Balance Your Health

Vitamin D Lowers Risk of Colorectal Cancer

The miracle vitamin is back in the news. Based on a research study with data from more than a half-million participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) people with the highest blood levels of vitamin D were 40 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer compared with people who had the lowest levels of vitamin D.

Do Glucosamine & Chondroitin Releive Your Arthritis Pain?

You don't read anything bad about them and they are still very popular nutritional supplements, but research continues to report that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate do not work any better than a placebo to reduce the amount of pain from knee arthritis.

This was reported back in 2007 and a huge discussion ensued.  Some said the results were confusing and more study was needed. The original study, GAIT, was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes, and happened to confirm other findings with smaller numbers of people, which showed that the supplements had few or no effects.

This was back in 2006. For another 18 months, however, the researchers continued to watch 572 volunteers and found that the two supplements did not appear to slow the loss of cartilage either taken alone or together. In fact the arthritis worsened in 24 percent of participants taking both which was similar to the results for the placebo.

The supplement manufacturers argued that the results of the GAIT study were not conclusive. As it happened, the researches took a second look at patients from the original 1,600 who were classified as having moderate to severe osteoarthritis. These patients did record a significant improvement when using the combination of chondroitin and glucosamine.

Even with these results these two supplements remain popular, especially glucosamine. This supplement has gained such widespread credibility by the public and among health care professionals that it is often recommended for older people to help relieve pain from arthritic joints.

So what does all of this mean for you? I think the finding in those with moderate to severe pain is important but should be interpreted cautiously. The problem is that industry sponsorship of drug trails usually produces biased results and most of the earlier studies were underwritten by supplement manufacturers. They may not have fabricated the results of the study but publicly funded studies, such as Gait, are larger.

My opinion, the supplements aren't very effective and if you are reluctant to give them up at least they won't cause you any harm. However, it appears that you are tossing away your money needlessly.

I know several people will stop taking these supplements once they learn more about them.  Will you continue knowing what you know now?

To your success at balancing your life.

Ruthan Brodsky

Vitamin D with Calcium Makes the Difference

I know the research re vitamin D has been out for some time because for the past 2 years my primary doctor has recommended I increase the amount of vitamin D supplements I take. He usually tests vitamin D levels from a fasting blood sample and goes by the guidelines recommended by nutritional research because it's been known for some time that the body requires vitamin D to make use of dietary calcium.

Herbs and Prescription Drugs Don't Mix

I am betting that you take herbal supplements.

I say this because you wouldn't be reading this post if herbal supplements didn't interest you. You are not alone. Close to one fifth of adults in U.S. take herbal supplements. The problem is that can interfere with prescription drugs and may cause harmful interactions with these drugs. Some herbs not only interact with medications but they also lessen their potency.

When a product is labeled natural we tend to believe it can't hurt us. Not so. Herbs can be as powerful as prescription drugs. In fact, some plants and herbs are used to make medications. For example, the heart drug digitalis is made from the foxglove plant to treat congestive heart failure.

Other herbs are so powerful they may cause adverse side effects. For instance, gingko can cause headaches, seizures and even bleeding in the brain; ginseng can cause high blood pressure; kava kava (now banned) can cause liver failure. St. John's wort can cause dizziness and allergic skin reactions. It also reacts with many prescription drugs making them less potent.

Part of the problem is that manufacturers of herbal supplements aren't required to do strict testing to prove their products are safe and effective. That is required by drug companies by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Herbal supplements are regulated as food so they don't need to carry any warnings. The burden is on the FDA to prove that the dietary supplement is unsafe before it can be removed from the market.

There have been proposed bills in Congress for several years for more regulation on herbal supplements such as requiring manufacturers of herbal products that act as stimulants demonstrate they are safe before they are sole. Not much has passed.

In the meantime, talk to your pharmacist and your physician about the prescriptions and the herbal supplement you are taking. They can tell you right away if there is some interference.

Do you have any stories about prescription drugs and herbal supplement interference? Scroll down to Comments and tell us your story. For more information log onto the FDA website .

To your good and balanced health.

Ruthan Brodsky

Did You Know That Supplements Can Interfere With Medications?

Just because a vitamin is labeled as natural doesn't mean it is entirely safe. The fact to keep in mind is that NOT ALL THINGS NATURAL ARE SAFE.

Think about it. A venom from a poisonous snake bite is natural but you could die from it. That's not very safe. A peanut seems harmless enough but given to someone who is very allergic to nuts, that little peanut could cause a trip to the hospital.

That same thinking should apply to the supplements you're taking especially if you're also taking medications.

I'm one of those people who believed in nutritional supplements before it was popular. I knew there was no way I was going to get all the nutritional value I needed from my meals. When I started taking supplements 30 years ago I was aware that the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) listing provided by the government wasn't what I was wanted. As I found out later, the original amounts in that list were recommended as guidelines for the nutritional values of vitamins and minerals that a prisoner of war needed so he wouldn't get rickets. I wanted an amount of vitamins and minerals that would PREVENT disease.

