Vitamins and Health

Which Vitamins Reduce Breast Cancer Risk?

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How Can You Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney 

Breast cancer is scary. The good news is that treatment has gotten much better. Breast cancer is no longer a death sentence. But most women would prefer to avoid breast cancer surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy if they could.

Could something as simple as supplementation reduce your risk of developing breast cancer? If so, which vitamins should you be taking? Or, put another way, which vitamins reduce breast cancer risk?

If you ask your doctor, they will tell you, “Supplementation is a waste of money. Vitamins don’t reduce your risk of getting cancer.” And they will be correct! That’s because these are the wrong questions.

Let me explain. These are “one size fits all” questions. Studies to answer these questions start with healthy women and asks if vitamin supplementation reduces breast cancer risk for all of them. The answer to that question is, “No”. Multiple studies have confirmed this.

But the truth is more complicated. We should be asking, “Who benefits from vitamin supplementation”, instead of, “Does everyone benefit from supplementation?”Supplementation Perspective

I have summed up this concept with the Venn diagram on the right. Every woman does not need supplementation. But those with poor diet, increased need, genetic predisposition, and/or certain diseases may benefit from supplementation. That is why we should be asking, “Who needs supplementation?”.

Unfortunately, while this concept of individualized treatment has led to dramatic advances for cancer drug development, it has been virtually ignored for studies on supplementation and breast cancer risk.

The current study (H Song et al., Nutrients, 14: 2644, 2022) is an exception. It asks whether obese women who wish to reduce their risk of breast may benefit more from certain micronutrients than women of normal weight.

How Was This Study Done?

Clinical StudyThe data for this analysis came from the KoGES study. This was a study administered by the Korea Agency for Disease Control and Prevention between 2004 and 2016. It was designed to provide a scientific basis for personalized prevention of chronic diseases in the Korean population.

Of the 211,721 participants enrolled in the original KoGES study, this study included data from 41,593 women who:

  • Underwent a health examination at 38 health examination centers upon enrollment between 2004 and 2013 and a follow up health examination between 2012 and 2016. The average follow-up period was 4.9 years.
  • Were cancer-free when they enrolled in the study and developed breast cancer prior to their follow-up health examination.
  • Had reliable diet data.

Dietary intake was based on a food frequency questionnaire administered during their initial health screening. Dietary intake of 15 micronutrients (calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, vitamin A, sodium, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, niacin, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and cholesterol) and 4 macronutrients (energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate) was determined from the food frequency data and compared to the Korean Dietary Reference Intakes (KDRIs). [Note: The Korean DRIs are slightly different than US standards.]

  • The women were then divided into two groups based on whether they consumed more or less than the Korean DRIs for each nutrient.

Which Vitamins Reduce Breast Cancer Risk?

Vitamin SupplementsThere were two major findings from this study.

1) When the investigators grouped all the women in the study together:

    • none of the 15 micronutrients and 4 macronutrients analyzed in this study influenced breast cancer risk.
    • This confirms most previous studies that have been designed as a “one size fits all” study. So, if your doctor was relying on this kind of study, they were technically correct in saying that vitamin supplements don’t appear to reduce breast cancer risk.

2) But when the investigators separated the women by weight, an interesting dichotomy was observed:

    • For obese women (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2):
      • Vitamin C intake above the recommended Korean DRI (100 mg/day) reduced the risk of breast cancer by 46%.
      • Vitamin B6 intake above the recommended Korean DRI (1.4 mg/day) reduced the risk of breast cancer by 52%.
    • For women of normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2) neither vitamin C nor vitamin B6 had any effect on breast cancer risk.

The authors concluded, “In obese women, exceeding the recommended daily intake levels of vitamin C and vitamin B6 was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. However, other micronutrients were not associated with breast cancer risk in these women.” [Note: Supplement use was not included in the diet survey, so above recommended intake of C and B6 was from foods consumed, not from supplements.]

What Does This Study Mean For You?

Questioning WomanThis study is a perfect example of why we should be asking, “Who benefits from vitamin supplementation”, instead of, “Does everyone benefit from supplementation?”

In terms of the Venn diagram I introduced above, some people consider obesity a disease.

But whether you consider obesity a disease or not, it does increase the need for many nutrients. So, it is conceivable that extra vitamins C and B6 might provide benefits in obese women that are not seen in non-obese women.

This is, of course, a ground-breaking study. It is the first study of its kind and deserves to be followed by other studies to confirm this observation. Ideally, these studies would test whether the same effect is seen in other population groups and determine the optimal dose of vitamin C and B6 to reduce breast cancer risk.

However, I am not optimistic that these studies will be done. It is easy to get funding for the “do vitamin supplements benefit everyone?” studies that confirm the existing prejudice against vitamin supplementation.

It is much harder to obtain funding for “who benefits from vitamin supplementation?” studies that challenge the existing paradigm. But these are the kind of studies that are needed most.

How Can You Reduce Your Risk Of Breast Cancer?

As I said, this is the first study of its kind, so you could consider the results as preliminary. However, assuming it might be true:

  • I do not recommend megadoses of vitamins C and B6. The above average intake of C and B6 in this study came from food alone. And we do not have any dose response studies that might define an optimal dose of C and B6.
  • I do recommend balance. Based on this study, multivitamins should provide enough C and B6 to have a meaningful effect on breast cancer risk. And multivitamins are inexpensive and risk-free.

In addition, there are things you can do that are proven to reduce breast cancer risk. Here is what the American Cancer Society recommends:

  • Get to and stay at a healthy weight.
  • Be physically active and avoid time sitting.
  • Follow a healthy eating plan.
  • It is best not to drink alcohol.
  • Think carefully about using hormone replacement therapy.

I provide more detail about each of these recommendations in a recent article in “Health Tips From the Professor”.

The Bottom Line 

Most doctors will tell you that supplementation does not reduce your risk of breast cancer. And that opinion is backed up by multiple published clinical studies.

But the problem is that these studies are all asking the wrong question. They are asking, “Does supplementation reduce the risk of breast cancer for all women?”. A better question would be, “Which women benefit from supplementation?”

A recent study asked both of those questions. They looked at the effect of 15 micronutrients on breast cancer risk.

  1. When the investigators grouped all the women in the study together:
    • None of the 15 micronutrients influenced breast cancer risk.

2) But when the investigators separated the women by weight, an interesting dichotomy was observed:

    • For obese women (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2):
      • Vitamin C intake above the recommended intake reduced the risk of breast cancer by 46%.
      • Vitamin B6 intake above the recommended intake reduced the risk of breast cancer by 52%.
    • For women of normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2) neither vitamin C nor vitamin B6 had any effect on breast cancer risk.

The authors concluded, “In obese women, exceeding the recommended daily intake levels of vitamin C and vitamin B6 was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. However, other micronutrients were not associated with breast cancer risk in these women.”

For more information on this study, what it means for you, and proven methods for reducing breast cancer risk read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

____________________________________________________________________________

My posts and “Health Tips From the Professor” articles carefully avoid claims about any brand of supplement or manufacturer of supplements. However, I am often asked by representatives of supplement companies if they can share them with their customers.

My answer is, “Yes, as long as you share only the article without any additions or alterations. In particular, you should avoid adding any mention of your company or your company’s products. If you were to do that, you could be making what the FTC and FDA consider a “misleading health claim” that could result in legal action against you and the company you represent.

For more detail about FTC regulations for health claims, see this link.

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/health-products-compliance-guidance

 

Are We Killing Our Children With Kindness?

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The Danger Of Ultraprocessed Foods 

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

fast foodIt breaks my heart when I see a mom and her children in the checkout line of a supermarket with a cart filled with sodas, sweets, and convenience foods and devoid of fresh fruits and vegetables – or when I see fast food restaurants packed with parents and their children.

I get it. Our kids love these foods. It seems like an act of kindness to give them the foods they crave. But are we killing our children with kindness?

Let me explain. The human brain is hardwired to crave sweets, salt, and fat. In prehistoric times each of these cravings had a survival benefit. For example:

  • Mother’s milk is naturally sweet. It only makes sense that babies should crave the nutrition source that is essential for their early growth and development.
  • Fruits provide a cornucopia of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. But fruits were scarce and seasonal in prehistoric times. Their sweetness provided an incentive for early man to seek them out.
  • Some salt is essential for life. Yet in early history it was scare. It was worth its weight in gold.
  • In prehistoric times it was feast or famine. The human body has an unlimited capacity to store fat in times of plenty, and those fat stores carried early man through times of famine.

Today most Americans live in a time of food abundance. There are fast food restaurants on almost every street corner and in every shopping mall. We think of famine as the days we skipped lunch because we were busy.

Yet these cravings remain, and the food industry has weaponized them. They are churning out an endless supply highly processed foods and beverages. These foods are not being designed to improve their nutritional value. They are designed to satisfy our cravings and lure us and our children into consuming more of them every year.

Scientists have developed a classification system that assigns foods in the American diet to different groups based on the degree of processing of that food. As you might expect, the best classification is unprocessed foods. The worst classification is called “ultraprocessed foods”. [I will describe this classification system in more detail in the next section.]

It is time we asked how much ultraprocessed foods our children are eating and what it is doing to their health. That is the topic of the study (L Wang et al, JAMA, 326: 519-530, 2021) I will discuss today.

How Was This Study Done?

Clinical StudyThe data for this study were obtained from NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) dietary data collected from 33,795 American children (ages 2-19, average age = 10) between 1999 and 2018.

