2013-12-17

#quackwatch mineral supps deemed useless

12.17: web.health/selenium
/#quackwatch mineral supps deemed useless:
editorial by a medical journal:
"Fortmann et al reviewed trial evidence to update
the usa's Preeventive Services Task Force recommendation
on the efficacy of vitamin supplements
for primary prevention in community-dwelling adults
with no nutritional deficiencies .
[ and no mineral deficiencies -- notice that .]
. after reviewing 3 trials of multivitamin supplements
and 24 trials of single or paired vitamins
that randomly assigned more than 400,000 participants,
the authors concluded that there was no
clear evidence of a beneficial effect
of supplements on all-cause mortality,
cardiovascular disease, or cancer ."
". the only supplements not gaining in popularity
are beta-carotene (some uses increased lung cancer)
and vitamin E (some uses increased all-causes mortality)."
"... mineral supplements are ineffective for
preventing mortality or morbidity
due to major chronic diseases."
. since most cancers happen to the elderly,
cancer could be considered to be
"morbidity due to major chronic diseases";
so, the editor of this journal
seems to be asserting that
mineral supplementation would prevent no cancers .

. none of the study subjects had any
nutritional deficiencies .
. therefore they would not have benefited from
selenium supplementation;
but, not every region has proper selenium levels:
. the recommended dietary allowance for adults
is 55 μg selenium/d based on the intake required to
optimize plasma glutathione peroxidase activity .
Typical selenium intakes in North America are
80 to 140 μg/d [assumes you eat plenty of
grains and meat -- controversial .]
. Intakes in many parts of the world, however,
are lower largely due to low soil selenium levels.
. in some regions of China get less than
10 μg/d of selenium .
Intakes in Europe and New Zealand
range from less than 30 to 60 μg/d.
Clearly, diet does not meet selenium requirements.
. and regions with lower selenium levels
have higher rates of cancer .

. another factor affecting selenium usefulness
is the prevalence of other risk factors .
. if all the subjects were naive Americans,
feeding their cancers and heart blockages
with high levels of dirt-cheap corn syrup
(high doses of glucose and/or fructose),
then having sufficient selenium
is not likely to reduce cancer risk .

. grain-free vegetarians and many others
should definitely use selenium supplements .
. they may also benefit from magnesium, zinc,
and sea vegetables .

1 comment:

Philip Torrance (ADDN) said...


Flawed Research Used to Attack Multivitamin Supplements

By Blake Gossard, Kira Schmid, ND, Luke Huber, ND, MBA, Steven V. Joyal, MD
Two flawed studies and an editorial published in the December 17th issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine have attempted to discredit the value of multivitamin supplements.1-3
Both of the studies were plagued by grievous methodological flaws.