BY DR. GARRY F. GORDON, MD, DO, MD(H)

Our vitamins and supplements are again under attack. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article saying that taking vitamins is “a waste of time and money,” and any benefit one might experience is simply a placebo effect. The story followed on the heels of two studies released by the American Medical Association that reported an increase in mortality among women who regularly took a multi-vitamin, and an increase in prostate cancer among men who regularly ingested vitamin E supplements. The article also claims little to no benefit in taking B12 for heart health, or vitamin C for immune system health and the prevention of colds. How can they twist the data to make it appear that vitamin E causes prostate cancer when gamma tocotrienols found in good vitamin E preparations actually kill prostate cancer stem cells?

It is not a coincidence that these articles are coming out at the same time our government and FDA are vying for control over our personal health freedoms. Back in the early 1990s, the FDA tried to make many supplements illegal and consumers rejected this. The result was that Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). That law protected supplements from the FDA unless the FDA could prove a supplement wasn’t safe. However, a loophole in the law potentially gives the FDA authority to regulate new ingredients introduced after October 15, 1994. With prescription drug sales falling, and the controversies surrounding vaccines, the FDA is focused on ways to limit our access to more affordable alternatives.

The latest power grab is legislation introduced by Senator Durbin (R-IL), called the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act of 2011 (S.1310). On the same day, the FDA introduced its own guidelines called “Guidance for Industry: Dietary Supplements: New Dietary Ingredient Notifications and Related Issues,” designed to give the FDA authority to control and regulate vitamins like they do drugs.

The truth is, vitamins and natural supplements have enjoyed a remarkable efficacy and safety record for many decades. A major statistical study in 2004 from the Lewin Group investigated the potential impact dietary supplements could have in reducing healthcare costs. It found that regularly taking supplements such as calcium with vitamin D, folic acid, omega-3s, and lutein with zeaxanthin could save billions of dollars in medical expenses!

Regarding safety—statistics show that supplements are safer than prescription drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, and even food! According to the Poison Control Centers, there were zero deaths caused by dietary supplements in 2008, and only one in 2009. Meanwhile, pathogens like E. coli in food kill at least 2,000 people each year, and acetaminophen in drugs like Tylenol kills 450 people every year, and powerful prescription drugs kill many more. According to a previous American Medical Association medical journal in JAMA, prescription and over-the-counter drugs were the fourth leading cause of death. Those numbers only included the deaths that occurred in hospitals! Even the FDA now admits Vioxx likely killed over 26,000 people before they finally took it off the market!

Moving on…let us agree that no one should routinely ingest iron, copper or synthetic folic acid because, over the course of a lifetime, it will cause adverse health effects.

When choosing supplements, the source and form of supplement is very important. Dr. Mark Hyman, an expert in longevity and recently seen on Dr. Oz show, says synthetic folic acid can cause cancer, but natural folate is protective. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends eating a diet rich in foods containing folate, with a quality multi-vitamin, for optimal protection against heart disease and cancer. Folate has also been shown to protect against cervical dysplasia, a pre-cancerous condition, and thus heed caution against the GARDASIL® vaccine, which is now being encouraged for younger boys.

For the Beyond B12 supplement, I’ve included 5’MTHF and Folinic acid, a high-quality sublingual tablet delivering 2000mcg of vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin. B12 is essential for the 30 percent of our population known to have methylation issues that are either genetic or environmentally induced. To fight against toxins in our foods and environment, adding Beyond B12 is a simple and affordable way to support methylation and detoxification.  

For more information on how to effectively detox and achieve optimal health through diet and natural supplements, see my F.I.G.H.T. For Your Health Program at Gordon Research Institute gordonresearch.com.