Wisdom vs. Advanced Nutrition
By Tim Wood, PhD
 "Scientific evidence demonstrates that advanced intakes of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants-at levels significantly higher than the current RDAs-are linked to reduced risk and incidence of many chronic degenerative diseases." |
There is no doubt that nutrition and health are intimately linked and that diet plays a central role in many birth defects, childhood illnesses, and chronic degenerative diseases. The Wisdom about health and nutrition contains two basic principles:
1) We should eat a varied and balanced diet that is low in fat (particularly saturated fat), rich in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates (particularly fiber).
2) As part of this diet, we should consume the Recommend Dietary Allowances (RDA) of essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Although these two commonly held principles constitute sound advice, do they go far enough? Does the Wisdom ensure optimal nutrition?
The answer to this question is no. Clearly, optimal nutrition begins with a healthful diet, and eating well is absolutely necessary for long-term health. No excuse or remedy can compensate for a poor diet. Nevertheless, over the past 25 years, scientific research has confirmed that the Wisdom is not enough. In particular, the RDA recommendations, while effective in reducing the incidence of such acute nutrient deficiency diseases as scurvy, rickets, and pellagra-vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin B3 deficiencies, respectively do not suffice when long-term health is the goal. In other words, the RDAs are insufficient to prevent many chronic degenerative diseases, including heart disease, some cancers, osteoporosis, Type II diabetes, and macular degeneration.
A good case in point is the link between vitamin E intakes and heart disease. The current adult RDA for vitamin E is 8-10 mg (12-15 IU) per day. Yet several clinical and epidemiological studies show that much higher doses (100-800 IU per day) can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. The two best double blind, placebo-controlled clinical studies, using subjects with preexisting heart conditions, produced equivocal results. The first study showed that patients with angina and proven atherosclerosis who consumed 400-800 IU of supplemental vitamin E per day suffered 47 percent fewer nonfatal heart attacks than did patients on placebo (Stephens et al., 1996). The second study indicated that supplementing patients at high risk for heart disease with 400 IU of vitamin E per day had no effect on cardiovascular outcomes (Yusuf, 2000). These apparently conflicting results are not surprising, since nutritional interventions are most effective in preventing rather than curing heart disease.
| "Four studies involving vitamin E supplementation all showed that advanced intakes of vitamin E reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events-including heart attacks, atherosclerosis, angina, and death-by 33-50 percent or more." |
On the other hand, epidemiological evidence is both consistent and convincing. Four studies involving vitamin E supplementation all showed that advanced intakes of vitamin E reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events-including heart attacks, athero- sclerosis, angina, and death-by 33-50 percent or more (Stampfer, 1993: Rimm, 1993; Losonczy et al., 1996: Meyer et al., 1996). The amount of vitamin E found to be effective in these studies ranged from 100-400 IU per day, far higher than the RDA-recommended 12-15 IU per day.
Other scientific research indicates that advanced levels of other vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are key to long-term health. For example, intakes of folic acid at 500-1,000 mcg per day have been shown to effectively reduce plasma homocysteine, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (Ubbink et al., 1993: Woodside et al., 1998: Brouwer et al., 1999). Such levels are significantly higher than the adult RDA criterion for folic acid, which is 180-200 mcg per day. And, advanced intakes of selenium (at 200 mcg per day versus the adult RDA of 55-70 mcg per day) appear to reduce the incidence of prostate, colon, and lung cancer (Clark et al., 1996). Similarly, advanced intakes of calcium and vitamin D have been shown to reduce the risk and slow the progression of osteoporosis (Reid et al., 1995; Dawson-Hughes et al., 1995, 1997). And finally, long-term vitamin C supplementation, at levels far above the adult RDA of 60 mg per day, has been associated with 80-percent reductions in the risk of cataracts (Jacques et al., 1997).
In short, substantial, sound, scientific evidence demonstrates that advanced intakes of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants-at levels significantly higher than the current RDAs-are linked to reduced risk and incidence of many chronic degenerative diseases.
Which returns us to our original point: that the Wisdom does not ensure optimal nutrition. While both the food pyramid recommendations and the RDAs provide a sound foundation for nutritional programs, they are insufficient for long-term health. Indeed, when chronic heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes are factored in, advanced levels of the essential nutrients appear to be vital to lifelong health. The most effective way to obtain these advanced levels of nutrition is by using high-quality supplements to complement your healthful, balanced diet, and to give you the advanced levels of essential nutrients that promote a lifetime of good health.
Dr. Tim Wood is USANA Health Sciences Vice President of Scientific Operations. He holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of California, earned an MBA from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, and received his Ph.D. from Yale. He uses his outstanding organizational skills and scientific expertise to manage USANA's aggressive product development program.
References:
- National Research Council. 1989. Recommended Dietary Allowances. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 284 pp.
- Stephens et al., 1996. Randomized controlled trial of vitamin E in patients with coronary disease: Cambridge Heart Antioxidant Study (CHAOS). Lancet, 347:781.
- Yusuf et al., 2000. Vitamin E supplementation and cardiovascular events in high-risk patients. N Engl J Med, 342:154.
- Stampfer et al., 1993. Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary disease in women. N Engl J Med, 328:1444.
- Rimm et al., 1993. Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease in men. N Engl J Med, 328:1450.
- osonczy et al., 1996. Vitamin E and vitamin C supplement use and risk of all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality in older persons. Am J ClinNutr, 64:190.
- Meyer et al., 1996. Lower ischemic heart disease incidence and mortality among vitamin supplement users. Can J Cardiol, 12:930.
- Clark et al., 1996. Effects of selenium supplementation for cancer prevention in patients with carcinoma of the skin. JAMA, 276:1957.
- Reid et al., 1995. Long-term effects of calcium supplementation on bone loss and fractures in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Medicine, 98:331.
- Dawson-Hughes et al., 1995. Rates of bone loss in postmenopausal women randomly assigned to one of two dosages of vitamin D. Am J ClinNutr, 61:1140.
- Dawson-Hughes et al., 1997. Effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone density in men and women 65 years of age or older. N Engl J Med, 337:670.
- Jacques et al., 1997. Long-term vitamin C supplement use and prevalence of early age-related lens opacities. Am J ClinNutr, 66:911.