NHANES is a program conducted by the CDC to survey the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The survey has been conducted on a continuous, yearly basis since 1999.

The dietary data are collected via 24-hour dietary recalls conducted by trained interviewers, with a second recall administered over the phone 3-10 days later to improve the accuracy of the data.

  • Children aged 12-19 completed the dietary survey on their own.
  • For children aged 6-11, a parent or guardian assisted them in filling out the survey.
  • For children aged 2-5, a parent or guardian filled out the survey for them.

The foods and beverages consumed by the children were divided into 4 major groups based on the extent of processing using a well-established classification system called NOVA. The 4 groups are:

1) Unprocessed Or Minimally Processed Foods.

  • This includes whole foods and foods that are minimally processed without the addition of oils, fats, sugar, salt, or other ingredients to the food.
  • Examples of minimally processed foods include things like oatmeal, nut butters, dried fruit, frozen fruits or vegetables, and dried beans.

2) Processed Culinary Ingredients.

  • This includes recipes from restaurants or in-home cooking that add small amounts of oils, fats, sugar, salt, and seasonings to whole foods.

3) Processed Foods

  • This includes foods made in factories by the addition of salt, sugar, oil, or other substances added to whole or minimally processed foods.
  • Examples include tomato paste, canned fruits packed in sugar syrup, cheese, smoked or cured meat.

4) Ultraprocessed Foods

  • These are industrial formulations created in factories mostly or entirely from substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modified starch), or synthesized in laboratories (flavor enhancers, colors, and food additives).
  • Examples include sugar sweetened beverages; sweet or savory packaged snacks; chocolates and candies; burgers, hot dogs, and sausages; poultry and fish nuggets, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes.

Are We Killing Our Children With Kindness?

Obese ChildAs I said above, the important question is, “Are we killing our children with kindness when we give them the sugary drinks, sweets, convenience foods, and fast foods they crave?” After all, the foods we give them when they are young are the ones they are most likely to select when they get older.

Let’s start by looking at how pervasive these foods have become. That was the purpose of the study I am discussing today, and the results of this study are alarming. When they looked at the changes in food consumption by our children between 1999 and 2018:

  • The percentage of calories from ultraprocessed foods increased from 61.4% to 67%. That means:
    • Today, more than 2/3 of the calories our children consume daily come from ultraprocessed foods!
  • The percentage of calories from unprocessed and minimally processed foods decreased from 28.8% to 23.5%. That means:
    • In the span of just 19 years the diets of our children have gone from bad to worse!
  • Ultraprocessed foods were more likely to be consumed away from home and at fast food restaurants.

When the investigators looked at individual categories of ultraprocessed foods:

  • The percentage of calories coming from ready to heat and eat dishes like frozen pizzas and other frozen meals or snacks increased from 2.2% to 11.2%.
  • The percentage of calories coming from sweet snacks and desserts increased from 10.7% to 12.9%.
  • The percentage of calories coming from sugar sweetened beverages decreased from 10.8% to 5.3%.
    • This is potentially the only good news from this study.

The authors concluded. “Based on NHANES data from 1999 to 2018, the estimated energy intake from consumption of ultraprocessed foods has increased among youths in the US and has consistently comprised the majority of their total energy intake.”

“These results suggest that food processing may need to be considered as a food dimension in addition to nutrients and food groups in future dietary recommendations and food policies.”

The Danger Of Ultraprocessed Foods

Fast Food DangersThis study clearly shows that ultraprocessed foods have become the mainstay of our children’s diets. Forget a balanced diet! Forget “Eat your fruits and vegetables”! Our children’s diets have been fundamentally transformed by “Big Food, Inc”.

You might be saying to yourself, “So, they are eating their favorite processed foods. What’s the big deal? How bad can it be?” My answer is, “Pretty Bad”. I chose the title, “Are we killing our children with kindness”, for a reason.

When you look at what happens to children who eat a diet that is mostly ultraprocessed foods:

#1: Their nutrition suffers. When the investigators divided the children into 5 groups based on the percentage of calories coming from ultraprocessed foods, the children consuming the most ultraprocessed food had:

  • Significantly higher intakes of carbohydrates (mostly refined carbohydrates); total fats; polyunsaturated fats (mostly highly processed omega-6-rich vegetable oils); and added sugars.
  • Significantly lower intakes of fiber; protein; omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; calcium; magnesium; potassium; zinc; vitamins A, C, D, and folate.
    • The low intake of fiber means our children will be less likely to have health-promoting friendly bacteria and more likely to have disease-promoting bad bacteria in their guts.
    • The low intake of calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D means they will be less likely to achieve maximum bone density as young adults and will be more likely to suffer from osteoporosis as they age.

#2: They are more likely to become obese. Remember, these are foods that are made in a factory, not grown on a farm.

  • They are high in fat, sugar, and refined carbohydrates. That means they have a high caloric density. Each bite has 2-3 times the calories found in a bite of fresh fruits and vegetables.
  • As I said earlier, the food industry has weaponized our natural cravings for sweet, salty, and fatty foods. They feed their prototypes to a series of consumer tasting panels until they find the perfect blend of sugar, salt, and fat to create maximum craving.
  • And if that weren’t enough, they add additives to create the perfect flavor and “mouth appeal”.
    • It is no wonder that clinical studies have found a strong correlation between high intake of ultraprocessed food and obesity in both children and adults.
    • It is also no wonder that the rate of childhood obesity has almost quadrupled (5% to 18.5%) in the last 40 years.

#3: They are more likely to become sick as adults and die prematurely.

  • Obesity; high intake of fat, sugar, and refined carbohydrates; and low intake of fiber, omega-3s, and essential nutrients all contribute to an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
    • It is no wonder that clinical studies have found a strong correlation between high intake of ultraprocessed food and increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and premature death in adults.
    • It is also no wonder a recent study found that type 2 diabetes in children has almost doubled between 2001 and 2017.

The data are clear. When we allow our children to subsist on a diet mostly made up of the ultraprocessed foods they crave, we may be giving them, not love, but a lifetime of obesity and declining health instead. And yes, we may be killing them with kindness.

Instead, my recommendations are:

  • expose your children to a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed foods at an early age.
  • They will reject some of them, and that’s OK. Introduce others until you find whole, minimally processed foods they like. Reintroduce them to some of the foods they initially rejected as they get older.
  • Don’t keep tempting ultraprocessed foods in your house.
  • You may just succeed in putting your children on the path to a healthier diet and a healthier, longer life.

The Bottom Line

It breaks my heart when I see a mom and her children in the checkout line of a supermarket with a cart filled with sodas, sweets, and convenience foods and devoid of fresh fruits and vegetables – or when I see fast food restaurants packed with parents and their children.

I get it. Our kids love these foods. It seems like an act of kindness to give them the foods they crave. But are we killing our children with kindness?

It is time we asked how much ultraprocessed foods our children are eating and what it is doing to their health. A recent study did just that. When they looked at the changes in food consumption by our children between 1999 and 2018:

  • The percentage of calories from ultraprocessed foods increased from 61.4% to 67%. That means:
    • Today, more than 2/3 of the calories our children consume daily come from ultraprocessed foods!
  • The percentage of calories from unprocessed and minimally processed foods decreased from 28.8% to 23.5%. That means:
    • In the span of just 19 years the diets of our children have gone from bad to worse!

This study clearly shows that ultraprocessed foods have become the mainstay of our children’s diets. Forget a balanced diet! Forget “Eat your fruits and vegetables”! Our children’s diets have been fundamentally transformed by “Big Food, Inc”.

You might be saying to yourself, “So, they are eating their favorite processed foods. What’s the big deal? How bad can it be?” My answer is, “Pretty Bad”. I chose the title, “Are we killing our children with kindness”, for a reason.

When you look at what happens to children who eat a diet that is mostly ultraprocessed foods:

  • Their nutrition suffers.
  • They are more likely to become obese.
  • They are more likely to become sick as adults and die prematurely.

For more details about this study, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

What Do The US Dietary Guidelines Say About Supplementation?

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What Do The US Dietary Guidelines Say About Your Diet?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

US Dietary Guidelines 2020-2025Science is always changing, and nutritional science is no different. As we learn more, our concept of the “ideal diet” is constantly evolving. Because of that, the USDA and the US Department of Health & Human Services produce a new set of Dietary Guidelines for Americans every 5 years.

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have just been released. As usual, the process started with a panel of 20 internationally recognized scientists who produced a comprehensive report on the current state of nutritional science and made recommendations for updated dietary guidelines. After a period of public comment, the dietary guidelines were published.

There were two new features of the 2020-2025 Guidelines:

  • They provided dietary guidelines for every life stage from 6 months of life to adults over 60.
  • The guidelines also addressed personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary concerns in so that each of us can develop a healthy diet that fits our lifestyle.

What Do The US Dietary Guidelines Say About Your Diet?

Here are the 2020-2025 Guidelines in a nutshell:healthy foods

  • Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage.
  • Customize and enjoy nutrient-dense food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations.
  • Focus on meeting food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages and stay within calorie limits. They went on to say, “A healthy dietary pattern consists of nutrient-dense forms of foods and beverages across all food groups [emphasis mine], in recommended amounts, and within calorie limits.”

