| We have plenty of scientific evidence that proves the value of nutrients and health supplements … but look at what happens when you take that evidence to a standard doctor.A patient of mine didn’t want to make a long drive to my office for a little cold. So he went to see his primary care doctor. When he got to the physician’s office, his doctor was hassling him. “You haven’t been here for a visit in over 2 years.”“But I never get sick,” he said. “I take Dr. Sears’ supplements and they work. I’ve shown you the research…”
“Look,” his doctor said to him, “I will give you any drug you want, but I don’t care about these natural supplements. And all those research articles that you’re bringing to me? They mean nothing to me.” How can you tell a patient scientific research means nothing to you? It’s as if he thought the subject matter was not his concern. It’s as if he were saying, “This means nothing because it’s about supplements and that’s something I don’t and shouldn’t care about.” So he left and came to see me. He had an acute viral syndrome or possibly even flu. He got the symptoms midway through a cruise, and it had been hanging around for 2 weeks. It’s nothing a good dose of vitamin C and eucalyptus can’t cure. And that’s the very least of the benefits of vitamin supplements. The evidence that supplements are not only effective, but necessary to combat deficiencies caused by our unnatural environment are so plentiful they fill entire medical journals. Look at meta-analyses of saw palmetto. You can clearly prove, better than any drug that’s ever been sold, that saw palmetto is an effective treatment for prostate enlargement (BPH – benign prostatic hyperplasia). And the evidence comes from a lot of varied sources that don’t have a commercial interest. So instead of a drug company doing one study, we’ve got over 60 studies from around the world on saw palmetto’s effectiveness. Vitamin C been marginalized as unnecessary and ineffective. But it has over eighteen thousand studies showing its benefits just in the PubMed database alone. Studies also find a link between low levels of vitamin C and risk of stroke. Men with the lowest vitamin C in their bodies have a 240% greater chance of stroke than men with higher vitamin C levels.1 Researchers at the University of California analyzed the vitamin C intakes and death rates of more than 11,000 men and women.2 The study showed a dramatic decline in death from heart disease among the men with the highest vitamin C intake, especially among those who took a vitamin C supplement. And vitamin C, like vitamin E, has another benefit that we’ve only discovered recently, but which could be one of the reasons these antioxidants help you live better for longer. Raising the level of vitamin C in the cells could slow down the shortening of telomeres up to 62%.3 A landmark study from a university in Nebraska found that vitamin D has the potential to lower the risk of all cancers in women by 77 percent.4 One study gave over 1,000 people either vitamin B3 (niacin) or a placebo and followed them for 15 years. 10 years after the end of the trial, doctors followed up and found that niacin had reduced the people’s chance of dying from any cause by 11%.5 In a study on the mineral selenium done at Harvard, the men who had the most selenium saw their prostate cancer risk dropped by 50%.6 Recent research shows that people who get the least amount of magnesium have a 50% higher risk for heart problems.7 These are some of the vitamins and nutrients that have the most evidence behind them, and you can find them all in a good multivitamin. I take one every day, and the one I have the most confidence in is Daily Power. I formulated it to provide the important nutrients and co-factors that work together with the vitamins for your body to properly absorb them. I encourage you to try Daily Power. But whichever multi-nutrient you choose, avoid the big box store and grocery chain brands. Not that I have anything against these stores, but when I checked into their formulas I found they use the cheapest, synthetic ingredients. And when it comes to your optimal health, this is one place where I don’t recommend cutting corners. |
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
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1.Kurl S, Tuomainen TP, Laukkanen JA, et al. “Plasma Vitamin C modifies the association between hypertension and risk of stroke.” Stroke. 2002; 33(6):1568-1573. 2.Enstrom JE, Kanim LE and Kleim MA. “Vitamin C intake and mortality among a sample of the United States population.” Epidemiology. 1992; 3(3):194-202. 3.Furumoto K. et al. “Age-dependent telomere shortening is slowed down by enrichment of intracellular vitamin C via suppression of oxidative stress.” Life Science 1998, vol. 63, no. 11 pp. 935-48. 4. Lappe et al. “Vitamin D Status in a Rural Postmenopausal Female Population.”Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2006; 25(5):395-402. 5.Canner P, Berge K, Wenger N, Stamler J, Friedman L, Prineas R, Friedewald W. “Fifteen year mortality in Coronary Drug Project patients: long-term benefit with niacin.” J Am Coll Cardiol. 1986;8(6):1245-55. 6.Li H, Stampfer M, Giovannucci E, Morris J, Willett W, Gaziano J, Ma J. “A prospective study of plasma selenium levels and prostate cancer risk.” J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004;96(9):696-703. 7.Reffelmann T, Ittermann T, Dörr M, et. al. “Low serum magnesium concentrations predict cardiovascular and all-cause …” Atherosclerosis 2011. |