VITAMIN WORKSHOP TOPICS

PREFACE: Do not panic at some of the detrimental actions of vitamins exposed in the following articles. The number of people impacted might be really small. A scientific study might say there is a 50% increase in cancer rates, but this is not 50% of test subjects, it is just a number 50% larger than the number of people who would naturally come down with cancer. Say if this number is 8 out of 1000, and the study showed a 50% increased cancer rate, THAT IS REALLY ONLY 4 PEOPLE MORE, or 12 instead of 8 out of a 1000. See how to comprehend research study results here. The information presented on this website is designed so people can make intelligent decisions to Optimize Vitamin Choices for Maximum Health Benefits. This means that any risks would be minimized or eliminated.  

What you will find here (many of these concepts are new and still in exploratory stages):

 1. The first realistic attempt to demystify controversial vitamin study results 

• How can seemingly similar studies of the same nutrient arrive at opposite conclusions
• Studies looking at just food sources of vitamins are mainly positive while studies with supplemented nutrients are all over the gambit from slightly negative to very positive. article
• Nutritional Researchers are violating their own scientific method principles in reporting vitamin study results, especially when reported by mass media news 
• There appears to be a few major flaws in connecting vitamin functions with body activities, like for beta carotene and vitamin E
• Using some simple logic and the available scientific vitamin research, novel concepts  discovered point to the development of a more rational vitamin criteria than the one that currently just uses RDI levels, but leaves out forms.      

  2. Why The Science of Nutrition needs Updating

• There are far too many incomplete vitamin premises to allow current false theories to stand uncontested any longer. (antioxidants)
• Recent scientific study results are both expanding nutritional knowledge and challenging  some long held and largely assumed past vitamin facts from the 1940's (vitamin D, calcium, selenium, and vitamin E family functions) 
• High dose vitamin or mineral supplement spiking can exhibit adverse effects for both fat and water soluble nutrients and normal body processes. ref ref
• Nutrient on nutrient absorption interference is a neglected concept in supplement formulas. article 
• Why is the vital balance of antioxidant loads almost completely absent from nutrition? article
• While pH levels of body fluids and tissues wisely only slightly vary, it is the undercurrent of actions or vital minerals used up that is necessary to maintain these pH levels where supplements can play a vital role. ref ref ref
• Vitamins may have beneficial effects, adverse effects, or be neutral depending upon the beginning body level, the size of dosage, and the form used.
• Many vitamins and minerals have adverse effects at BOTH too low or too high amounts ref
• Vitamin supplements can have both benefits and risks, often as dosages vary, body levels change (selenium), or at different stages of disease (cancers), either before, at start up, or during full-blown stage. (cancer cells produce an enzyme to deactivate vitamin D)

  3. Beneficial emerging Vitamin Concepts: 

• Vitamin C link to Cancer protection discovered here
• Vitamin K influences Bone growth and also offers protection from artery disease plus helps control blood sugar, new discovery less than 10 years ago. (notice dihydrophylloquinone form effects)> ref  ref ref article
• Vitamin D expanded roles in immunity, infection fighting, and cancer prevention, > here
• Understanding anti-oxidant load balance,  > here
• Vitamin supplement consumers have on average 5% longer telomeres, ref (Dr. Oz recently mentioned this) Equates to a longer life for cells.
• Magnesium is a natural calcium channel blocker
• Vitamins C & E reduce inflammatory effects on arteries after high fat meal ref
• CoQ10 improves cardiovascular parameters in heart disease
• OPC's from grape seed extract protect elastin and collagen fibers
• Adverse effects of excess sugar or saturated fat on glycation mitigated by vitamins C, E, and Carnosine
• BUT, vitamins C & E can also eliminate the benefits of exercise on insulin sensitivity (it's just how they function) ref
• Omega 3 fish oils on heart health markers (caution men with prostate cancer)

