Adebayor's started so well for Man City
Vitamin Pills - the latest research
Millions of us pop vitamin supplements - it's a market worth over 300 million pounds every year. Today researchers from Copenhagen University say antioxidant supplements, including vitamins A and E do not extend life and could lead to a premature death.. It's an alarming conclusion. But one that's already been rejected by the Health Food Manufactuers Association. It called the analysis flawed; it said that less than nine per cent of the available evidence had been considered. It insisted that antioxidant supplements could play an important role in promoting overall health.
Will this research make a difference to your pill-popping habits?
Regarding Vitamin supplements - it has been stated that there is a 16% increase in mortality in a particular case. But we need to know the mortality rate without the supplement. For example, if the mortality rate without supplement is, say 1 death per 10,000 then after taking supplements it would be 1.16 deaths per 10,000. THAT IS NOT A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE.
No, because I eat a balanced diet and don't buy ready meals from Tesco or McD's.
I was very interested in your discussion this morning regarding the recent supplements report coming out of Denmark. I was quite concerned as I take vitamins and supplements myself, but after a bit of research on the internet it appears that there may be some fundamental errors in the report.
It appears that this report has been around for a couple of months already and it is interesting that the press are only just now picking up on it. To paraphrase some of the key points which suggest it may be quite flawed:-
1. Two large studies that fit the criteria used by the Danish scientists were excluded. These studies were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in the USA and The Lancet. If they had been included none of the reported effects in mortality would be significant.
2. The mean duration of the selected trials was 2.7 years – are we really saying that these things are going to kill you in less than three years?
3. Most trials used included other dietry supplements and pharmaceutical drugs which could all interfere or mask the effects that can be attributed to the antioxidents.
4. And finally, but just as importantly, the causes of death in the trials were not even considered!! These could include accidents or other causes that have nothing to do with diet or oxidative stress.
In short the whole report looks statistically very dubious and I am surprised that no-one had done the research to ask the right questions of Dr Guud.
I think that it is important that you give your listeners a chance to make their own educated decision about this and the article linked above which quotes experts from the Linus Pauling Institute (by no means impartial themselves) is well worth reading.
I have just read "The China Study" (https://www.thechinastudy.com/) and this book shows how nutrition advice and medical/pharmaceutical research is not really looking at improving our health, but to further the paymasters' massive business interests.
The book discusses the supplement industry in one of its chapters, the pharmaceutical sector in another, and cites many, many peer reviewed medical and nutrition studies, and is very persuasive indeed.
The book also draws some shocking conclusions about the link between our western diets and the diseases of affluence (cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc), and is a must read for anyone at risk of or indeed suffering from these diseases.
Since reading the book we, as a family, have almost entirely cut milk out of our diets, and radically reduced the amount of animal-derived foods we eat.
Industry experts are invariably paid by the industries involved, and you wouldn't discredit your own employer's products, now would you?