Jan 12
10
Do Vitamin Supplements Cause Cancer?
There recently was a media blast stating that vitamins and minerals may be bad for your health. In addition another research study showed that vitamin E may cause increased rates of prostate cancer. I started getting e-mails and phone calls about this from clients within days of the news reports.
Over the thirty years that I have been in the nutrition field I have seen this type of reporting many times. What concerns me is the immediate belief level that occurs without sufficient understanding of how the research was performed. I will attempt to educate you on how this all came about.
Vitamin and mineral supplements are a billion dollar industry. We have everything from small privately owned companies making supplements to billion dollar pharmaceutical companies making supplements. When research is done and published it is usually done with “synthetic” vitamins. Such was the case with the Vitamin E study. These are vitamins that are made in a lab versus supplements that are made from whole foods or botanical sourced raw materials. The way your body responds to “nature” vs “man made” is significant.
When we go to nature we find that nutrients are often found in “families”. Vitamin 
E is a perfect example of this. Vitamin E is actually made up of eight parts; Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta Tocopherol and Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta Tocotrienols. In the study that showed increased prostate cancer with Vitamin E they were using a “synthetic” Vitamin E. This E has only one of the eight parts to the E, Alpha Tocopherol. In addition synthetic vitamin E is often petroleum based or made from soybean sludge (majority of soy is genetically modified).
When an isolate, synthetic Vitamin E is introduced into the body it “fills up” the receptors on your cells for the other seven parts of the E that might come in through your food intake. Your cells no longer are able to receive the additional seven parts to the Vitamin E therefore opening the door to nutrient deficiency which leads to disease. Stephan Christen found that large amounts of isolated alpha-tocopherol can actually decrease availability of gamma tocopherol. Gamma tocopherol is an important nutrient for dealing with nitrogen-based carcinogens (cancer causing agents.) So it does not surprise me that the Vitamin E study would show increased risk of cancer.
Many companies, such as Walgreens, Costco, and Wal-Mart, do not manufacture the product; they simply distribute. You may be surprised to know that China is one of the largest exporters of many drugs and vitamins. About 90 percent of all Vitamin C sold in the 
United States is from China, for example. Ditto for the majority of Vitamins A, B12 and E. The industry in China appears to be split between top-notch operations and bottom-of-the-barrel producers. Since the United States does not require country-of-origin labels for any of our drugs, foods or supplements, there is no telling where that vitamin you are taking, or the one they are using in research, came from.
Bottom line, the best decision you can make when purchasing nutritional supplements is to know the source. Where are the raw materials coming from? Are they tested for heavy metals, bacteria and genetically modified ingredients? Is their standardization to assure each pill has the same dosage? Have the product claims been substantiated through documented preclinical and clinical studies?
I once heard it said “if you don’t know furs you better know your furrier!” The same holds true for nutritional supplements. They can be a wonderful support for a healthy lifestyle if coming from a quality source and manufacturer.
