Sage Advice: Be Your Own Health Advocate

Mixed Messages on Nutritional Supplements: The media seems to disseminate information at their whim and often it is unsubstantiated. Case in point with the recent headlines regarding whether nutritional supplements can be bad for you. However, we all need to wise to the ways of the media and big pharmaceutical companies that stand to profit billions by keeping us sick and in need of their medications. The best advice I ever received is “Be your own healthcare advocate and don’t take your doctor’s word as gospel.” Amen.

A US report was recently released (June, 2011) tracking deaths from vitamin supplements over the last 27 years. How many were there? Not one. Not a single one caused by, attributed to, associated with a vitamin supplement. On the other hand, deaths caused by medical intervention (i.e. drugs, operations, etc.) are now the 4th leading cause of death in the US. However, recent headlines might have you believe the opposite.

Contrary to the propaganda, in October 2011 The Iowa Women's Health Study (published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine), found statistically significant health benefits for many supplements. For many nutrients the mortality risk was less in supplement takers and further reduced the longer people had been taking them. Some vitamins and nutrients, like folic acid...are actually better-absorbed as a supplement than through food. They also found that "compared with non-users, supplement users had a lower prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure, and smoking status.”

The other point made in the negative media reports is that ‘more is not necessarily better’. One researcher who had this conce
is Dr. Gladys Block, formerly with the National Cancer Institute. She was conce
ed that thousands of people take large quantities of supplements on a daily basis, so she decided to study them, alongside people who took none or a daily low-dose RDA multivitamin. What the study showed was that the ‘many supplement takers’ had 73 per cent less diabetes risk than non-supplement takers; 52 per cent less heart disease risk than non-supplement takers and were 74 per cent more likely to rate their own health as good or excellent. Regarding hard biological markers of aging, the many-supplement takers came out better.

Your Doctor Knows Best? “Before you buy a product you should consult your physician.” The truth is, most general physicians know next to nothing about dietary supplementation and nutrition. And why should they? Anyone who trained more than 5 years ago got less than 12 hours of basic nutrition in medical school. Not to mention that most doctors get payment kickbacks and other incentives from pharmaceutical companies to prescribe their drugs. Obviously doctors are swayed to over-prescribe drugs, and big pharma has every incentive to make that happen since they profit billions. Should we just sit back and take these over-prescribed drugs to the detriment of our health while others make money off of us?

If the downside of drugs were accurately considered alongside the long-term benefit, the nutritional approach would definitely be seen as a more attractive option. Drugs may have a part to play in healthcare, but they won’t keep you healthy - primarily because one of their effects is to reduce the availability of the micronutrients your cells need. Details of these largely unknown interactions, are found in The 24-Hour Pharmacist by Suzy Cohen, R.Ph. Suzy’s 20 years of pharmacology experience has helped her see first-hand how the commonly prescribed drugs we take rob our bodies of vital nutrients.

Suzy repeatedly refers to “drug muggers” throughout her book and warns her readers about the nutrient robbers such as oral contraceptives, painkillers, hormone replacement therapy drugs, statin cholesterol reducers and commonly prescribed blood pressure medications.

If you need to take medicine, combining it with the essential nutrient that it steals, can help minimize or eliminate unpleasant and uncomfortable side effects. Take antibiotics for example, they rob the gut of friendly bacteria which can lead to side effects such as diarrhea, cramps, indigestion, bloating and, ironically, infections. To protect yourself, it is wise to also take probiotics both during and after the course of therapy.

Statins are another case in point. Although these drugs do their job by blocking a cholesterol-producing enzyme, that enzyme is also necessary for the production of CoQ10, a nutrient involved in all aspects of energy production and a powerful antioxidant. So, taking a statin may lower your cholesterol, but this has a knock-on effect on other key functions. CoQ10 is vital to heart health, and deficiency has been associated with fatigue, muscle weakness and heart failure.

An estimated 15 millio
American adults are afflicted with major depression and it’s the leading cause of disability in the United States for people aged 15-44. Even more appalling is that fact that 1,200 drugs exist that can actually cause or worsen depression. Even with the FDA requirements for warnings on antidepressants, people are unaware that many common “downer” drugs (Accutane, acid blockers, Ambien, birth-control pills, HRT drugs, etc.) can worsen their depression symptoms. Common nutritional imbalances connected to depression are blood sugar imbalances, lack of chromium, amino acids, B vitamins and essential fats. The solution is a low glycemic diet, high in omega 3 fats. Suzy recommends nutritional supplements along with “good mood foods” such as whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and to cut back on sugar, refined carbs, alcohol, caffeine and processed foods.

Clearly we need to be looking closely at the effects our medications may be having on our bodies and be our own health advocates. Can we really justify pill-popping on a regular basis when there is so much compelling evidence from natural approaches which can have as good, if not better, results without unwanted side-effects? Building one’s immunity and maintaining optimum health are the keys to staying healthy and free from disease. And it never hurts to do substantiated research of your own and be your own healthcare advocate!