A new study that has been published by Duke University indicates that the quality of our food is declining. The study evaluated packaged foods from various brands and found that since the nutritional labeling law went into effect, the nutritional value of food in general is diminishing.
That sounded very surprising to me because I expected the opposite to be true; however, if you think about it, there’s two ways this could have gone. When manufacturers were required to label the nutritional content, they had a choice: Compete on nutritional value or compete on taste. Most of them chose taste. This means that we can see things like fats and sodium increase while vitamins and minerals decrease.
As consumers, we seem to think that we’re protected somehow by this labeling system; so, we’ve become complacent. The truth is that we’re not really protected by it; it’s simply a form of transparency. If manufacturers were allowed to feed us rat poison, you’d find rat poison listed in the ingredients of some foods. The included rat poison would take the place of an actual food with nutritional value, so the overall nutritional value would be less. Just because the manufacturer has to disclose information doesn’t mean that said info is good for us.
Here are a few helpful tips for reading nutritional labels at the grocery store.
1. Always check the serving size. Is it what you intend to eat? Is it the same as the other brand you’re comparing labels with?
2. According to the American Heart Association, anything over 20 percent of your daily value is considered high. If you’re looking at vitamin C, high is good; if you’re looking at sodium or fat, high is bad.
3. Daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. If you eat more or less, your values should be adjusted. Just use the number as a guideline.
Probiotics aren’t new (by any means), but they have been getting a lot more attention over the past few years. A lot of studies are finding that these little bacteria can have a huge impact on our health.
When we think of bacteria, our first impulse is usually to be disgusted. But just like with most things, there are both good and bad kinds, and there are also kinds that are only bad under certain conditions. Probiotics are the good ones.
One way that they help you stay healthy is by improving digestion. Healthy populations of probiotics make serotonin, a mood-enhancing neurotransmitter, inside our intestines. This serotonin plugs into the receptors that are abundantly present there and help the digestive system relax and work normally. This boost is also known to prevent depression.
Probiotics are also important for good nutrition, which can be considered their most vital function. Or bodies aren't equipped to digest things such as cellulose or certain carbohydrates, but many species of bacteria are. Probiotics thrive on these substances and produce usable vitamins and minerals, such as B vitamins and vitamin K2.
If you want to avoid the perils of cold and flu season, probiotics can help with that too. Scientific research shows that most of your immune system is found in your intestines and that good bacteria help to keep it in shape. Probiotics train your body to recognize true threats, and also reduce the inflammation that distracts immune system long enough to let other threats through. This can be a particular help to people who suffer from seasonal allergies.
Weight loss is even a potential benefit of using probiotics. B vitamins are needed for energy and for a healthy metabolism. Because probiotics help to manufacture them, you may find that you feel more energetic and begin dropping those formerly stubborn pounds.
If you follow the news about health reports, you're probably a little bit confused about whether you should be taking a multivitamin. And I certainly wouldn't blame you. I was confused, myself, so I looked into further to draw a conclusion of my own. I'll get to that, but before I do, I just wanted to mention that it's always best to do the work yourself and draw your own conclusions. But I know many of us are too busy, so I thought it would be helpful if I summed things up for you. From here, you can do your own research or not – it's up to you. Research Against Vitamins
Recent research has shown that men who supplement with vitamin E and selenium are at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer. This study actually began to prove whether vitamin E supplementation could reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men. It was stopped when researchers found no conclusive benefit, but in a later follow up, they found that those on the vitamin E and selenium had a 17 percent greater chance of getting prostate cancer.
Another study of women in Iowa showed that women who took multivitamins and other supplements consistently for a 19-year period had an increased rate of mortality.
Examining the Research
Whenever you hear or read the results of any study, it's important that you get all the facts. I've provided links to more info each study, so you can learn more, if you'd like. It would be too long for me to summarize all of the details here, so I'm just going to point out what I think is important.
In the study of men taking vitamin E and selenium, the men were given a very high dose of each. The RDA of vitamin E is about 22.4 IU and the participants were given 400 IU. To be fair, may vitamin E supplements do contain as much as 200 IU, but that's still half the amount of what they used in the study. I don't know that 200 IU would increase the risk of prostate cancer and neither do they. More research needs to be done.
To conclude that multivitamins and other supplements increase mortality in women, researchers looked at the data from over three thousand women with an average age of 61.6. The increased rate of mortality for those taking multivitamins was 2.4 percent. The risk increased for those taking other vitamins including B6, folic acid and magnesium.
My Opinion on Vitamin Supplementation
From this research, and other research I've read, I wouldn't conclude that taking a multivitamin is risky. An increased mortality rate of 2.4 percent really isn't that high, and we don't know what the actual cases of death were. I would; however, conclude that taking high doses of any vitamin supplement is risky. I also believe that it's more of a risk to take individual vitamin supplements (including vitamin B6, E and selenium) than it is to take a multivitamin. This is probably because the vitamins are in higher dose when they aren't combined with other vitamins. We also don't know enough about the relationship between vitamins to take them independently. For all we know, giving the body calcium without vitamin D could be just as effective as giving a tattoo artist a needle without ink.