They said, “the core elements that make up a healthy dietary pattern include:”

    • Vegetables of all types – dark green, red, and orange vegetables; beans, peas, and lentils; starchy vegetables; and other vegetables.
    • Fruits – especially whole fruits.
    • Grains – at least half of which are whole.
    • Dairy – including fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese; lactose-free versions; and fortified soy beverages and soy yogurt as alternatives. [Other plant-based milk and yogurt foods were not recommended because they do not provide as much protein as dairy. So, they were not considered equivalent foods.]
    • Protein foods – including lean meats, poultry, and eggs; seafood; beans, peas, and lentils; and nuts, seeds, and soy products.
    • Oils – including vegetable oils and oils in food, such as seafood and nuts.
  • Limit foods and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium; and limit No Fast Foodalcoholic beverages. Their specific recommendations are:
    • Added sugars – less than 10% of calories/day starting at age 2. Avoid foods and beverages with added sugars for those younger than 2.
    • Saturated fat – Less than 10% of calories starting at age 2.
    • Sodium – Less than 2,300 mg per day – even less for children younger than 14.
    • Alcoholic beverages – Adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink, or to drink in moderation by limiting intake to 2 drinks or less in a day for men and 1 drink or less in a day for women, when alcohol is consumed. Drinking less is better for health than drinking more. There are some adults who should not drink alcohol, such as women who are pregnant.

For more details, read the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The Dark Side Of The US Dietary Guidelines

Darth VaderThe US Dietary Guidelines point Americans in the right direction, but they are never as strong as most nutrition experts would like. The 2025 Dietary Guidelines are no exception. They have two major limitations:

#1: The food industry has watered down the guidelines. This happens every time a new set of guidelines are released. The food and beverage lobbies provide their input during the public comment period. And because they fund a significant portion of USDA research, their input carries a lot of weight. Here are the 3 places where they altered the recommendations of the scientific panel:

  • The scientific panel recommended that Americans decrease the intake of added sugar from 13% of daily calories to 6%. The final dietary guidelines recommended reducing sugar to 10% of daily calories.
  • The scientific panel recommended that both men and women limit alcoholic drinks to one a day. The final dietary guidelines recommended men limit alcoholic drinks to two a day.
  • The scientific panel included these statements in their report:
    • “Dietary patterns characterized by higher intake of red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, and refined grains are…associated with detrimental health outcomes.”
    • “Replacing processed or high fat-meats…with seafood could help lower intake of saturated fat and sodium, nutrients that are often consumed in excess of recommended limits.”
    • “Replacing processed or high-fat meats with beans, peas, and lentils would have similar benefits.”

These statements are included in the final report, but they are buried in portions of the report that most people are unlikely to read. The summary that most people will read recommends shifts in protein consumption to “add variety” to the diet.

#2: The guidelines do not address sustainability and do not explicitly promote a shift to more Planetary Dietplant-based diets. Again, this was based on input from food lobby groups who argued that sustainability has nothing to do with nutrition.

If you are concerned about climate change and the degradation of our environment caused by our current farming practices, this is a significant omission.

I have covered this topic in a recent issue of “Health Tips From the Professor”. Here is a brief summary:

  • In 2019 a panel of international scientists was asked to conduct a comprehensive study on our diet and its effect on both our health and our environment.
  • The scientific panel carefully evaluated diet and food production methods and asked three questions:
    • Are they good for us?
    • Are they good for the planet?
    • Are they sustainable? Will they be able to meet the needs of the projected population of 10 billion people in 2050 without degrading our environment.
  • They developed dietary recommendations popularly known as the “Planetary Diet”. Here are the characteristics of the planetary diet.
    • It starts with a vegetarian diet. Vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, soy foods, and whole grains are the foundation of the diet.
    • It allows the option of adding one serving of dairy a day.
    • It allows the option of adding one 3 oz serving of fish or poultry or one egg per day.
    • It allows the option of swapping seafood, poultry, or egg for a 3 oz serving of red meat no more than once a week. If you want a 12 oz steak, that would be no more than once a month.

Unless you are a vegan, this diet is much more restrictive than you are used to. However, if you, like so many Americans believe that climate change is an existential threat, I would draw your attention to one of the concluding statements from the panel’s report.

  • “Reaching the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming…is not possible by only decarbonizing the global energy systems. Transformation to healthy diets from sustainable food systems is essential to achieving the Paris Agreement.”

In other words, we can do everything else right, but if we fail to change our diet, we cannot avoid catastrophic global warming.

What Do The US Dietary Guidelines Say About Supplementation?

MultivitaminsThe authors of the 2020-2025 US Dietary Guidelines have relatively little to say about supplementation. However:

  • They list nutrients that are of “public health concern” for each age group. Nutrients of public health concern are nutrients that:
    • Are underconsumed in the American diet.
    • Are associated with health concerns when their intake is low.
  • They state that “dietary supplements may be useful in providing one or more nutrients that otherwise might be consumed in less than recommended amounts.”
  • They recommend specific supplements for several age groups.

Here are their nutrients of public health concern and recommended supplements for each age group:

#1: General population.

  • Nutrients of public health concern are calcium, dietary fiber, and vitamin D. They state that supplementation may be useful for meeting these needs.

#2: Breast Fed Infants.

  • Supplementation with 400 IU/day of vitamin D is recommended shortly after birth.

#3: Vegetarian Toddlers.

  • Iron and vitamin B12 are nutrients of concern.

#4: Children & Adolescents.

  • Calcium and vitamin D are nutrients of concern. Dairy and/or fortified soy alternatives are recommended to help meet these needs.
  • Iron, folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and magnesium are also nutrients of concern for adolescent females.

#5: Adults (Ages 19-59).

  • 30% of men and 60% of women do not consume enough calcium and 90% of both men and women do not get enough vitamin D.

#6: Pregnant & Lactating Women:

  • Calcium, vitamin D, and fiber are nutrients of concern for all women in this age group.
  • In addition, women who are pregnant have special needs for folate/folic acid, iron, iodine, and vitamin D.
  • Women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant should take a daily prenatal vitamin and mineral supplement to meet folate/folic acid, iron, iodine, and vitamin D needs during pregnancy. They go on to say that many prenatal supplements do not contain iodine, so it is important to read the label.
  • All women who are planning or capable of pregnancy should take a daily supplement containing 400 to 800 mcg of folic acid.

#7: Older Adults (≥ 60).

  • Nutrients of concern for this age group include calcium, vitamin D, fiber, protein, and vitamin B12.
  • About 50% of women and 30% of men in this age group do not get enough protein in their diet.

My Perspective:

The US Dietary Guidelines use foods of public health concern as the only basis for recommending Supplementation Perspectivesupplementation. I prefer a more holistic approach that includes increased needs, genetic predisposition, and preexisting diseases as part of the equation (see the diagram on the right). I have discussed this concept in depth in a previous issue of “Health Tips From The Professor”.

I have also taken this concept and made supplement recommendations for various health goals in a free eBook called “Your Design For Healthy Living”.

Some people may feel I should have included more supplements in my recommendations. Others may feel I should have included fewer supplements in my recommendations. No list pf recommend supplements is perfect, but I have tried to include those supplements supported by good scientific evidence in my recommendations.

The Bottom Line 

The USDA and Department of Health & Human Services have just released the 2020-2025 US Dietary Guideline. In the article above I have summarized:

  • Their recommendations for a healthy diet.
  • Their recommendations for supplementation.
  • The dark side of the US Dietary Guidelines.

For more details, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Preparing For The New Normal

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Can Supplements Strengthen My Immune System?

COVID-19The United States and the rest of the world are facing the biggest challenge of our lifetimes. COVID-19 has killed hundreds of thousands of people and decimated economies around the world.

As of the publication date of this article we have no vaccine and only one treatment option that appears to be about 30% effective in a preliminary clinical trial. People are scared.

The question I get asked most often is: “Can supplements protect me from COVID-19”. That’s not a question I can answer with confidence. The few studies we have are small and preliminary. Plus, there is too much we still do not know about COVID-19.

However, there are studies about how diet and supplements affect the immune system. I can answer the question, “Can Supplements Strengthen My Immune System”, with confidence. That will be the focus of this article.

However, before covering that, let me take an objective look at what our “New Normal” will be like and how we can prepare for it.

Preparing For The New Normal

ProfessorAs a scientist I am appalled by the divisive and hyper-partisan arguments about how we should be handling the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a time when our country should be united against a common enemy. Instead I see myths and lies propagated on both sides of this important issue.

The press only magnifies the problem by repeating the myths without fact checking. Whether they are on the left or the right, the media only repeats myths that fit their narrative. As a result, people like you are confused and scared.

Let me try to give you a more objective and scientific view of what the “New Normal” will look like, and how we can prepare for it.

Let’s start with one of the biggest arguments over the past few weeks – when should we reopen our country. This argument is based on the myth that if we wait long enough, the virus will be gone, and life can return to normal.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality viruses don’t work that way. They continue to circulate through the population at low levels. Whenever we emerge from our homes and resume our daily lives, the virus will be lurking. There will be flare-ups. There will be hot spots. There will be deaths. And the press will report every one.

So, the question should not be when we emerge. It should be how we emerge. We should emerge cautiously. We should continue to take appropriate precautions. These precautions will become our “New Normal” until we have an effective vaccine. By now, you probably have the CDC precautions memorized, but let me repeat them here:

  • If you are sick, stay home until you recover. If your symptoms worsen, contact your doctor right away.
  • If you are exposed, get tested right away and self-quarantine for 14 days if you test positive.
  • When you go out, wear a face mask and practice social distancing. When you get home, wash your hands in soap and water for 20”.
  • For now, we will need to avoid the customary handshake (and if you are from the South like me, the customary hug).
  • If you are very old or very sick, you should stay home as much as possible. If you have a loved one in this category, you should do everything in your power to protect them from exposure.
  • The guideline that is hardest to project into the future is the one on crowd size. It is hard to predict what the CDC will recommend about crowd size as part of our “New Normal” a few months from now. However, because this virus is extremely contagious, it may be risky to attend any gatherings where there are large, tightly packed crowds for the foreseeable future. This could include some of our favorite things – like movies, live theater, night clubs, and sporting events.Myth Versus Facts

Finally, there is another big myth, namely that the virus will simply disappear once we have a vaccine. Vaccines reduce your risk of exposure because fewer people are carriers of the virus. However, coronaviruses never disappear. They continue to circulate in the population for decades.

