On Healthy by Nature this week: It’s an anniversary show—we’re celebrating 13 years! The plan is to have fun playing clips that highlight health breakthroughs and noteworthy guests. (There might even be some bloopers.) Be a part of the show, 1-800-281-8255

IN THE NEWS

Last week I defended supplements against unwarranted media attacks which now seem to be an annual event this time of year. (You don’t have to be into “conspiracy theories” to believe that it is in the financial interests of pharmaceutical companies to help these reports get attention.) The positive and exciting studies on nutrients can speak for themselves. The Vitamin E vs Alzheimer’s study from the July 1st newsletter comes to mind. There are so many thousands of studies, it’s hard to know where to start. So, the items that follow are just a few very recent ones selected to tell a broader story.

RESEARCH

Vitamin C / upper respiratory infections. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, healthy competitive teen swimmers were given 1,000 mg per day of Vitamin C. They didn’t get fewer respiratory infections, but in male swimmers the length of infections they did get was 47% shorter. The effect on the female swimmers was not significant.¹

My 2 cents: I’m guessing that the females may have been getting more Vitamin C in their diets. But, often studies do show different results for males than females, for old versus young and for one race compared to another. I’m so happy that they are beginning to pay attention to such differences among groups. It is big step toward understanding that each of us is biochemically unique. Nutrition science pioneer, Roger Williams, PhD said that one person might need 10 times as much vitamin C as the next. I’ve added the emphasis in the following quote, but Dr. Williams was making a groundbreaking observation when he said: “Nutrition is for real people. Statistical humans are of little interest.”*

Vitamin D / acute viral respiratory tract infections. Researchers at Yale followed 198 healthy adults over the fall/winter 2009-2010. In the study published in June, they showed that blood concentrations of Vitamin D at or above a level of 38 ng/ml had half the risk of developing a respiratory infection. They also had a marked reduction in the number of days they were ill. Thin persons, those with light skin (yes light not dark) and those taking supplements had better blood levels.²

My 2 cents: (Hmm, again the differences among groups…and what if they’d had enough C and D?) Vitamin D is beneficial for so many health concerns that it could be the topic of this newsletter every week. It’s important to note that a test level of 38 is just barely into the minimally adequate range. The optimum is 60 or above according to experts that I respect (e.g. The Vitamin D Council). This fall we’ll hear a lot of promotion for flu shots but I’m much more concerned that everyone be prepared with an optimum blood level of Vitamin D. Based on a number of studies and the reports of many physicians, we are not doing a good job of getting enough from sun alone and should consider vitamin D supplements. (See the June 19th edition of this newsletter for details. Link.)

Folate (a B vitamin) supplementation / age-related hearing loss. In a study of almost 3,000 persons over age 50, better hearing was linked with higher blood levels of folic acid.³

My 2 cents: More study is needed, but with its safety and apparent benefit to prevention of cardiovascular problems and cancer, why shouldn’t we err on the side of making sure we have adequate folic acid while we wait for “proof”? I think it is best taken as a combination with Vitamin B₁₂ and B₆ in a sublingual. I also back that up with a good balance of all B’s in a B complex and/or my multi.

*Among his many contributions, Dr. Williams discovered the B-vitamin, pantothenic acid. He also concentrated Folic Acid and gave it the name. His ground-breaking work on biochemical individuality is the basis for the “new” sciences of nutrigenomics and epigenetics that study the way that each person’s nutrition and environment affect the way their genes behave. The late Dr. Williams was a professor at The University of Texas at Austin from 1939 to 1986. He wrote over 20 books and roughly 300 papers. I’m a big fan.

My first book : Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers. Subtitle: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments.

My latest book : Aloe Vera-Modern Science Sheds Light on an Ancient Herbal Remedy

Copyright 2010 Martie Whittekin, CCN

¹Eur J Pediatr. 2010 Aug 6. [Epub ahead of print] The effect of vitamin C on upper respiratory infections in adolescent swimmers: a randomized trial. Constantini NW, Dubnov-Raz G, Eyal BB, Berry EM, Cohen AH, Hemilä H.

² PLoS One. 2010 Jun 14;5(6):e11088. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d and the incidence of acute viral respiratory tract infections in healthy adults. Sabetta JR, DePetrillo P, Cipriani RJ, Smardin J, Burns LA, Landry ML.

³ J Nutr. 2010 Aug;140(8):1469-74. Epub 2010 Jun 23. Serum homocysteine and folate concentrations are associated with prevalent age-related hearing loss. Gopinath B, Flood VM, Rochtchina E, McMahon CM, Mitchell P.