Is the Media Right when they say ‘ Taking Vitamins is a Waste of Time and Money’

“The International Journal of Epidemiology” recently published a paper discussing a 6 year study involving 8,112 participants, half of which allegedly took vitamins daily and half of which did not. The conclusion of the study was that “Long-term supplementation with antioxidant vitamins and minerals had no beneficial effect..” Based on this ‘evidence’, the media are now saying that if you are taking vitamins, you are simply wasting your money.

But what vitamins were the subjects of the study taking, and how much were they taking?

The single capsule that the participants ingested daily either contained a placebo or Vitamin C 120 mg., Vitamin E 30 mg, Beta-Carotene 6 mg., Selenium 100μg and Zinc 20 mg.

There are only two vitamins (Vitamin C and D) and one mineral (Selenium) recognized in preventing and reversing cancer, but there are many other neutraceuticals that unequivocally reduce the cancer risk and, more importantly, can reverse a cancer. This paper never discussed or included any of these. Nutritionally oriented physicians are knowledgeable about these supplements and would never agree that they are a waste of your time and money. These include: CoQ10, L-Glutathione, Resveratrol, Butyric Acid, Alpha Lipoic Acid, multiple herbal compounds, enzymes and many others.

Wait before you stop taking your “vitamins”, and listen to your physician. Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling, demonstrated that 10,000 mg of Vitamin C can protect against and reverse cancer. He was criticized by Frederick Klenner, a North Carolina clinician, recognized for his lifetime work treating thousands of patients with burns, cancer and even snake-bites using Vitamin C. Klenner told Pauling, “Ten thousand milligrams of Vitamin C will only palliate a patient with cancer. If you want to kill the cancer you have to use at least seventy-five thousand milligrams.” Most daily vitamins contain 100mg or less of Vitamin C. Vitamin D has also been shown to reduce cancer risk, but you must take enough to raise your blood level to 50-70mg, which would require on average 5000 I.U. of Vitamin D3 daily. Most daily vitamin formulas contain no more than 400 I.U. The mineral Selenium is clearly anti-cancer, but at the minimal dose of 200μg or more, a level most formulas rarely achieve.

The study published in the “International Journal of Epidemiology” is meaningless and misses the major reason why we should all continue to take our vitamins. One of the nation’s great nutritionists, Roger Williams, author of The Genetotrophic Concept of Disease, taught that the average human being’s need for vitamins varies between 3 to 10 times the recommended daily allowance, and some need 10 to 100 times the RDA. We don’t just eat foods rich in the vitamin spectrum to prevent such deficiency diseases as scurvy, Berri-Berri, rickets, etc. We seek these nutrients because they are essential for optimal functioning of our organs and tissues. Williams recommended we take what he called an insurance formula because no matter how well we eat, our foods are most often depleted of their nutrients. The difference between nutrients found in normal grocery produce and organically grown foods is incredible.

In closing, I stand by my convictions, and the convictions of so many other physicians who are nutritionally knowledgeable, that the small investment we make in taking nutritional supplements for the prevention of degenerative diseases that are bankrupting our country is well worth it. So keep taking your vitamins, especially your Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2, and do not be misguided.

Sincerely,

Allan D. Lieberman, M.D., F.A.A.E.M.
COEM