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Baraka_Guru · 02-24-2009, 10:07 AM

There is so much conflicting evidence of the effects of vitamin supplementation.

They key to it all is to go on what is considered "promising" evidence: that which has a larger body of studies that show mixed or beneficial outcomes.

One or two studies are often not enough to reach any reasonable conclusions.

Some vitamins have more studies done on them than others. For example, vitamin C has been studied for years. Whether it can fight or prevent colds is still inconclusive; however, it has been shown in more than one study that vitamin C in doses of around 500mg can prevent upper respiratory infections in athletes, who undergo a lot of stress while training. Vitamin C has also shown to reduce the excretion of cortisol (a stress hormone) in a number of people in doses of up to 1,000mg taken just before a stressful situation. There are other claims to what vitamin C can do, but there is too much conflicting evidence, and the studies continue.

Then you have vitamins D and E, which haven't had as many studies done on them. Recently, however, it has been discovered that higher doses of vitamin D (800mg/day I think) can have beneficial effects previously unseen. There have been problems with vitamin E supplementation, as some cases have found that it can cause cardiovascular problems in some people on medication...though there have been some conflicting results from other studies on this as well.

The bottom line is you need to look at reasonable sources for your recommendations on vitamin intake. People such as Dr. Andrew Weil have built careers on reading all of these studies and coming up with recommendations based on the summarization of all the information available to us. Vitamins and minerals from food are usually better, but it's not always feasible in certain situations. There are valid reasons why doctors give people vitamin B12 shots, for example.

I could go on, but I'll let the thread flush out some more first.

02-24-2009, 10:07 AM	#3 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	There is so much conflicting evidence of the effects of vitamin supplementation. They key to it all is to go on what is considered "promising" evidence: that which has a larger body of studies that show mixed or beneficial outcomes. One or two studies are often not enough to reach any reasonable conclusions. Some vitamins have more studies done on them than others. For example, vitamin C has been studied for years. Whether it can fight or prevent colds is still inconclusive; however, it has been shown in more than one study that vitamin C in doses of around 500mg can prevent upper respiratory infections in athletes, who undergo a lot of stress while training. Vitamin C has also shown to reduce the excretion of cortisol (a stress hormone) in a number of people in doses of up to 1,000mg taken just before a stressful situation. There are other claims to what vitamin C can do, but there is too much conflicting evidence, and the studies continue. Then you have vitamins D and E, which haven't had as many studies done on them. Recently, however, it has been discovered that higher doses of vitamin D (800mg/day I think) can have beneficial effects previously unseen. There have been problems with vitamin E supplementation, as some cases have found that it can cause cardiovascular problems in some people on medication...though there have been some conflicting results from other studies on this as well. The bottom line is you need to look at reasonable sources for your recommendations on vitamin intake. People such as Dr. Andrew Weil have built careers on reading all of these studies and coming up with recommendations based on the summarization of all the information available to us. Vitamins and minerals from food are usually better, but it's not always feasible in certain situations. There are valid reasons why doctors give people vitamin B12 shots, for example. I could go on, but I'll let the thread flush out some more first. __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 02-24-2009 at 10:10 AM..