Multivitamins May Enhance The Immune System And Deliver Nutrients That The Body Needs For Good Health
Taking a daily multivitamin is largely an act of faith. We've seen studies that show how multivitamins may enhance the immune system and deliver nutrients that the body needs for good health. But when we take our multis, we don't necessarily feel different. And we can't say for sure that we've avoided any specific disease.
But now we have some new evidence that takes multivitamin use further beyond just faith.
Going long
Because previous studies have indicated that colorectal cancer risk may decrease after long periods of multivitamin use, American Cancer Society (ACS) researchers designed a trial to investigate this relationship.
In 1992, ACS researchers enrolled more than 145,000 men and women to participate in a five-year multivitamin study. All of these subjects had also participated in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort (begun a decade earlier) in which their multivitamin usage was recorded.
As reported in the current issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, 797 cases of colorectal cancer were reported among the study group between 1992 and 1997. After adjusting for risk factors, researchers found that multivitamin use that began just prior to the 1992 enrolment was not associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. But the participants who had reported regular multivitamin use (4 or more times per week) in the early 80s, fared much better: their group had a 30 percent reduced risk of the cancer.
The researchers say that further studies are necessary to establish clear evidence that multivitamin use is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. Also unknown is just how the nutrients in multivitamins combine to offer protection. Hopefully new research is already underway.
Multi checklist
The evidence is mounting that long-term multivitamin use may provide a host of positive health benefits.
This isn't news to HSI members, of course. But for those of you who may have missed some of the many vitamin tips from US HSI Panellist Dr Allan Spreen, I've collected a few of the most important ones to help you choose the most effective multi.
- Avoid a multivitamin that's a hard pill. Dr. Spreen says, 'There are a few (read that a FEW) pill forms that break down quickly, but they are rare. I always use capsule, powder or liquid forms whenever possible, as they at least guarantee that the individual gets what he swallows.'
- Avoid time-release vitamins. Dr. Spreen: 'I don't use time-release forms, as you're then using a preparation deliberately designed not to give its contents to you. I prefer to have the individual be his own 'time-releaser' by multiple dosing throughout the day.'
- Vitamins are absorbed more efficiently when taken with meals. Dr. Spreen: 'They are better digested that way (they're food supplements).'
- Avoid getting too much iron. Dr. Spreen: 'Concerning multi-vitamin/mineral preparations there can be one problem, and that's iron. It's too high, in my opinion, for most everyone as it is a known generator of free radicals in biological systems (if it's inorganic iron as most are in supplements).'
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