Even after we have a vaccine, people will still get sick from COVID-19. People will still die from COVID-19. The difference is that we will no longer hear about COVID-19 cases and deaths on the nightly news. Those cases and deaths will just become part of the statistics that the CDC collects on flu-like illnesses each year – and everyone ignores.

Now that I have discussed what the “New Normal” will look like and summarized the CDC guidelines for reducing your exposure to COVID-19 as the lockdown eases, let me add another guideline of my own:

  • Keep your immune system as strong as possible.

Why Is Keeping Your Immune System Strong Important?

strong immune systemIt is no secret that the media likes to focus on bad news. It is the bad news that draws people in and keeps them coming back for more.

Pandemics are no different. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about the Spanish flu, SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. We focus on cases and deaths – the bad news. We ignore the good news – there are millions of people who were infected and had no symptoms.

However, if you have been listening closely to what the experts have been saying rather than relying on the media for your information, the good news is obvious.

  • 80-85% of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms. Their symptoms are no worse than they experience with the seasonal flu.
  • Preliminary antibody tests suggest that the number of people infected with COVID-19 who experience no symptoms may be 10 to 40 times higher than reported cases.
  • The experts say that the difference is a strong immune system. They tell us that it is people with weakened immune systems that suffer and die from COVID-19.

So, how do you keep your immune system strong? Let’s start by looking at the role of supplementation.

Can Supplements Strengthen My Immune System?

MultivitaminsThose of you who follow me know that I consider supplementation as just one aspect of a holistic approach to health. However, I am starting with supplements because the question I am often asked these days is: “Can supplements protect me from COVID-19”.

As I said at the beginning of this article, that is not a question I can answer with confidence. Instead, the question you should be asking is, “Can Supplements Strengthen My Immune System?”

As I mentioned above, the experts are telling us that it is people with weakened immune systems who suffer and die from COVID-19. That means it is important to keep our immune system as strong as possible.

How do we do that? Here is what an international group of experts said in a recent review (PC Calder et al, Nutrients, 12, 1181-1200, 2020).

1) “A wealth of mechanistic and clinical data show that vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and folate; trace elements zinc, iron, selenium, magnesium, and copper; and omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA play important and complementary roles in supporting the immune system.”

2) “Inadequate intake and status of these nutrients are widespread, leading to a decrease in resistance to infections, and an increase in disease burden.”

They then made the following recommendations:

1) Supplementation with the above micronutrients and omega-3 fatty acids is a safe, effective, and low-cost strategy to help support optimal immune function.

    • They recommended 100% of the RDA for vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and folate and minerals zinc, iron, selenium, magnesium, and copper in addition to the consumption of a well-balanced diet.
    • They recommended 250 mg/day of EPA + DHA.

2) Supplementation above the RDA for vitamins C and D is warranted.

    • They recommend 200 mg/day of vitamin C for healthy individuals and 1-2 g/day for individuals who are sick.
    • They recommend 2000 IU/day (50 ug/day) for vitamin D.

3) Public health officials are encouraged to include nutritional strategies in their recommendations to improve public health.

Their recommendations could be met by a multivitamin that provides all the micronutrients they recommend, an omega-3 supplement, and extra vitamins C and D.

What Else Should I Do To Strengthen My Immune System?

healthy foodsAs I said above, supplementation is only one part of a holistic approach to a strong immune system. Here are the other components of a holistic approach:

1) It starts with a healthy diet.

    • Eat foods from all 5 food groups.
    • Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. They provide antioxidants and phytonutrients that are important for our immune system.
    • Eat plenty of high fiber foods. Include whole grains and beans in addition to fruits and vegetables. That’s because the friendly gut bacteria that strengthen our immune system need a variety of fibers from different food sources to feed on.
    • Eat oily fish on a regular basis.
    • Avoid sodas, sugary foods, and highly processed foods.
    • Avoid high fat diets

2) Get adequate sleep. For most of us, that means 7-8 hours of sleep a night.

3) Maintain a healthy weight.

4) Get adequate exercise. Aim for a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week.

5) Manage stress and anxiety in healthy ways. Yes, that means if you let the news about COVID-19 cause anxiety, you are weakening your immune system. You may want to turn off the news and try prayer, meditation, yoga, or whatever relieves stress for you.

The Bottom Line

In this article, I summarized the “New Normal” we face as we emerge from lockdown and how to navigate the new normal as safely as possible. If I were to summarize this article in a few short sentences, this is what I would say:

Until we have an effective vaccine the “New Normal” is a world in which a dangerous virus is lurking in the community, waiting to strike the unprepared.

Forget all the angry rhetoric about when we should emerge from lockdown. The important question is not when we emerge. It is how we emerge.

We don’t need to stay huddled in our homes, fearful to leave, unless we are very old or very sick.

We do need to take appropriate precautions when we leave home based on the recommendations of the CDC. None of us are invincible as far as this virus is concerned. More importantly, if we bring the virus home, we may kill the very people we love the most. We need to follow the guidelines.

We should also make sure that our immune system is as strong as possible through a holistic combination of diet, supplementation, adequate sleep, exercise, weight management, and stress reduction.

For more information on CDC COVID-19 Guidelines, click here.

For more details about preparing for the new normal and diet & supplementation recommendations, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Are There Anti-Aging Vitamins?

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Could You Live To Be 120 And Beyond?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

anti-aging viataminsRecent headlines suggest that we can slow biological aging just by increasing our consumption of certain vitamins. That sounds wonderful.  After all, everyone is still hoping for that mythical “Fountain of Youth” and anti-aging vitamins could be just the ticket.

But, what did the paper behind the headlines actually show? The paper (J-Y Lee et al, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, DOI: 10.1111/jhn.12403, 2016) reported that people who consumed the most vitamin C and folic acid had the longest telomeres.

You might be wondering how journalists extrapolated from that study to headlines proclaiming that those vitamins could slow biological aging. To understand the answer to that question you need to know two things:

  • What is biological aging?
  • What are telomeres and why are they important?

What Is Biological Aging?

biological agingIn simplest terms, biological aging refers to the aging process on a cellular level. This concept is based on the “Hayflick Limit” first proposed by Leonard Hayflick in 1962. He showed that normal human cells have a maximum lifespan of 40-60 cell divisions. As they approach that upper limit, DNA damage accumulates and cell division slows and eventually stops.

The “Hayflick Limit” is important because our tissues depend on constant cell division to remain young and vital. Our organs are made up of various tissues and depend on those tissues performing at an optimal level. Thus, as more and more cells lose the ability to divide, our tissues and our organs begin to age. This is thought to be associated with disease and eventually death.

Thus, even though biological aging refers to aging at a cellular level, its significance is thought to extend far beyond the cellular level. It is thought to influence aging, disease, and death at a whole-body level. It reminds me of the famous quote “For want of a nail…the kingdom was lost.” If you’ve forgotten that quote, look it up. It is a perfect analogy for how something that seems so inconsequential can have such a profound effect on our health and mortality.

What Are Telomeres And Why Are They Important?

anti-aging vitamins telomeresTelomeres are sequences of repetitive DNA at the ends of our chromosomes that protect their integrity. Telomeres become progressively shorter as we age. As a very simple analogy we can think of telomeres as being similar to the tips of our shoelaces. If you have ever lost the tip of your shoelace, you know that the shoelace is worthless once the tip is gone.

That analogy holds perfectly with respect to our telomeres. As the telomers become progressively shorter, DNA division slows and eventually stops. DNA division is essential for cell division. Telomere shortening is postulated to be responsible for the Hayflick Limit. Thus, it is no surprise that telomere shortening is associated with aging, age-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and dementia, and death.

Telomere shortening is a bad news, good news phenomenon. On the “bad” side, telomere shortening is inevitable. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we will all die at some point.

On the “good” side, there is tremendous heterogeneity in telomere length between individuals at any given age. Some of these differences in telomere length may be genetic, but many appear to be lifestyle related (MA Shammas, Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 14: 28-34, 2011). For example, short telomers appear to be associated with things like smoking, environmental pollution, stress, meat consumption, and fat consumption. Long telomeres are associated with the lack of those things and with positive lifestyle characteristics such as exercise and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Are Some Vitamins Anti-Aging Vitamins?

slow agingMore recent studies have begun to look at the influence of individual nutrients on telomere length. The study featured this week (J-Y Lee et al, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, DOI: 10.1111/jhn.12403, 2016) is just the latest example.

This study used food frequency questionnaires to assess nutrient intake of 1958 middle-aged and older Koreans between June 2001 and January 2003. They measured intake of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9 (folate), C and E plus calcium, phosphorous, potassium iron and zinc.

Ten years later they measured telomere length in the same population and reported that:

  • Telomere length was positively associated with intake of vitamin C, folate, and potassium.
  • No association with telomere length was seen for the other nutrients.

So, are these anti-aging vitamins?  Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of this study.

