Vitamin Information Center

I woke up with a sore throat and a bad attitude last week.

The sore throat was the first symptom, followed soon after by a runny nose and a lot of sneezing. And the raunchy mood resulted when I realized I was coming down with my second cold in less than a month.

I do not have time to be sick!

I went months without any kind of cold, and then to have two within weeks of each other, well, it was very discouraging.

So I immediately began doubling my daily intake of Emergen-C. Normally I take a packet in the morning and a packet at night. Sometimes, after a run of more than six miles or so, I take a packet before and after the run to deal with an occasional post-run headache.

By the second day, the cold was worse, but my resolve to beat it remained. I took six packets a day, in bottles of water, and by the fourth day, the cold had gotten much better. Six days after that first sore throat, I am almost symptom-free.

As I was driving home one night this week, I heard a radio commercial for a vitamin C supplement. What I found interesting is that it cited two studies that found higher doses of vitamin C can lengthen your life, help with PMS, and are a natural anti-inflammatory. Seriously, can this be true? And was it possible to overdose on vitamin C?
So I did some research. At first, I was more confused than ever as different studies and scientists offered different opinions.

But I did find some of what I was looking for. First, if you take more vitamin C than your body needs, you will just get rid of it.

“You really can’t overdose on water-soluble vitamins,” said Ken Hollen of Diet and Sport Nutrition, who has become my go-to guy on supplements. “What will happen is that you will get diarrhea.”

A person would need to take 10,000 to 13,000 mg to get to that point. I was taking six packets of Emergen-C, which has a lot of other vitamins and minerals in it, but that means I was taking 6,000 mg of vitamin C. (In fact, one article I found said it’s best to take vitamin C in conjunction with other vitamins or nutrients because of the synergistic effect that mimics whole food and reduces negative side effects.)

Another article made the point that megadosing any vitamin or mineral can throw your system out of balance, so you should consult a doctor or nutritionist to make sure you don’t create a different problem for yourself.

Hollen also pointed out, as did two of the articles I read, that taking vitamin C with calcium ascorbate can buffer your stomach and make sure you don’t increase the acidity of your system. Unfortunately, many supplements, including my beloved Emergen-C, use ascorbic acid, which can cause increased acidity.

As for all of those fabulous things that infomercial said vitamin C could do for you, there are studies that show significant impacts on health by increasing the intake of vitamin C. The one I was most interested in was the anti-inflammatory properties. Hollen explained to me that because vitamin C is found in the fluid around the joints and ligaments, it removes some of the inflammatory properties, but it’s not significant enough to be taken for that purpose alone.

Interestingly, nearly all of the articles and studies I read said increasing vitamin C even a little bit would most likely make most people feel better.

Acai Berry is a superfood that has taken the world by storm in the last few months. All natural supplements have really started to make the turn and take over diet pills and fat burners that previously held the market hostage. What exactly does Acai Berry do?

Acai Berry is just that, a berry found in deep in the Amazon Rain Forest. For years, scientists thought the berry was toxic to people, as it was to animals. Testing ended up revealing that not only is Acai Berry not toxic, but it has amazing weight loss properties. The superfood goes in and completely cleans out your body’s toxins. If left alone, these toxins can be responsible for weight gain, along with the aches and pains of every day life.

Along with fat burning capabilities, acai berry can other amazing things for your body. It is said to suppress cancer cells from forming, which had lead to more research on this subject and the possible cure of cancer. Acai is also known to just improve your general sense of well being. Your skin, nails, and hair are all improved by this miracle supplement. Basically, anything you can think of with your appearance and feelings are improved by acai berry.

Being that this supplement is relatively new, their are many free trials of Acai Berry on the market. Scientists will continue to do research and find more and more all natural supplements that will have amazing effects on your body for years to come.

Low levels of vitamin D may put older people at a higher risk of depression, a study has found.

Researchers also estimated that 13 per cent of all people aged over 65 could be depressed.

The study, carried out by scientists in Amsterdam and published in Science Daily, found that a deficiency in vitamin D causes high blood levels of the parathyroid hormone, which has been linked to depression.

Of the 1,282 older people aged between 65 and 95 studied, 169 had a minor depressive illness and 26 were majorly depressed. Those with depression were found to have 14 per cent lesser vitamin D in their blood levels.

Over half of the women and 38.8 per cent of the men studied had insufficient vitamin D levels.

The authors of the study write: “Decreased vitamin intake may be secondary to depression, but depression may also be the consequence of poor vitamin D status.”

Decreased outdoor activity and different housing or clothing habits were all believed to decrease vitamin D.

However, a healthy dose of sun exposure can relieve minor feelings of depression.

Medical and nutrition experts offers some ways to get more vitamin D in your life:

The National Institutes of Health recommends getting about 10 minutes of sun exposure on your arms, legs and hands two to three times a week without using sunscreen. Eat oily fish such as salmon or mackerel. Just 3.5 ounces of either provides 90 percent of the daily value for vitamin D.

Eat vitamin D-fortified foods such as milk, some cheeses, yogurts, juices and cereals. Check labels to see which ones contain vitamin D.

Take a vitamin D supplement. The government’s current recommendation for vitamin D is 200 IUs (international units) a day for people up to age 50, 400 IUs to age 70, and 600 IUs for people over 70. Although some scientists believe these dosages are too low, most caution not to exceed 1,000 IUs daily from supplements, because too much vitamin D can be toxic.

Take vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol form) instead of D-2. Vitamin D-3 is more potent and more easily absorbed by the body than D-2.

– R.J. IGNELZI

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