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All children have the right to a good start in life,” said Kul Gautum, its deputy executive director. “With nearly a third of the planet affected in some way by a problem for which a clear solution exists, anything less than rapid progress is unconscionable.” Venkatesh Mannar, president of The Micronutrient Initiative, a not-for-profit organization which is trying to boost vitamin uptake in developing countries, urged the international community to work together. “Resources and technology to bring vitamin and mineral deficiencies under control do exist. “What we need is the will and the effort and the action to fix this problem.”
The first of these methods is high temperature cooking. The purpose is to try and get rid of some of the phytic acid. As we know, high temperatures above 118?F denature the natural enzymes of the bean. (Howell) Soybeans are first heated to temperatures up to 248? F! (Erasmus, p 95) Without enzymes, any plant becomes a devitalized food, very difficult to digest in the human tract. In addition to interfering with breakdown of the food, enzyme depletion also interferes with mineral absorption as well as vitamin activity.
Remember that enzymes, vitamins, and minerals are three legs of the tripod of metabolic activity. That means cell and tissue function. Take away any one and the other two are stumped. Mineral activity was already a problem with soy, because of the phytic acid. Superheating and enzyme loss compound this deficiency. In addition, a constant problem with oil processing is rancidity, which means oxidizing when exposed to air and light. Oxidation produces the dread trans-fatty acids and a boatload of free radicals.
There are two chemical terms: cis and trans, used to describe the shape of a fatty acid. Humans require natural fatty acids, which are in the cis form. Processing changes the cis forms to the unnatural trans configuration. Trans fatty acids are manmade – something nature would never have dreamed up. Trans fatty acids cannot be broken down by human fat enzymes.
The niacin flush is the result of dilation of blood vessels in the skin due to the vitamin’s effect on arteries and the nerves that regulate them. It is a harmless reaction and may even be of benefit in some people with problems of blood circulation. I recommend supplemental niacin for people with Raynaud’s disease (episodes of painful, blanched fingers and hands, usually on exposure to cold), smokers with leg cramps at night, and people with cold extremities. The usual dose I suggest is 100 milligrams twice a day, taken with food to moderate the flushing. In much higher doses, niacin lowers serum cholesterol, but it can also disturb liver function.
Vitamins fall into two general categories: those that are soluble in water and thus easily eliminated from the body (B-complex and C) and those that are fat-soluble and can accumulate in the body (A, D, E, K). The latter are potentially harmful because the body cannot eliminate any excess in the urine, but actual cases of toxicity are rare to the point of being medical curiosities. I will start with the water-soluble group. B-complex vitamins include a number of substances needed for metabolic reactions.
Bird flu mortality and Reye’s syndrome The deadly H5N1 avian flu virus is reported to have a 60% mortality rate (6 in 10 infected die), but fortunately has poor human-to-human transmission. It is interesting to note that the very first confirmed death from H5N1 involved a 3-year-old boy with good past health who developed pneumonia with accompanying complications of Reye’s syndrome. [Journal Paediatric Child Health. 1999 April; 35(2):207–9] Inquiry of the child’s use of aspirin or supplemental vitamin C was not recorded, nor was blood sample drawn to obtain a vitamin C level. Another study involving the first confirmed H5N1 influenza diagnoses was comprised of 7 patients over the age of 13 with 4 deaths, and 5 patients under the age of 5, one who died with Reye’s syndrome associated with intake of aspirin.
Dr. Caballero said that for some supplements, including vitamin A, the difference between the recommended dose and a dose that could lead to bad outcomes like osteoporosis was not large. Popular multivitamins, he added, often contain what could be risky doses. “Certainly,” he said, “by consuming supplements, people can reach that level.” Doctors who once told patients that multivitamins were, at worst, a waste of money now say they are questioning that idea. “All of a sudden, scientists are rearing back and saying,
Fourteen days of B-group vitamin supplementation significantly increased the plasma concentrations of pyridoxal phosphate and red blood cell folate and improved a measure of B 2 status compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Plasma tHcy decreased in both groups albeit less in the control group but differences in cumulative changes were not significant. There was, however, a decrease in plasma MDA concentration in the treatment group, in contrast to the increase seen in the control group and these differences were significant (P = 0.05).
Mr Wermann said: “The Danish diet is pretty frugal or austere at the best of times. They are protective of their diet. Equally the government is working in their country to take extra vitamins and minerals in their diets. We are not too sure where they are coming from on this one.”
