection. RDAs, also called Daily Values or Reference Daily Intakes, were very useful guidelines which raised our awareness that vitamins and essential minerals could play an important role in our health. However, the guidelines were based on the best information available 60 years ago and were applied to everyone, irrespective of age, gender or stress level. Now there is better information available. Today we know that people are different and, within healthful ranges, have differing needs for vitamins and essential minerals, not only because of genetics but because of the increasing stress in our fastpaced lifestyles. New technology, more researchers and advanced computers have dramatically increased the rate of research in preventative health since the 1940s.
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As it turns out, the RDAs were a good starting point, but the 60 years of research since the RDAs were first established has shown that the more effective doses of vitamins and essential minerals are often significantly higher than the RDAs. Below are examples of what researchers have discovered about optimal doses for vitamins and essential minerals. Vitamin C and Better Bone Density A study in 2001 found that senior women who took between 1,000 and 5,000 milligrams of Vitamin C per day had five percent greater bone density than women who took 500 milligrams or less per day over three years. Vitamin C Higher Doses Reduced the Duration of Colds A 1995 study found that although Vitamin C doses of 250 to 500 milligrams per day produced no effect on reduction of cold symptoms, doses from 1,000 to 6,000 milligrams per day decreased cold durations an average of 21 percent. Vitamin E Higher Doses Reduce Cholesterol Oxidation Also in 1995, a placebo-controlled study found that Vitamin E, when taken at low doses of 60 IU or 200 IU (both higher doses than the RDA of 30 mg), had no effect on reducing the oxidation of LDL cholesterol that precedes cholesterol plaque formation in the arteries. However, as the doses increased to 400 IU, 800 IU and 1,200 IU, there was an increasingly stronger effect on reducing the oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the blood stream.

Folic Acid For Healthier Babies Folic acid mostly found in green leafy vegetables, certain grains and orange juice is critical to the diets of pregnant women in early pregnancy in lowering the risk of spinal birth defects in their babies. The National Academy of Science recommends that all women who are planning to become pregnant begin taking 400 micrograms of supplemental folic acid daily even before they are pregnant to ensure adequate folic acid in the most critical early days of their pregnancy. And in line with what we now know about optimal doses, higher doses of folic acid can lower the risk even further (i.e. 1,000 mcg can lower the risk up to 50 percent). Calcium Bone Health Published medical journal studies show that if you eat the average American diet, you are provided approximately 600 mg of food calcium per day. If you take low supplemental calcium doses, such as 100 mg per day (regardless of the form of calcium), it is not effective for protecting against bone loss. You need more calcium. In fact, scientific studies demonstrate that a minimum dose of approximately 1,000 mg of supplemental elemental calcium per day is required for bone health and bone maintenance in adults. Even more supplemental calcium, 1,300 to 1,700 milligrams, is required for seniors 65 years or older. High Dose Vitamin Therapies and Protection Against Genetic Diseases Dr. Bruce Ames, a noted nutrient researcher and one of the worlds most respected cell biologists of University of California at Berkeley, published a study which stated that high dose vitamin therapies may help treat many genetic defects. High dose vitamin therapies have been efficacious in ameliorating about 50 genetic diseases . . . said Ames. RDAs have not kept pace with the science. Many years of research have shown that the typical RDA dosage is just enough to keep people from experiSuperNutrition Oakland, CA 94612

encing classic nutrient deficiency diseases. A lack of Vitamin D can cause rickets, a lack of Vitamin B3 can cause pellagra, and a person lacking in Vitamin C runs the risk of getting scurvy. There is growing recognition in the scientific and medical community that the RDA doses for many nutrients are just not high enough to support optimal health or long-term well being in todays fast paced world. This recognition is based not only on university and medical studies, but also on studies sponsored by the U.S. Governments Department of Agriculture.

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SuperNutrition is a family owned and operated multivitamin company founded in 1977 in the San Francisco Bay Area. We welcome your comments and questions regarding the information provided in this SuperNutrition News. Feel free to contact us at (800) 262-2116, info@supernutritionusa.com, or at SuperNutrition, 1925 Brush St., Oakland, CA 94612.

The following sources contributed to this article: 1. Enstron, and associates. Vitamin C intake and mortality among a sample of the United States population. Epidemiology 1992 May; 3(3):194-202. 2. Hemila H,and associates. Vitamin C and the common cold: a retrospective analysis of Chalmers review. J Am Coll Nutr 1995: 14(2):116-123 3. Jialal I, and associates. The effect of alphatocopherol supplementation on LDL oxidation. A doseresponse study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 1995; 15(2): 190-198 4. Brush MG, and associates. Pyridoxine in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome: a retrospective survey in 630 patients. Brit J Clin Pract 1988; 142(11): 448-4562. Consult your doctor about the use of higher dose Vitamin B6 for PMS. 5. Koo WW, and associates. Maternal calcium supplementation and fetal bone mineralization. Obstet Gynecol 1999, Oct; 94(4): 577-582. 6. Storm D, and associates. Calcium Supplementation prevents seasonal bone loss and changes in biochemical markers of bone turnover in elderly New England women: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Clin Endocrinol Metab, 83(11): 3817-25, 1998. 7. Garcia-Morales MA and associates. Peri-conception use of folic acid in the prevention of neural tube defect: current concepts. Ginecological Obstetrics of Mexico 1996 Sep;64:418-421
FDA Required Statement: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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