Learning About the Good and Bad of Vitamin Supplementation
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10/14/2011
Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, Founder and Chairman of Cooper Aerobics, discusses a recent study regarding vitamins and his recommendation for proper supplementation.
An article published in the press on Oct. 11, 2011 made the statement: “Study flags risk of daily vitamin use.” This referred to a paper published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Oct. 10, 2011) that looked at death rates among 38,772 women in Iowa with an average age of 61.6 years. Fifteen supplements were studied, of which seven were associated with increased mortality. The study reported that use of multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc and copper translated to a 2.4 percent increased risk.
It’s important to remember that multiple vitamins vary considerably in their content and most contain the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of that supplement. However, Cooper Complete® vitamins in many cases contain amounts higher than the RDA plus additional minerals and supplements not ordinarily found in over-the-counter vitamins. For example, our vitamin D supplement is in the D3 form (cholecalciferol), not D2 (ergocalciferol). Our omega-3 product contains 60 percent eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), not 30 percent.
Any study of medications or vitamins should determine the blood level at the beginning of the study so that the experimental subjects and controls equally match. This recent study was solely based on self-reported data. As you know from our studies, blood levels of vitamin D vary tremendously and are not always perfectly related to sun exposure or supplementation. So it is very easy to mismatch these subjects and draw conclusions which are invalid.
According to the article, iron supplementation was the worst. We have known for years that iron can act as a pro-oxidant, increasing the risk of free radicals which can be associated with cancer and heart disease. That is why we recommend our Cooper Complete with iron only in known iron-deficiency anemia or menstruating women. Once again, the amount of iron supplementation is dependent on the ferritin (iron level) in the body.
Folic acid was one of the supplements associated with problems. We know that folic acid deficiency is the primary cause of neural tube defects in children. Vitamin B6 was another vitamin associated with problems, but the combination of folic acid and B6 are what we use to control homocysteine. Homocysteine has a clear relationship with cardiovascular disease either as an indicator or perhaps a treatment.
There was no mention in the article about the scientific evidence proving that vitamin D supplementation is very important in practicing medicine, preventing problems from osteoporosis to heart disease. And omega-3 supplementation has been shown to lower triglycerides, treat depression and recently was associated with reduction in suicides in the military. Even cardiac arrhythmia associated with sudden death apparently can be reduced with omega-3 supplementation. Once again, the prescription for both omega-3 and vitamin D is based strictly on the blood level. We do not arbitrarily treat patients with those supplements, but when we do we follow their blood level to make sure that the doses are appropriate.
Co-enzyme Q-10 is also listed under daily vitamins or supplements, and it is a major factor in reducing congestive heart failure.
And don’t forget the observation that many of our patients have made over the years that taking our Cooper Complete vitamins has had a dramatic effect on reducing the frequency of colds and upper respiratory infections. One study from The Lewin Group, a national health care consulting group, predicted that if all people over 65 years of age took a single vitamin supplement daily, it would reduce the cost of Medicare by $1.5 billion over a 5-year period.
In conclusion, “look at the rest of the story” when inflammatory articles of this type are published. As we have done with exercise over the past 40 years, we have bridged the gap between faddism and scientific legitimacy in using exercise in the practice of medicine, and the results are too impressive to be ignored. Now I hope that with our ongoing vitamin research at The Cooper Institute we will be able to prove the same thing in the not too distant future.
Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH
Founder and Chairman of Cooper Aerobics