 4. Some NEW adverse vitamin concepts under consideration include:

•  High Vitamin A may increase bone fracture rates ref
•  Higher carotenoids such as beta carotene could protect bones and limit fractures ref
•  Role played by Calcium in arterial calcification, on blood pressure, for cancer cell survival,    and relationship to cognitive dementia  
•  Failure of long term Dairy consuption and calcium without synergistic partners to limit bone fractures, even though it somewhat increases bone density ref ref ref ref
•  Higher dietary and synthetic Folic acid intake on cancer and dementia  ref (Conclusion from  reference:  High intake of folate may be associated with cognitive decline in older  persons. BUT, this reference shows the opposite? And one that shows no influence? This  latest ref settles it. Wrap up ref )
•  New Folic acid links during late pregnancy with asthma and allergies in children (still very new, needs more research)
•  Excess or deficiency of Vitamin B6 on nerve damage ref
•  Excess doses of Magnesium and Vitamin C on diarrhea article article
•  Iron on oxidative stress and reduced telomere length
•  Excessively large Zinc amounts on interference of copper article
•  Higher levels of Selenium on diabetes risk article
•  Chromium needs caution, some but not too much, especially certain forms  ref
•  Mega vitamin E as alpha tocopherol on hemorrhagic strokes ref
•  Higher Vitamin A & E intake on suppression of vitamin K absorption 
•  Mega niacin for cholesterol on increasing homocysteine levels 
•  Low vitamin K levels on artery calcification, varicose veins, and bone integrity
•  Chronic High Protein diet on long term kidney function.
•  Prostate gland cell growth rate may be controlled by the balance between Osteocalcin     forms (very recent discovery). ref article   
  

Popular Current Vitamin issues: 

1. Strontium for bones - The Good, the Bad and the ....Oh NO! article  article
2. Natural versus Synthetic Vitamins - Yes, there are some differences but rarely are you given the actual facts.   article  article
3. Food-form or Whole Food Vitamins - Do you know the real story? article article  
4. Vitamin D - Is it a vitamin or a steroid hormone? Or a lttle of both? article  article
5. To find your topic of interest: click on SEARCH website or what's NEW in Navigation column on right
6. GMO, What's really happening!

 VITAL FACT #1:  Mother nature over time designed miraculous mechanisms to build and maintain a healthy body. 

Concepts to help enhance meanings and recommendations on this website can be found in these articles: The Big Picture of health and Profound Health.                  

SHORT-CUT VERSION

 In a hurry? Don't care about knowing the support reasons. Go right to the Vitamin Criteria and finish at (This next section is not avaiable to general Public at the moment - Multiple Vitamin Picks under Finding your multiple vitamin )

THINK OF THIS WEBSITE AS A VITAMIN MANUAL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, NOT THE LAST WORD, BUT WORTHY OF A GOOD STARTING POINT! At least until the FDA limits your access to vitamins and one of your best opportunities for optimal health.

AUTHOR OBSERVATIONS:  Having access to information channels not readily available to the public allows for greater insight into the scope of many vitamin industry issues. There are many novel and insightful vitamin concepts presented here, some for the first time.

*The FDA is suppose to be in charge of consumer health protection. But instead, the overall effect has been to ignore science and become a hand puppet for the pharmaceutical, medical, and food establishment special interests. Numerous examples will be presented throughout this website. The history of artificial sweeteners is perhaps one of the most obvious cases with GMO approval before first testing a close second.  

GOAL of WORKSHOP

The Goal for this Vitamin Workshop is simply to help you cut through the critical vitamin supplement issues to make healthier choices, IN SIMPLE EVERYDAY LANGUAGE. Because many other websites claim to offer best advice, this website by default is the 2nd best guide. No sore jaw here, just tongue pushing out cheek.

Prologue to Vitamin Workshop

Vitamin theories and facts today are as misleading as they were over 40 years ago. Some of the same myths still exist and even a few new ones have emerged. Plus, long term scientific research is now challenging some long established "theories" and should soon be updating vitamin facts and changing formulas. This is how the scientific method evolves and improves health. But instead, today there is a built-in resistance to change that is potentially jeopardizing your health.

Intelligent vitamin choices have the power to optimize health.  Unfortunately, unwise choices may compromise health. DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? Where would you look to find this relatively new knowledge?

   ...insightful vitamin concepts...

