Vitamin therapy is healthy alternative

From Canada.com
Mike Eams didn't eat very well and drank a lot of coffee and energy drinks to get him through the day.

Then he made a New Year's resolution to get healthier.

He talked to his doctor about other ways to boost his energy without caffeine and was told to eat well and take a multivitamin and B vitamins, which are good for stress relief.

"I'm not sure if it works as a placebo, but I feel a lot better," says Eams, who followed the doctor's advice and added ginseng, too. "I feel I have more energy and I don't have to drink caffeine or coffee all day."

Eams is one of millions of Canadians who take vitamins to improve their health. In fact, so many people are using so-called alternative therapies that medical students now learn about them in school. ...more

Massive study casts doubt on health benefits of multivitamins

From Canada.com:
Multivitamins don’t protect women against heart attack, stroke, cancer or an early death, according to a massive study involving tens of thousands of women.

Millions of women take multivitamins, often in the hope the popular supplements will prevent cancer and other diseases.

But the largest study ever conducted in post-menopausal women has found “convincing evidence” that multivitamin use has “little or no influence” on the risk of common cancers, cardiovascular disease or dying from any cause in post-menopausal women.

The research involved 161,808 American women, age 50 to 79, who are part of the ongoing Women’s Health Initiative, the largest study of women’s health. A total of 41.5 per cent of the women used multivitamins. The most popular was a multivitamin with minerals.

The women were enrolled in the trial between 1993 and 1998. After an average eight years of followup, researchers found no evidence multivitamins either increased or decreased the risk of cancers of the breast (invasive), colon/rectum, endometrium, ovary, kidney, bladder, stomach or lung.

They also found no significant effect on the risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots in the veins. ...more

Vitamins for bipolar: cure or quackery?

From the Vancouver Sun:
Monica Carsience says it's the answer to her prayers. David Hardy calls it good pig husbandry. Health Canada suggested it was quackery and spent years trying to shut it down.

A dry cocktail of vitamins and minerals that calms aggressive pigs and seems to have eradicated bipolar disorder symptoms in almost 10,000 North Americans, drives these strongly held views. Views that pit bureaucratic rules against a human need for relief and squeeze the scientists in the middle.

Could pig pills really heal a mental illness, the cure for which has long eluded medicine?

Maybe.

Psychiatric experts familiar with it say the widespread anecdotal success of the pig formula indicates research into mental illness should make a sharp shift away from pharmaceuticals to examine the potential of vitamin and mineral therapy. One goes so far as to say it has the potential to be the most significant breakthrough in mental health since the beginning of time. ...more

Expert warns against cheap vitamins

From the Victoria (BC) Times Colonist:
Canadians are taking a chance on their health by trading their strong dollars for cheaper dietary supplements across the U.S. border, says B.C. vitamin expert Lyle MacWilliam.

Canada has some of the toughest regulations in the world, he says, while the U.S. lets the industry regulate itself -- "a regulatory loophole that you could drive a Mac truck through."

Health Canada demands that supplements meet pharmaceutical-style standards, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lets manufacturers classify supplements as food -- a much less rigorous standard.

"There is a real cause for concern when it comes to U.S. products -- there's a lot of room for error," says MacWilliam, a biochemist and former MLA and MP who was among the experts who developed new regulations that went into force in 2004 at a cost to the federal government of $40 million. ...more

Do you need a daily dose?

From the Victoria (BC) Times Colonist:
Millions of Canadians begin the day by popping a multi-vitamin/mineral pill.

It's a cheap and easy form of health insurance, right? Or is it too much of a good thing?

There's a lot of confusion about the ubiquitous little pills.

Health Canada won't go out on a limb and recommend them for anyone but women of childbearing age.

The Dietitians of Canada suggest a multi-vitamin for some segments of the population, but advocate food first.

The B.C. Ministry of Health website makes multi-vitamins sound like a good idea even for those eating well: "If you eat a healthy diet, taking a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement may be all you need to do in most cases." ...more