This study has some notable strengths:

  • It is a fairly large study, so the results are statistically significant.
  • There is a good biochemical rationale for vitamin C and folate being protective for telomeres.
  • Antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and polyphenols protect the DNA from oxidative damage.
  • Folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 are involved in pathways that stabilize and repair DNA.
  • It is consistent with previous studies (See below)

However, this study also has some glaring weaknesses:

  • It only measures associations, not cause and effect.
  • The diet analysis was not repeated at the end of the study. The authors assumed that dietary habits did not change, but we don’t know that.
  • The use of dietary supplements was not assessed, so we don’t know how that might have influenced the outcome.

What Does This Study Mean For You?

If we look at the totality of published studies(MA Shammas, Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 14: 28-34, 2011) :

  • There is good evidence that optimal intake of the antioxidants C and E is positively associated with telomere length.
  • There is good evidence that optimal intake of folic acid and vitamin B12 is positively associated with telomere length.
  • There is preliminary evidence that optimal intake of carotenoids, polyphenols, and omega-3 fatty acids is positively associated with telomere length.

However, there is a lot we don’t know about telomeres. We know that short telomeres are associated with aging, age-related diseases and death. What we do not know is whether telomere shortening is the cause of the aging process or merely a marker of aging. Let me rephrase those two possibilities in a more understandable manner.

  • If telomere shortening is the cause of the aging process, anything we can do to decrease the rate of telomere shortening would slow the aging process and delay the onset of age-related diseases.  If the vitamins mentioned above then caused this decrease, they could indeed be considered anti-aging vitamins.
  • If telomere length is simply a marker of aging, we can consider it like the “canary in the coal mine”. That analogy might be particularly apt. The value of the canary is that it can detect toxic gases when they are still undetectable to humans. It turns out that it is virtually impossible to detect the effect of nutrient intake on longevity (We simply live too long), and it has proven very difficult to determine the effect of nutrient intake on age-related diseases. Having a simple marker of the aging process may well give us valuable insight into how we can best delay the aging process.

Either way longer telomeres are probably a good thing. Based on a limit of 40-60 cell divisions for normal human cells, Leonard Hayflick estimated a maximum human lifespan of 120 years. If we could truly decrease the rate of telomere shortening, would that potentially increase maximum human lifespan or would it mean that more of us reach 120 in good health? Most of us would probably be happy with either outcome.

 

The Bottom Line

 

  • Telomeres are the tips at the end of our chromosomes that protect the chromosomes from unraveling.
  • Our telomeres get progressively shorter as we get older. Short telomeres are associated with aging, age-related diseases, and death.
  • Recent studies have shown that our lifestyle can influence the rate of telomere shortening. For example:
  • Short telomers are associated with things like smoking, environmental pollution, stress, meat consumption, and fat consumption.
  • Long telomeres are associated with the lack of those things and with positive lifestyle characteristics such as exercise and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
  • Recent studies have also shown that optimal intake of certain nutrients can influence the rate of telomere shortening. For example:
  • There is good evidence that optimal intake of the vitamins C, E, folic acid, and B12 is positively associated with telomere length.
  • There is preliminary evidence that optimal intake of carotenoids, polyphenols, and omega-3 fatty acids is positively associated with telomere length.
  • There is a lot that we do not know about telomere length. In particular,
  • We do not know whether telomere shortening is the cause of the aging process or merely a marker of aging, like the canary in the coal mine.
  • In either case, anything we can do to reduce the rate of telomere shortening is probably a good thing.

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Does Vitamin D Help Prevent Asthma Attacks?

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Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

breaking newsWhat do the experts say about vitamin D helping to prevent asthma attacks?  You’ve seen the headlines. Vitamin D is no longer just for healthy bones. It has become the latest “miracle” nutrient. If you believe everything you read, vitamin D can prevent or cure everything from multiple sclerosis to diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Unfortunately, the evidence for many of those claims is weak.

However, the effect of vitamin D on the severity of asthma symptoms appears to be an exception. That relationship appears to be on much more solid ground.

A review published last year(S.K. Bantz et al, Annals of Pediatrics and Child Health, 3: pii: 1032, 2015) concluded “We emphasize that all children, especially those who are asthmatic, should be assessed to ensure adequate intake or supplementation with at least the minimum recommended doses of vitamin D. The simple intervention of vitamin D supplementation may provide significant clinical improvement in atopic disease, especially asthma.” [Note: Atopic disease refers to diseases characterized by a hyperallergenic response, such as eczema, hay fever, and asthma.]

That was followed by the recent publication of a Cochrane Review  that concluded “Vitamin D is likely to offer protection against severe asthma attacks”. To understand the significance of that statement you need to understand that this is not just another clinical study or another review. Cochrane Reviews are conducted by an international group of experts and are considered the “Gold Standard” for evidence-based medicine.

You may remember that famous commercial: “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.”  In this case: “When Cochrane Reviews speak, doctors listen.”

Let’s look briefly at how the review was conducted, and then examine exactly what the review said, and what it didn’t say.

Does Vitamin D Help Prevent Asthma Attacks?

certifiedOne of the characteristics of Cochrane Reviews that set them apart from many of the other reviews that you find in the literature is that they include only the highest quality clinical studies in their analysis. This is one of the things that gives them such credibility.

This particular Cochrane Review included seven trials involving a total of 435 children and two trials involving a total of 658 adults. Most trial participants had mild to moderate asthma. The duration of the trials ranged from four to 12 months.  All studies were placebo controlled and used close to RDA recommended doses of vitamin D.

The results were pretty clear cut:

  • Vitamin D supplementation reduced the average number of severe asthma attacks requiring treatment with oral steroids by 36%.  This conclusion was based on 3 high-quality studies involving 680 participants.  Here, these studies clearly show vitamin D does  help prevent asthma attacks.
  • Vitamin D supplementation reduced the number of acute asthma attacks requiring emergency room visits and/or hospitalizations by 50%. This conclusion was based on 7 high-quality studies with 963 participants.  These studies also show vitamin D helps prevent asthma attacks.
  • None of the studies reported any severe adverse effects from vitamin D supplementation. (Compare that with all warnings associated with those ads for asthma medications you see on TV.)

However, they did not see any effect of vitamin D supplementation on day-to-day asthma symptoms.

What Does This Study Mean For You?

prevent asthmaThis study strongly suggests that vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range (600 IU for ages 1-70 and 800 IU for adults over 70) significantly reduces the risk of severe asthma attacks requiring steroids or hospitalization. Thus, if you or your child have asthma, vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range just makes sense.

However, this study also suggest that vitamin D is not a panacea that will make all asthma symptoms disappear.

Also, even Cochrane Reviews have limitations.

  • None of the studies included in this review looked at vitamin D status prior to the study. We simply don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might be effective at reducing day-to-day asthma symptoms in individuals who were vitamin D deficient.
  • The studies included in this review did not include asthma sufferers with severe symptoms. Again, we don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might make day-to-day symptoms more tolerable and easily controlled for people with severe asthma symptoms

One final thought: Blood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D are the best indicators of vitamin D status. For reasons that we don’t understand, not everyone consuming RDA levels of vitamin D ends up with optimal levels (50-75 nmoles/L).  For that reason, it is a good idea to get your blood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D tested as part of your annual physical exam.

If you are already getting RDA levels of vitamin D and your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels are not in the optimal range, you may want to supplement with extra vitamin D.  Just be sure to monitor your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels on a regular basis to make sure they don’t exceed the optimal range.

So, according to the Cochrane Review, vitamin D does help prevent asthma attacks.

 

The Bottom Line

 

  • A recent Cochrane Review concluded that vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range (600 IU for ages 1-70 and 800 IU for adults over 70) significantly reduces the risk of severe asthma attacks requiring steroids or hospitalization in both children and adults. This is significant because Cochrane Reviews are considered the Gold Standard for evidence-based medicine.
  • Thus, if you or your child have asthma, vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range just makes sense.
  • However, blood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D are the best measure of vitamin status, and not everyone consuming RDA levels of vitamin D ends up with optimal levels (50-75 nmoles/L). If you are already getting RDA levels of vitamin D in your diet and your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels are not in the optimal range, you may want to supplement with extra vitamin D. Just be sure to monitor your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels on a regular basis to make sure they don’t exceed the optimal range.
  • This Cochrane Review did not find any effect of vitamin D supplementation on day-to-day asthma symptoms.
  • However, even Cochrane Reviews have limitations.
  • None of the studies included in this review looked at vitamin D status prior to the study. We simply don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might be effective at reducing day-to-day asthma symptoms in individuals who were vitamin D deficient.
  • The studies included in this review did not include asthma sufferers with severe symptoms. Again, we don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might make day-to-day symptoms more tolerable and easily controlled for people with severe asthma symptoms

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Calcium and Breast Cancer Prevention

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Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

 

calcium and breast cancerIs there a connection between calcium and breast cancer prevention?  There has been lots of confusion about calcium supplements lately. Just a few years ago most health professionals were recommending calcium supplementation for women to prevent osteoporosis. Now that recommendation has become controversial. That’s because some studies have suggested that increasing calcium intake doesn’t actually prevent osteoporosis. Other studies have suggested that calcium supplementation may actually cause heart disease.

As if all this wasn’t confusing enough, the latest headlines are claiming that increased calcium intake will reduce breast cancer risk. What are we to believe about the value of calcium for our health? Should we take that calcium supplement we threw away out of the trash can and start using it again?