At the time I started taking supplements I was on no medication so I didn't even think about the possibility of interaction. Things change.

If you purchase your vitamins at the same drugstore where you pick up your prescription drugs, you can ask the pharmacist about the risk and benefits of taking supplements with your medications. However, don't count on them to know the answer. Neither pharmacists nor physicians are usually trained in supplement interactions.

The biggest problem I know about is for those taking a blood thinning medication. My word of advice for those folks is don't take anything unless your physician tells you it's okay.

Another risk is combining the sedative effects from prescribed antianxiety or sleeping aid medications with herbs like kava, valerian. It may also be risky to take energy drinks which contain yerba mate or coffee or even over-the-counter cold remedies with your prescription.

Several popular herbs can also alter the metabolism of prescribed drugs, either by increasing or decreasing their levels in the blood and tissues. That can cause toxicity for some drugs or decrease the effectiveness of some medications on cancer. Grapefruit can have that same effect on several medications.

The best thing you can do is make a list of all your medications and the supplements you're taking. Give them to your primary physicians and have them look it over and make recommendations.

Here's a good site from the University of Michigan that lists which herbs interact with which drugs.

Let us know if you found information that tells you shouldn't be taking a particular supplement. We all need to be captains of our health. This is an easy way to start taking charge.

To your health,

Ruthan Brodsky

Winter is setting in and it is time to think of your skin and ways to keep it moist. If you're interested in learning more about how you can prevent dry skin, click here for information.

Vitamins and Supplements- New Regulations in Effect Next Week

The vitamin industry’s rapid growth may find a blip in the road this month. For the first time, manufacturers of vitamins, herbal pills and other dietary supplements will have to test all of their products’ ingredients.

The growth of the dietary supplement business has been huge. Just walk into any drug store or grocery store and you can’t help noticing the ever expanding shelf space for vitamins, minerals, herbs and other supplements. We consumers have increased sales from $4 billion in 1994 to $21 billion in 2007 hoping to prevent health problems, improve performance, increase energy, or to treat a medical condition.

Increasingly, the marketing approach for supplements is to present them as treatment for specific health concerns. These condition-specific supplements are the fastest growing category of the U.S. dietary supplement industry. Memory improvement, menopause, arthritis, osteoporosis are among the top health issues that supplement manufacturers target according to a study published in Nutrition Today.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is phasing in new regulations that require supplement manufacturers to evaluate and test what’s in their products so that the wrong ingredient or too much or too little of the right ingredient doesn’t make it to the bottle. To ensure the quality of supplements the FDA feels this ruling also prevents contamination and improper packaging and labeling.

All supplement makers must comply by 2010.

Most companies already test their raw ingredients but this rule raises the standards of testing. The rule applies to all domestic and foreign companies that manufacture, package and label supplements for sale in the U.S. It requires them to analyze the identity, purity and strength of all the ingredients that go into their products before they’re distributed. It also includes requirements for record keeping and handling consumer complaints.

The regulations sound good but I’m still going to have to do my homework. Companies don’t have to prove the product is safe and they don’t have to prove it works. I still want to know the risk and the benefits of the supplements I’m taking.

I also suspect these rules will cause companies to raise their prices on supplement products and some products will be dropped. Less choices.

Do you think these new regulations will have an impact on your personal supplementation? Do you think the government is asking for too much? Or maybe you think the government’s standards should be more stringent?

Let us know how you feel. Scroll down to "Comments" and type your answers in the blank window.

Ruthan Brodsky

Mentor for health and successful aging.

www.balanceyourhealth.com

www.upsideofaging.com

Glucosamine May Be Your Relief

The popular supplement, glucosamine, received mixed reviews in a recent study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Some say it does not good whatsoever for those aches and pains in your knees and other joints. Other say it may work for you.

How it works: Glucosamine is a natural compound found in humans and animals. The supplement is made from shellfish skeletons. Chondroitin, a related supplement, comes for cow and shark cartilage.

Anti-inflammatory drugs do their job of relieving pain by reducing inflammation. Glucosamine and chondroitin are supposed to restore worn-down connective tissue (cartilage) that cushions bones. This is very important if you have joint pain because of osteoarthritis (OA), a common breakdown of cartilage. For the 20 million Americans with OA, both glucosamine and chondroitin may help make a protein that builds and repairs cartilage.

Acai Juice: If it's too good to be true...then it's...

A gentleman from our local networking group asked me what I knew about Mona Vie. "It's supposed to be good for everything," he said.  "Will you check it out for me?"

"Good for everything": first red flag for me.  I guess it was for him also or he wouldn't have asked me to find out more about this product