This author asked these same questions over 12 years ago (2006) and failing to find any constructive unbiased answers, began the development of this website. Behind this website are over 10,000 hours of searching published medical journal articles to discover this material. There are some novel and insightful vitamin concepts presented here not found covered together in any other media. Current scientific vitamin research coupled with some good old-fashioned common sense forms the backbone for this new vitamin criteria. See if you agree after reading the interpretations of linked research studies forming the base of each article.  

Here is the official website (http://ods.od.nih.gov) of the U.S. Government from the Office of Dietary Supplements, a part of the National Institutes of Health. There are excellent nutrient databases and fact sheets, but missing are some of the more controversial new scientific discoveries that must still be under development and not yet offered for public discussion. See Below.  

All of these facts can be positively influnced by intelligent vitamin choices. UNDERSTANDING THESE FACTS SURROUNDING CONCEPTS WILL IMPROVE YOUR CHOICES BEFORE YOU TAKE ANY VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS.  These are just some of the vital vitamin aspects covered on this website with scientific study resources in support. Nutrients often have beneficial values as long as levels are in synergistic ratios with other nutrients. Yes, the body has adaptive mechanisms to deal with "unbalanced" ratios, often for long periods of time, but this takes energy and nutrients away from other vital functions.

AUTHOR INSIGHTS:  Health and Vitamins, similar to life in general, don't always fit into nice and neat black and white facts and theories. An important concept to remember regarding this website is that when reading science research reports, everything is a matter of degrees. And that much of vitamin research results concern quite small degrees and only impact a limited number of people with either benefits or adverse effects. The majority of test subjects often appear unaffected. But then appearances don't tell the whole story. A 50% reduction in cancers doesn't mean 50% of the people in the test group, but simply the difference between the number of cancers in the test subjects versus the number in controls. This could be as few as 3 out of a 1000 or as large as 50 out of a 1000. Although any decrease or increase in disease rates is significant since we are talking about people's lives.

UPDATING VITAMIN SCIENCE 

One more thing needs to be addressed. Health concepts developed in the last century had many flaws since the young science at the time didn't have command of enough vital influencing facts. Today modern medicine is still significantly influenced by many of these "original" flawed theories even though new research has raised many questions.  Some like the germ theory worked quite well in dealing with infectious diseases at the time, but fail in the modern world with degenerative diseases dominating. Yet mainstream medicine tenaciously hangs onto old unworkable theories, unable or unwilling to let go and admit such major shortcomings.

This website simply attempts to find truths, as close to the actual reality as possible given current research results. Until clarification exists for many still controversial vitamin issues, the Precautionary Principle for taking vitamin supplements should remain in play.

Most Vitamins have a window or range of dosages between which health is maintained while BOTH lower and higher levels can induce distress, leading to disease. The Precautionary Principle is a conservative approach to supplement amounts to remain within this window for health, slightly on the lower side since food should supply the major amount of vitamins.

The new Vitamin Criteria incorporates this Principle.  

Copyright and Disclaimer

Copyright: Permission is hereby granted to any non-profit, non-commercial educational endeavor to copy and distribute any or all materials for educational purposes as long as a referenced byline to this site is acknowledged. Commercial endeavors are prohibited from any use without written consent.  

Disclaimer: Educational Information presented here is not meant as medical advice to diagnose, or as treatment, or as a cure for any disease condition.  If you are not well, see a qualified medical professional for medical services. This is a health information clearinghouse website. Referenced scientific research that test vitamins in disease situations is presented for educational purposes for consumers to discuss with their medical team. Opinions and analysis expressed here are the property of the author(s).  Linked websites should not be construed as a recommendation of products or services. This includes governmental sites as well. Any allegiances owed are to the discovery of FACTS and TRUTH.

This website is the personal research vehicle for, and is authored by a private non-affiliated individual, Konrad Anderson, now retired after forty-eight years in the vitamin and health industry. This website was established as an educational service of Anderson Health Consulting, with the goal of supporting the intelligent, effective, and safe use of vitamin supplements. Use this website as a stepping stone to continue searching for vitamin facts.

PLEASE notify administrator by email on contact page if you discover any web reference links that have been corrupted by unfriendly bots or hackers, etc. They will be quickly changed. THANK YOU!  And, as always, your email address will be promptly deleted and not stored.

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