I have previously evaluated the studies behind the previous headlines and debunked the headlines. For example, I reported that previous studies suggesting that calcium supplementation might increase heart attack risk were followed by a much larger, better designed study showing that, if anything, calcium supplementation actually decreases heart attack risk in Do Calcium Supplements Increase Heart Attack Risk?. I also reported that the study claiming calcium supplements did not prevent osteoporosis was fatally flawed in Do Calcium Supplements Prevent Bone Fractures?.

Now it is time to evaluate the study behind the latest calcium headline. Is this headline myth or is it true?  What is the connection between calcium and breast cancer.

 

Calcium and Breast Cancer Risk Reduction

calcium reduces breast cancer riskThis study (Hidayat et al, British Journal of Nutrition, 116: 158-166, 2016) was a meta-analysis of 11 previous clinical studies published between 2002 and 2013 with a total of 872,895 women subjects which measured calcium intake and breast cancer. Follow up ranged from 7 to 25 years in these studies, during which time 26,606 of the women developed breast cancer.

Dietary plus supplemental calcium intake was determined at the beginning of each study using either a 24-hour diet recall or a food frequency questionnaire. Calcium intakes ranged from 203 mg/day to 1,750 mg/day.

In short this was a very large and well done study. Because of the large number of subjects and the large number of cancer cases, this study had the sensitivity to detect even small effects of calcium on breast cancer risk – something that was not possible in previous studies. In addition, the investigators were able to conduct a dose-response evaluation of the effect of calcium and breast cancer risk reduction. This was also had not been possible in previous studies.

When the women with the highest calcium intakes were compared to the women with the lowest calcium intakes:

  • Calcium reduced breast cancer risk by 8%.
  • The effect was much larger for premenopausal women than postmenopausal women:
  • Calcium reduced breast cancer risk by 25% in premenopausal women.
  • Calcium reduced breast cancer risk by 6% in postmenopausal women.
  • The dose response effect was fairly linear over the entire dose range with a 2% decreased risk of breast cancer for every 300 mg/day increase in calcium intake.

 

What Does This Study Mean For You?

As I said in the beginning, when you read the headlines proclaiming that increasing your calcium intake could decrease your breast cancer risk, you probably had two questions:

Is it true?  The answer appears to be yes. This was a very large, very well done study and it showed there is a connection between calcium and breast cancer risk reduction. It was capable of detecting even small effects of calcium on breast cancer risk – something that previous studies simply could not do.

Does it matter?  Here the answer is more complicated. If you’re a postmenopausal woman, increased calcium intake only decreases your risk of breast cancer by 6%.  If you are a premenopausal woman, increased calcium intake decreases your risk of breast cancer by a more robust 25%. However, in both cases you should think of calcium as only one component of a holistic approach to reducing breast cancer risk – something I’ll discuss in more detail below.

Now that you know the answer to those two questions you probably have a third question:

How much calcium do I need?   That’s pretty simple. The calcium DV for adults is 1,000 mg/day, increasing to 1,200 mg/day for women over 50.

How Can You Reduce Breast Cancer Risk?

In a previous article Preventing Osteoporosis,  I reported that while calcium supplementation alone had only a very modest effect on reducing osteoporosis risk, it played an important role as part of a holistic bone-healthy lifestyle. The role of calcium in reducing breast cancer risk is no different.

Most experts estimate that between 30 and 60% of breast cancer cases could be prevented by diet and lifestyle changes. In addition to calcium, both the Mayo Clinic  and the American Cancer Society make the following recommendations for reducing breast cancer risk:

  • calcium supplementsLimit or avoid hormone therapy. This is the single most important step you can take to reduce breast cancer risk.
  • Eat a plant-based diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts. Use fats in moderation and choose healthy fats such as olive oil and omega-3 fats. Limit the amounts of red meat and processed meats.
  • Control your weight.
  • Be physically active.
  • Don’t smoke
  • Limit alcohol intake.
  • Avoid exposure to radiation and environmental pollution.
  • Breast feed.

Where Should You Get Your Calcium?

Many experts recommend that you get your calcium only from food. Is that the best advice?  I always like to start with food as the source of essential nutrients, but in the case of calcium that usually isn’t sufficient. Here are some facts to ponder:

  • Plain, nonfat yoghurt is the calcium champion, with an 8 ounce serving supplying 42% of the DV (the calcium DV = 1,000 mg/day). However, most yoghurt cups in the market these days are 4 ounces or less.
  • Milk and a few cheeses supply around 30% of the DV. However, many people can’t or don’t consume the 3 or more servings needed to reach the DV.
  • Green leafy vegetables are often mentioned as another good food source. However, a serving of them only provides around 10% of the DV, and many leafy greens contain oxalates which decrease calcium absorption.
  • Beyond that,  most food sources of calcium supply only 1-8% of the DV for calcium. If you don’t drink lots of milk, you need to be a dietitian with an advanced degree to figure out how to get enough calcium from foods alone.
  • If that isn’t bad enough, many foods contain substances that interfere with calcium absorption. In addition to the oxalates in leafy greens, these substances include phytates from whole grains, phosphate from sodas, and saturated fat from red meats.

 

Experts often also recommend getting calcium from calcium fortified foods such as calcium fortified orange juice. That can help you reach the recommended calcium intake, but in my opinion calcium-fortified foods are likely to be more expensive and no better than regular foods plus a calcium supplement.

I recommend getting as much calcium as possible from food and adding a calcium supplement for the rest. Here are my tips on calcium supplementation:

  • If you do use a calcium supplement, make sure it is complete. Don’t just settle for calcium and vitamin D. At the very least you will want your supplement to contain magnesium and vitamin K. I personally recommend that it also contain zinc, copper, and manganese as well.
  • Your calcium supplement will be best utilized if taken between meals.
  • Your calcium supplement will be best utilized if you don’t take more than 500 mg at a time.
  • In most cases there is no need for more than the DV of calcium.

Let’s review the connection between calcium and breast cancer risk reduction.

 

The Bottom Line

  • A recent study has shown that increasing calcium intake reduces the risk of breast cancer. The effect of calcium intake on breast cancer risk was much greater for premenopausal women (25% risk reduction) than it was for postmenopausal women (6% risk reduction).
  • While the effect of calcium alone on breast cancer risk was relatively modest,  it is likely to be an important component of a holistic approach for reducing breast cancer risk.  Additional recommendations of the Mayo Clinic and American Cancer Society for reducing breast cancer risk are contained in the article above.
  • While many experts recommend getting your calcium from food alone, a careful analysis of food sources of calcium clearly shows how difficult that is for most people.
  • Calcium supplements are a safe and effective way to make sure you are getting the calcium you need. In the article above, I describe the optimal design of a calcium supplement and how to take a calcium supplement for optimal utilization.

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Do Multivitamins Reduce the Risk of Miscarriage?

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Will A Multivitamin A Day Keep YourBaby Healthy?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

multivitamins reduce risk of miscarriageThe standard medical advice for years has been to take a prenatal supplement (basically a multivitamin with extra folic acid, iron and sometimes calcium) both before and during pregnancy. Does that really make a difference? Will it reduce the risk of miscarriage? Will it give you a healthier baby?  A recent study suggests that multivitamin use may significantly decrease your risk of miscarrying, but before going into the study you need a little background.

 

It’s a new world. It used to be that a woman didn’t know for sure that she was pregnant until she had missed one or two periods and finally got an appointment with her doctor – a month or two after conception actually occurred. In today’s world accuracy in home pregnancy tests allow women to learn they are pregnant much earlier – often before the first missed period.

With the early detection of pregnancy has come the realization that miscarriage rates are much higher than previously assumed. In spite of improved prenatal care, the rate of miscarriages in the US increased by 1% per year between 1985 and 2005. In part that is because women using the in-home pregnancy tests are detecting their pregnancies much early. However, it also reflects the fact that early miscarriages are often asymptomatic. They can only be detected by negative pregnancy tests.

With that in mind, let’s look at the study.

Do Multivitamins Reduce the Risk of Miscarriage?

pregnancy and miscarriageThis study (Louis et al, Fertility and Sterility, doi.org.10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.03.009, 2016), had a very interesting design. It enrolled 501 couples ages 18-40 from Michigan and Texas who were actively trying to become pregnant into something called the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study. The women in the study were instructed in the use of a commercial fertility urine test to help the couples plan their intercourse to maximize the chances of conceiving. They were also instructed in the use of a commercial pregnancy urine test to determine the onset and potential loss of pregnancy (miscarriage).

The couples were given no guidance on health practices to follow before and during pregnancy. They were interviewed individually upon enrolment to obtain sociodemographic, lifestyle, and medical history information. They were asked to keep a daily journal recording things like cigarettes use, consumption of alcoholic or caffeinated beverages, and multivitamin use (The journal did not distinguish between over-the-counter multivitamins and prescribed prenatal vitamins).

Of the couples who enrolled in the study, 347 (69%) of them became pregnant. Three of the women conceived twins and were eliminated from the study. Of the remaining 344 women, 98 (28%) of them experienced a miscarriage during the first 22 weeks. No miscarriages were observed after 22 weeks.

When they looked at risk factors that affected pregnancy loss (miscarriages):

  • The miscarriage rate was almost double for women over 35, which is consistent with previous studies.
  • Consumption of two or more caffeinated beverages/day by either partner prior to conception and during early pregnancy significantly increased the risk of miscarriage
  • Daily multivitamin use by the woman prior to conception reduced the risk of miscarriage by 55%. If the vitamin use was continued through the first 7 weeks of pregnancy, the risk of miscarriage was reduced by 79%.
  • No effect of obesity, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use on miscarriage risk was seen in this study, which is different from most previous studies.

