10-29-2007

A study published in the peer-reviewed Nutrition Journal (October 24, 2007) reveals that people who used multiple supplements for at least 20 years were in overall better health than both non-supplement users and individuals who only consumed a multivitamin/mineral supplement. This first-ever study on long-term users of multiple dietary supplements found them comparatively to have markedly better health as measured by higher blood levels of key nutrients, more optimal levels of key health biomarkers, and lower prevalence of diabetes and elevated blood pressure.

The objective of the study was to describe the dietary supplement usage patterns, health, and the nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users, and to make appropriate comparisons to matched single multivitamin supplement users and nonusers of supplements. Using a cross-sectional design, information was obtained from online questionnaires and on-site physical examinations from a sample of long-term users of multiple dietary supplements from a single dietary supplement supplier (Shaklee).

The group of 278 long-term multiple dietary supplement users consumed a broad array of vitamin/mineral, herbal, and condition-specific dietary supplements on a daily basis for at least 20 years. As a group, they were 73% less likely to have diabetes and 39% less likely to have elevated blood pressure than non-users. Also, this group was less likely to have suboptimal blood nutrient concentrations, and more likely to have favorable levels of key biomarkers, including serum homocysteine, C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL’s), and triglycerides than either non-users or multivitamin/mineral users.

“The study results were very impressive and support the potential benefits of long-term use of dietary supplements,” said Gladys Block, PhD, nutrition researcher and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition at the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health. Dr. Block helped lead the research team in its efforts to conduct the first-of-its-kind study on this unique population of long-term users of a broad array of a single brand of dietary supplements.

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Cancer treatment can sap your appetite, but that’s when getting adequate nutrition is more important than ever. Here’s how to meet your needs.
By Gina Shaw
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Here are two selected paragraphs from the article.

“If you want to supplement the nutrition you get from your regular diet, we recommend taking just one multivitamin per day from a reputable manufacturer,” says Gary Deng, MD, assistant attending and assistant member in the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

If you have trouble eating enough at mealtimes, many experts recommend adding a nutritional supplement nutrition drink to the menu. Check the label to make sure your supplement shake contains a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Liquid Power, a whole food source liquid multiple vitamin and mineral supplement fits the bill here perfectly. Not only does Liquid Power contain every vitamin and mineral, it also contains a plethora of highly potent nutraceuticals.*

*Nutraceutical is a blend of the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical” and refers to foods claimed to have a medicinal effect on human health. Such foods are also called functional foods. It can also refer to individual chemicals present in common foods. Many such nutraceuticals are phytonutrients.

Examples of claims made for nutraceuticals are red wine (resveratrol) as an antioxidant and an anticholesteremic, broccoli (sulforaphane) as a cancer preventative, and soy and clover (isoflavonoids) to improve arterial health in women. Such claims are being researched and many citations are available via PubMed to ascertain their veracity.

“Chemotherapy and radiation treatments are extremely toxic to the body and can weaken or even damage the body long term. (this is in no way a recommendation to avoid these treatments) That is why it is extremely important during chemotherapy and radiation treatments to support the bodies need for high quality vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, fatty acids and nutraceuticals. Supplementing the diet with a high quality nutritional supplements may have profound beneficial effects on the body when it’s needed most.”

Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc.

The production of growth hormone is regulated by many factors:

Stress, exercise, nutrition, fasting, sleep and growth hormone itself. However, its primary controllers are two hypothalamic hormones (Growth hormone-releasing hormone Somatostatin) and one hormone from the stomach (Ghrelin). L- Arginine is required before bed.

Somatomedin C, high blood sugar or fats, obesity, and depression reduce GH secretion.

Protein synthesis is stimulated by:

Very high concentrations of leucine have the capacity to stimulate protein synthesis and inhibit protein degradation in skeletal muscle. That means taking  Branch Chain Amino Acid’s (BCAA’s) with your whey protein (isolate) powder.

Textbook Treason?
I just received two nutrition textbooks from Wadsworth/Thomson Leaning for review: Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism by Groff & Gropper and Understanding Nutrition by Whitney & Rolfes. As I read Whiney & Rolfes, I was struck by the following statements: “Protein supplements are expensive, less completely digested than protein-rich foods and, when used as replacements for such foods, often downright dangerous.”

This is not the case. Modern protein powders have a high biological value (quality) and are certainly not “downright dangerous”; see the review by Dr. Luke Bucci in Energy-Yielding Macronutrients and Energy Metabolism in Sports Nutrition (CRC Press, 2000).

“Whey protein appears to be particularly popular among athletes hoping to achieve greater muscle mass. A waste product of cheese manufacturing, whey protein is a common ingredient in many low-cost protein powders. Athletes and active people who want bigger muscles should know that whey protein does not increase muscle mass.”

There is some evidence suggesting that whey protein may enhance lean body mass in conjunction with appropriate training (J Nutr Biochem, 14:251-258, 2003). Whey proteins have a high biological value and contain a relatively high proportion of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). The abundance of leucine in whey is of particular interest in this regard. Leucine plays a distinct role in protein metabolism and has been identified as a key signal in the translational initiation pathway of muscle protein synthesis.

Another point, beyond the composition of amino acids present in whey, is the manner in which whey and other intact proteins are absorbed and utilized
relative to each other, as well as to free amino acid solutions. Whey proteins have been compared to casein and a distinct difference is that whey is rapidly
absorbed compared to casein. Dr. Bohe and coworkers reported that continuous stimulation of protein synthesis (via a constant infusion of amino
acids) resulted in saturation of the response within two hours (J Physiol 532:575-579, 2001).

Thus, an effective protein source would be one that could stimulate a response in the periods between feeding which would be additive to the net accumulation of muscle protein in the course of a day. Further, certain amino acids and whey-derived bioactive compounds offer the potential to extend health benefits to active people beyond body composition. Many of the functions associated with these amino acids and whey components involve the immune system and may therefore be of particular importance to athletes in intensive training. The claim that certain whey peptides suppress appetite is being used to market some products, but well designed studies to validate this effect are lacking.

****** (MUST READ) Another excellent study by Dr. Tipton and coworkers was designed to determine whether consumption of an oral essential amino acid/carbohydrate supplement before exercise results in a greater anabolic response than supplementation after resistance exercise. The results indicated that the response of net muscle protein synthesis to consumption of an essential amino acid/carbohydrate solution immediately before resistance exercise is greater than when the solution is consumed after exercise.