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This article may be reprinted free of charge provided 1) that there is clear attribution to the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, and 2) that both the OMNS free subscription link http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html and also the OMNS archive link http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml are included. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Megavitamin Myth-Busting
Commentary by Andrew W. Saul and Helen Saul Case(OMNS December 23, 2019) People are so confused about endless internet vitamin legends. Now it's time to be blunt and set the record straight. The media says that taking vitamins will kill me. Is that so? NO.
It's been said that the FDA does not regulate nutritional supplements. Is that true? NO. "FDA regulates both finished dietary supplement products and dietary ingredients." [U.S. Food and Drug Administration, http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/ ] I have heard that "vitamin supplements are useless" and that "supplements do not prevent or cure disease, and they do not help you live longer." Is that accurate? NO.
I get enough vitamins from my diet. NO, you don't.
Aren't foods a more economical vitamin source than supplements? NO.
Should I really stop all vitamin supplements for a week (or more) prior to surgery? NO.
Do alkaline foods alkalize the blood? NO.
Do I need special vitamin preparations for my body to absorb them? NO. With vitamins, there is usually no absorption issue. All animals need and absorb nutrients, including vitamins. If they didn't, they'd be long extinct. The surface area of your small intestine, if all the nooks and crannies were flatted out, would be half the size of a regulation basketball court. There is ample opportunity for nutrient absorption. Doesn't taking vitamins just make expensive urine? NO.
VITAMIN CDoes vitamin C causes kidney stones? NO.
Does vitamin C interfere with chemotherapy? NO, vitamin C actually enhances chemotherapy.
I have heard that ascorbic acid is not really vitamin C. Is that true? NO.
Will vitamin C from a genetically modified (GMO) source hurt me? NO.
Does the acidity of ascorbic acid vitamin C destroy probiotics? NO.
If I take too much vitamin C during pregnancy, will it cause a miscarriage? NO, vitamin C is highly protective of your developing baby.
Does taking too much vitamin C during pregnancy causes infantile rebound scurvy? NO.
Is liposomal vitamin C as good as intravenous vitamin C? NO.
Will I get to much sodium from taking sodium ascorbate vitamin C? NO, says cardiologist Thomas Levy, MD, JD.
Does G6PD mean no supplemental vitamin C? NO. The Riordan Clinic has administered 15,000 mg vitamin C by IV to G6PD patients without harm.
But since Linus Pauling died from cancer, didn't he fail to benefit from all the vitamin C he took? NO.
VITAMIN ASome persons have a genetic trait that makes it more difficult for them to convert dietary carotene into active vitamin A. Does this mean they must take preformed oil retinol A? NO. Even a poor converter can still make sufficient vitamin A from carotene if they eat lots of fruits and vegetables . . . which we should all be doing anyway. Does beta carotene cause cancer? NO. (But cigarettes do.)
B VITAMINSDoes niacin hurt the liver? NO.
Is niacin clinically incompatible for people with methylation issues? NO. Theoretically, perhaps. But Dr. Abram Hoffer, the world's most experienced niacin physician, has said it is not clinically significant. Aren't B-vitamins so poorly absorbed that they need to be methylated? NO. Comparing their molecular weights with the simplest of all sugars, we find:
MAGNESIUMI get plenty of magnesium in my diet! NO, you probably don't.
VITAMIN EIs vitamin E dangerous? NO. The safety record of all forms of vitamin E is exceptionally good.
VITAMIN KDo I need to consume vitamin K-2 because K-1 in foods is ineffective? NO. Your body will make the conversion for you. John Cannell, MD, writes that the conversion "occurs through an intermediary molecule, vitamin K3, which is made in the intestine from vitamin K1. [Hirota Y, et al. J Biol Chem. 2013 Sep 30.] "[M]odern humans are deficient in K2 because they do not eat large quantities of vitamin K1 containing foods. If we look at Paleolithic humans, they probably got high amount of vitamin K2 from eating large quantities of kale and spinach-like foods, very high in K1, which then supplied their tissues with all the vitamin K2 they needed. [A]s far as getting enough vitamin K2, the best thing to do is eat your greens." VITAMIN DI drink milk, and I spend time in the sunshine. Don't I get plenty of vitamin D? NO. If your shadow is longer than you are, you are not making vitamin D from sunlight, says William Grant, PhD. Thus, little vitamin D is made by your body in the six colder months of the year. This is also true in the summer months if only exposed to sun mornings and afternoons.
(Andrew W. Saul, OMNS founder and Editor-in-Chief, has coauthored four books with Abram Hoffer, MD, and is editor of the textbook The Orthomolecular Treatment of Chronic Disease. OMNS Assistant Editor Helen Saul Case is the author of The Vitamin Cure for Women's Health Problems, Vitamins & Pregnancy: The Real Story, and Orthomolecular Nutrition for Everyone.) Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular MedicineOrthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org Find a DoctorTo locate an orthomolecular physician near you: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n09.shtml The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource. Editorial Review Board:Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria)
Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor-In-Chief
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