Putting This Study Into Perspective

This was a fairly well designed study, but it is a single study.  Let’s put each of the main findings in the context of previous studies.

Multivitamin Use: Earlier studies have shown that supplements containing extra folic acid probably reduce miscarriages. However, now that foods are routinely fortified with folic acid in the US, the benefit of multivitamins and prenatal supplements has become more controversial. Some studies have shown, like this one, that multivitamins reduce miscarriage risk. Others did not. However, multivitamin use before and during pregnancy has relatively few risks, so it is still probably a good idea.

Caffeinated Beverages: There have been relatively few studies to date on the effect of caffeinated beverages on miscarriage risk, but the few that have been performed tend to agree that caffeinated beverages may increase the risk of miscarriage. While the data are far from definitive at this point, it is probably a good idea to limit your caffeinated beverages before and during pregnancy.

Age: Age is a well-established risk factor for miscarriages. While many consider 40 as the threshold for increased risk, this study and several other recent studies suggest it may be closer to 35. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to have a baby if you are over 35, but it does mean that you will probably want to avoid any lifestyle factors that might increase your risk of miscarriage.

Other Factors:This study did not find an effect of obesity, smoking or alcohol on pregnancy risk. However, many other studies have shown that each of these increases the risk of miscarriage. It’s probably a good idea to drop a few extra pounds and avoid both smoking and alcohol if you wish to maximize your chances of a successful pregnancy outcome.

If You Are Pregnant, What Does This Study Mean For You? 

preventing miscarriageThis study supports multivitamin use before and during pregnancy and suggests that excessive consumption of caffeinated beverages may have a negative effect on pregnancy outcome. However, it doesn’t significantly alter the standard medical advice for what you should do before and during pregnancy.

  • Daily multivitamin use, both prior to and during pregnancy, is probably a good idea. Not all studies agree, but some studies suggest that it will significantly decrease the risk of miscarriage.
  • Obesity and diabetes increase miscarriage risk. The good news is that even a 5-10% weight loss often is sufficient to reverse diabetes and may improve pregnancy outcome as well.
  • If you are over 35, your risk of suffering a miscarriage is significantly increased.
  • Smoking and alcohol use should be avoided. Both are likely to increase your risk of miscarriage.
  • Recent studies suggest that the consumption of two or more caffeinated beverages a day may also increase your risk of miscarriage, so don’t overindulge in caffeinated beverages. Be aware that it’s not just coffee and tea that are caffeinated. Many sodas are caffeinated as well.

 

The Bottom Line

 A recent study showed:

 

  • Daily multivitamin use by the woman prior to conception reduced the risk of miscarriage by 55%. If the vitamin use was continued through the first 7 weeks of pregnancy, the risk of miscarriage was reduced by 79%.
  • Consumption of two or more caffeinated beverages/day by either partner prior to conception and during early pregnancy significantly increased the risk of miscarriage
  • The miscarriage rate was almost double for women over 35, which is consistent with previous studies.
  • No effect of obesity, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use on miscarriage risk was seen in this study, which is different from most previous studies.
  • This study reinforces the recommendation for multivitamin or prenatal vitamin use, but the standard medical advice for a successful pregnancy isn’t really changed:
  • Daily multivitamin use, both prior to and during pregnancy, is probably a good idea. Not all studies agree, but some studies suggest that it will significantly decrease the risk of miscarriage.
  • Obesity and diabetes increase miscarriage risk. The good news is that even a 5-10% weight loss often is sufficient to reverse diabetes and may improve pregnancy outcome as well.
  • If you are over 35, your risk of suffering a miscarriage is significantly increased. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to have a baby if you are over 35, but it does mean that you will probably want to avoid any lifestyle factors that might increase your risk of miscarriage.
  • Smoking and alcohol use should be avoided. Both are likely to increase your risk of miscarriage.
  • Recent studies suggest that the consumption of two or more caffeinated beverages a day may also increase your risk of miscarriage, so don’t overindulge in caffeinated beverages. Be aware that it’s not just coffee and tea that are caffeinated. Many sodas are caffeinated as well.

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Do Multivitamins Reduce Heart Disease Risk?

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Will A Multivitamin A Day Keep The Doctor Away?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

 

Junk foods and convenience foods have become the American way. We are perhaps the most overfed and undernourished country on the planet. Even worse, we are exporting our unhealthy lifestyle to the rest of the world.

Because of the foods we eat experts estimate that only somewhere between 3% and 10% of us get the nutrients we need on a daily basis. For the vast majority of Americans who are undernourished, multivitamin use helps us fill the nutritional gaps in our diet.

But could multivitamin use do more than just fill nutritional gaps? Could it also help us protect our health?  Could multivitamins reduce heart disease risk?  Here things get a bit murky. We are confused by conflicting headlines. One day the headlines blare that multivitamins are placebos. They are useless. They are a waste of money. The next day the headlines claim that multivitamins are panaceas that can help protect us from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and whatever else ails us.

In this week’s Health Tips From the Professor, I will review the latest study claiming that multivitamin use reduces heart disease risk and help you put that study into perspective.

Do Multivitamins Reduce Heart Disease Risk?

 

reduce heart disease riskThe current study (Rautianinen et al, Journal of Nutrition, doi: 10.3945/jn.115.227884, 2016)  was a re-analysis of data collected in the first Physician’s Health Study between 1982 and 1995. That study was originally designed to test the effect of aspirin and/or beta-carotene on heart disease and cancer. It enrolled a total of 22,071 male physicians over the age of 40 and followed them for an average of 12.2 years. The conclusions of the initial study were that aspirin use decreased cardiovascular risk while beta-carotene had little effect on either heart disease or cancer.

However, the study also collected data on a wide range of lifestyle factors (including diet and supplement use) and clinical outcomes, so it has provided a valuable database for many subsequent studies, including this one.

This study analyzed a subset of the population (18,530 male physicians) that did not have any sign of heart disease or cancer at the beginning of the study and looked at the effect of multivitamin usage on several cardiovascular disease outcomes including:

  • Non-fatal heart attacks
  • Non-fatal strokes
  • Death due to cardiovascular disease
  • Total cardiovascular events (the sum total of the previous three events)

Here were the results of the study:

  • When the authors simply asked whether the participants were using multivitamins or not at the beginning of the study, multivitamin use had no effect on any of the cardiovascular disease outcomes listed above. These results are similar to several similar studies.
  • However, when the authors compared those who had been using multivitamins for 20 years or more at the beginning of the study to non-users, long term multivitamin use was associated with a statistically significant 44% decrease in total cardiovascular events.
  • When the authors looked at each of the individual cardiovascular disease outcomes (heart attack, stroke, and death due to cardiovascular disease) there was a similar percentage decrease when comparing 20+ year multivitamin users with non-users, but there were not enough people in each of these individual categories for the differences to be statistically significant.

The authors concluded that their study suggests that “multivitamin use over a long duration may be associated with a lower risk of major cardiovascular events” but that further studies are needed because of the low number of long-term multivitamin users in the study.

Putting This Study Into Perspective

There are several clinical studies looking at the effect of multivitamin use on cardiovascular outcomes that have come up empty handed. However, there are an equal number of clinical studies that have shown a positive effect of multivitamin use on cardiovascular outcomes, at least under certain conditions and with certain population groups. For example:

  • For those physicians who had a prior history of heart disease, multivitamin use was associated with a 44% reduction in the risk of heart attack.  So, in this case multivitamins were shown to reduce heart disease risk.
  • There was a significant effect of age, with physicians who were 70 or older showing a stronger effect of multivitamin use on the reduction of overall cardiovascular disease.
  • This study did not ask how long the participants had been using multivitamins prior to the study so it could not assess the effects of long term multivitamin use.
  • Other studies suggest that long-term multivitamin use could also reduce heart disease risk in women. For example:

In short, the available data suggest that the benefits of multivitamin use are most likely to be apparent with those who are at highest risk of having a heart attack because of age or pre-existing disease as well as those who have been using multivitamins for decades, not just a few years.

Multivitamins And Heart Disease Risk:  Placebo Or Panacea?

placeboIf you just read the headlines you have every right to be confused. Some headlines claim that multivitamins are just placebos. They are a waste of money. Other headlines seem to suggest that multivitamins are panaceas that will prevent everything from heart disease to cancer and diabetes.  As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Let’s start with the obvious. If you are in great health, have a heart healthy diet and lifestyle, and do not have a genetic predisposition to heart disease, your chances of having a heart attack, stroke or other forms cardiovascular disease are very low. A multivitamin might benefit you in other ways, but it is unlikely to significantly reduce your already low risk of heart disease. Many of the subjects in previous studies fall into this category, which is why many of those studies come up empty handed.

The people who are most likely to benefit from multivitamin use are those who have a poor diet, or are at increased risk of heart disease because of genetic predisposition, pre-existing disease or age. None of the studies to date have looked at groups with poor diets or genetic predisposition to see whether multivitamin use did reduce heart disease risk. The one study that did look at groups who were older or had pre-existing disease found a beneficial effect of multivitamin use in those groups.

The recent study, along with several other studies, also suggests that it may require decades of multivitamin use to significantly impact heart disease risk. That makes sense. Heart disease doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes decades to develop, so it is only logical that it might also require many years of multivitamin use to significantly impact heart disease risk.

If so, this highlights a very serious flaw in those studies reporting no effect of multivitamin use on heart disease risk. Most of the negative studies only inquired about multivitamin use at the beginning of the study. They did not ask how long those people had been using multivitamins. If you ignore the long term multivitamin users, you are very likely to get a negative result.

