These are broken down into free radicals, which are oxidising agents that attack our cells causing damage. Oxidation is a process that causes things to degenerate just as the rust that will appear on your car if left to the elements of air and water. The metal will have oxidised.Not only is the food we eat often deficient, it may also contribute to poorer health. We need antioxidants to nourish us and to counteract the negative results of certain foods we eat.
Antioxidants are a matter of chemistry, they are dietary supplements that counteract oxidising chemicals released from the food we eat (& drink, pollution, stress etc.). If the cells in our body are protected from oxidative stress, they will have the best opportunity to maintain an optimum state of health.
'There's so much research! How can we make sense of it all?'
There is a bewildering mass of research and opinions concerning nutritional supplementation and food authorities around the globe are beginning to address clarification and standardisation. The UK Food Standards Agency and European Food Safety Authority are currently considering safe upper limits of vitamins and minerals, which are expected to come into effect in 2009.
In the mean time the US Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, has recently officially approved four statements recognising that nutritional supplementation can be instrumental in treatment and prevention of chronic degenerative diseases.
This recognition came about following publication of research papers in June 2002 in JAMA, the official Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers reviewed 36 years of literature that related vitamins to chronic disease, concluding:
- Low levels of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12, are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, neural tube defects, (such as spina bifida), and colon and breast cancer;
- Low levels of Vitamin D contribute to osteopenia and fractures;
- Low levels of the Antioxidant vitamins (Vitamins A, E and C) may increase risk for several chronic diseases.
- It appears prudent for all adults to take supplements;
It is an immense sea change that the American medical community is now formally addressing the role of nutrition in disease after years of adhering to the maxim that we can get all the nutrition that we need from our food.
Our familiar RDA, (Recommended Daily Allowance) or RNI, (Reference Nutrient Intake), guidelines were introduced to prevent nutrient deficiency such as scurvy, beriberi, rickets or pellagra. Today we are facing the challenge of chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes mellitus which has reached epidemic proportions.
These diseases are chronic because they take years to develop. For example, research in 1998 showed that hardening of the arteries is apparent at a very young age. 50% of children from 2-15yrs and 85% of 21-39 year olds showed early signs of the disease. 8% of 2-15yr olds had advanced changes of their arteries, and almost 70% of those aged 26-39 had significant fibrous deposits in their coronary arteries.
These and other studies are showing that we have been treating the end stages of chronic degenerative diseases, such as atherosclerosis, osteoporosis and cancer when, for instance, a 70 year old person falls and breaks their hip, rather than aiding prevention for our children.
Scientific evidence supporting the health benefits of nutritional supplements is solid and growing daily; this article can merely scratch the surface. Your body does not only run on a few micronutrients, it performs best with optimal levels and an excellent range of antioxidants vitamins and minerals. Numerous antioxidants including alpha liphoic acid, coenzyme Q10, lycopene, Lutein, Green tea, Broccoli, and Turmeric extract have all had research published in medical literature supporting their use as nutritional supplements. Antioxidant minerals such as Selenium, Copper, Zinc, Manganese enhance and in some cases enable the antioxidant vitamins and other antioxidants' abilities to neutralise free radicals and help prevent cellular damage.
'Ok, so how do I know which multi vitamins and minerals to buy?'
It's not easy to know which vitamins and mineral supplements to buy, Supplements are classed as food, and as such do not have to comply to the same stringent laws as the drug industry abides by.
However there are some simple guidelines to use when assessing whether your chosen vitamin and mineral supplements are of good quality.
Pharmaceutical Grade Manufacturing Process
Without pharmaceutical grade regulation we cannot be absolutely sure of the quality of a product. Fortunately some supplement manufacturers voluntarily produce their product to the standards required for drug and medicine manufacture. This means that ingredients are tested for efficacy at purchase, during the manufacturing process and before shipping. Look for a sign on the label such as 'Potency Guaranteed'. Or it may say on the bottle 'Laboratory tested, Quality Guaranteed. Meets BP (or USP) specifications for potency, uniformity, and disintegration where applicable.'
- BP stands for British Pharmacopoeia, (USP for United States Pharmacopoeia), if this is on the bottle, these specifications have been met.
- Potency guaranteed means that the level of ingredient listed on the label is in the bottle, without this guarantee actual levels can vary tremendously.
- Uniformity means that each pill or capsule will contain exactly the same amount of active ingredients
- Disintegration means that the product will dissolve and be available to the body during digestion. If a product does not disintegrate you are purchasing expensive waste matter.
Optimal Level of Ingredients
The level of ingredient needs to be looked at to ensure that they are in line with medical literature. As optimal daily allowances have shown benefit in research against chronic degenerative diseases, they have taken precedence over RDA or RNI levels. For example 40 international units of vitamin E per day would be more than adequate to meet RDA requirements. However, research shows that we need ten times more of this essential vitamin, on a regular daily basis to provide us with antioxidant protection.
Bioavailability
You will also need to check that the nutrients are bioavailable and readily absorbed. For instance, only half the synthetic form of vitamin E can be utilised by the body, a quality nutritional supplement will include only the natural form of Vitamin E. The same is true for numerous other nutrients. Some companies use chelated minerals. These are minerals that are attached to a carrier molecule, or chelated, to improve absorption. Many minerals in their elemental state are poorly absorbed by the body and may literally pass through your body.
- Read the 3rd Edition of the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Lyle MacWilliam, BSc, MSc, FP. This guide uses the combined knowledge of seven nutritional authorities to produce the most complete and objectively evaluated list of over 500 basic nutritional supplements. View the Comparative Guide.
- Choose nutritional supplement companies that adhere to good manufacturing practices for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical grade drugs. These drug grade standards focus on safety, potency, purity and efficacy. Contact the company and talk with those in the manufacturing department, that is, if the company manufactures its own product, as most do not.
- Ask if their manufacturing also adheres to BP or USP standards.
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