The study featured in this article (Rautianinen et al, Journal of Nutrition, doi: 10.3945/jn.115.227884, 2016)  is a perfect example. The group who had been using multivitamins for 20+ years had a 44% decrease in heart disease risk. However, this group represented only 5% of the multivitamins users. The size of this group was not large enough to influence the overall results. Consequently, when the authors of the study looked at multivitamin users as a whole, there was no significant effect of multivitamin use on heart disease risk.

 

The Bottom Line

The question of whether multivitamin use could reduce heart disease risk has been contentious in recent years, with some studies claiming that multivitamin use has no effect, and other studies suggesting that multivitamin use significantly reduces heart disease risk. A recent study helps provide a better understanding of why previous studies have reported such conflicting results.

  • This study found that when you just asked whether people were using multivitamins or not at the beginning of the study, there was no significant effect of multivitamin use on heart disease risk – in agreement with all of the previous negative studies.  That is because those studies did not take into account the length of multivitamin use.
  • However, when the authors of the study looked at the subgroup who had used multivitamins for 20 years or more, they had a 44% decreased risk of heart disease compared to non-users. It turns out that most of the previous studies reporting a beneficial effect of multivitamin use on heart disease risk also focused on long term multivitamin users.
  • Previous studies have also suggested that multivitamin use may significantly decrease heart disease risk for people at increased risk of heart attack, either due to age or pre-existing heart disease.
  • Taken together these studies suggest that long term multivitamin use may reduce your risk of heart disease. Even short term multivitamin use may be beneficial if you are at increased risk of heart disease.
  • Of course, multivitamin use is just one piece of the heart health puzzle. For the NIH’s recommendation for a heart healthy lifestyle, click a heart healthy lifestyle.

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Omega-3 And Blood Pressure: The Good News

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Will Fish Oil Lower Your Blood Pressure?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

 

omgega-3 and blood pressureIs there a relationship between omega-3 and blood pressure we should understand to for health benefits?

High blood pressure is a killer! It can kill you by causing heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure, kidney failure and much more.

High blood pressure is a serial killer. It doesn’t just kill a few people. It kills lots of people. The American Heart Association estimates that high blood pressure directly or indirectly caused 363,000 deaths in 2010. That is almost 1 person every second and represents a 41% increase from 2000. It’s because high blood pressure is not a rare disease.

  • 31% of Americans have high blood pressure, also called hypertension, (defined as a systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or more or a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or more).
  • Another 30% of Americans have prehypertension (systolic blood pressure of 120-139 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure of 80-89 mm Hg).

That’s over 61% of Americans with abnormal blood pressure!

High blood pressure is a silent killer. That’s because it is a very insidious disease that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Systolic blood pressure increases 0.6 mm Hg/year for most adults over 50. By age 75 or above 76-80% of American adults will have high blood pressure.  Even worse, many people with high blood pressure have no symptoms, so they don’t even know that their blood pressure is elevated. For them the first symptom of high blood pressure is often sudden death.

Blood pressure medications can harm your quality of life. Blood pressure medications save lives. However, like most drugs, blood pressure medications have a plethora of side effects – including weakness, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, diarrhea or constipation, heartburn, depression, heart palpitations, and even memory loss . The many side effects associated with blood pressure medications lead to poor compliance, which is probably why only 47% of patients with high blood pressure are adequately controlled.

You do have natural options. By now you are probably wondering whether there are natural approaches for controlling your blood pressure that are both effective and lack side effects. The answer is a resounding YES! I’ll outline a holistic natural approach for keeping your blood pressure under control in a minute, but let me start with the good news about omega-3 fatty acids.

 

The Good News About Omega-3 and Blood Pressure

omega-3s lower blood pressureWhat’s the good news about omega-3 and blood pressure?  We’ve known for some time that omega-3 fatty acids helped lower blood pressure, but two recent studies have really highlighted just how strong the effect of omega-3s on lowering blood pressure is.

The first study (Miller et al, American Journal of Hypertension, 27: 885-896, 2014) was a meta-analysis of 70 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of long chain omega-3 (EPA + DHA) supplementation and blood pressure.

Here are the results of this study:

  • In the group with normal blood pressure at the beginning of the study EPA + DHA supplementation decreased systolic blood pressure by 1.25 mm Hg.
  • Given that systolic blood pressure rises an average of 0.6 mm Hg/year in adults over 50, the authors estimated that omega-3 supplementation alone would delay the onset of age-related high blood pressure by 2 years.
  • In the group with elevated blood pressure not taking medication at the beginning of the study, EPA + DHA supplementation decreased systolic blood pressure by an impressive 4.51 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 3.05 mm Hg.
  • The authors noted that this decrease in systolic blood pressure could “prevent an individual from requiring medication [with all its side effects] to control their hypertension” or decrease the amount of medication required.

However, the doses of omega-3s used in these studies ranged from 1 to over 4 grams/day (mean dose = 3.8 grams/day). That sparked a second study (Minihane et al, Journal of Nutrition, 146: 516-523, 2016) to see whether lower levels of omega-3s might be equally effective. This study was an 8 week double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing the effects of 0.7 or 1.8 grams of EPA + DHA per day (versus an 8:2 ratio of palm and soybean oil as a placebo) on blood pressure.

Here are the results of this study:

  • In the group with normal blood pressure at the beginning of the study, EPA + DHA supplementation caused no significant decrease in blood pressure. This could be due to the smaller number of subjects or the lower doses of EPA + DHA used in this study.
  • In the group with elevated blood pressure not taking medication at the beginning of the study, EPA + DHA supplementation decreased systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg and, the effect was essentially identical at 0.7 grams/day and 1.8 grams/day.
  • The authors concluded “Our data suggest that increased EPA + DHA intakes of only 0.7 grams/day may be an effective strategy for blood pressure control.”

A Holistic Approach To Blood Pressure Control

 

lower blood pressure dietThe latest information about omega-3 and blood pressure is good news indeed, but that’s not the only natural approach that lowers blood pressure. You have lots of other arrows in your quiver. For example:

  • The DASH diet (A diet that has lots of fresh fruits and vegetables; includes whole grains, low fat dairy, poultry, fish, beans, nuts and oils; and is low in sugar and red meats) reduces systolic blood pressure by 5-6 mm Hg. [Low sodium, low sodium/high-potassium, low-sodium/low-calorie, low-calorie and Mediterranean diets also lower blood pressure, but not by as much as the DASH diet].
  • Reducing sodium by about 1,150 mg/day reduces systolic blood pressure by 3-4 mm Hg.
  • Reducing excess weight by 5% reduces systolic blood pressure by 3 points.
  • Doing at least 40 minutes of aerobic exercise 3-4 times/week reduces systolic blood pressure by 2-5 mm Hg.

benefits of nitratesIf you’ve been keeping track, you’ve probably figured out that a holistic lifestyle that included at least 0.7 grams/day of long chain omega-3s (EPA + DHA) plus everything else in the list above could reduce your systolic blood pressure by a whopping 18-22 mm Hg.

That’s significant because,as the graphic on the right shows, the CDC estimates that reducing high systolic blood pressure by only 12-13 mm Hg could substantially decrease your risk of disease.

 

A Word Of Caution

While holistic approaches have the potential to keep your blood pressure under control without the side effects of medications, it is important not to blindly rely on holistic approaches alone. There are also genetic and environmental risk factors involved in determining blood pressure. You could be doing everything right and still have high blood pressure. Plus, you need to remember that high blood pressure is a silent killer that often doesn’t have any detectable symptoms prior to that first heart attack or stroke.

My recommendations are:

  • Monitor your blood pressure on a regular basis.
  • If your blood pressure starts to become elevated, consult with your doctor about starting with natural approaches to bring your blood pressure back under control. Doctors are fully aware of the side effects of blood pressure medications, and most doctors are happy to encourage you to try natural approaches first.
  • Continue to monitor blood pressure as directed by your doctor. If natural approaches are insufficient to bring your blood pressure under control, they will prescribe the lowest dose of blood pressure medication possible to get your blood pressure where it needs to be.
  • Don’t stop making holistic lifestyle choices to reduce blood pressure just because you are on medication. The more you do to keep your blood pressure under control, the less medication your doctor will need to use (That means fewer side effects).

 

The Bottom Line

 

  • Recent studies have shown that supplementation with as little as 0.7 grams of long chain omega-3s (EPA + DHA) per day is sufficient to decrease systolic blood pressure by ~ 5 mm Hg in people with untreated hypertension (high blood pressure). If your blood pressure is currently in the normal range, it is not yet clear how much EPA + DHA you need to keep it there. That may require a higher dose.
  • When you combine that with other natural approaches such as the DASH diet, reducing sodium, losing weight, and increasing exercise you can decrease blood pressure by 18-22 mm Hg.
  • The CDC estimates that is enough to substantially decrease your risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, memory loss, kidney disease, erectile dysfunction, death from cardiovascular disease, and death from any cause.
  • The authors of these recent studies concluded that holistic lifestyle changes including substantially increasing omega-3 intake have the potential to significantly delay the onset of age-related hypertension and may allow people with elevated blood pressure to eliminate or substantially reduce the use of blood pressure medications – with their many side effects.
  • High blood pressure is a silent killer. It is important to monitor your blood pressure regularly. If it becomes elevated, work with your doctor to find the balance of natural approaches and medication that is right for you.

 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Health Tips From The Professor