so ... do vitamins help or not? studies show ...

An old friend, who also happens to be a doctor down in the States, sent me a really interesting article from the New York Times yesterday on the results of studies done on vitamin consumption and their impact on health (News Keeps Getting Worse for Vitamins by Tara Parker-Pope, November 20, 2008).

Factoid #1: Long-term ingestion of vitamins C and/or E don't seem to help prevent cancer.

Factoid #2: Vitamins C and E do not seem to prevent heart disease.

Factoid #3: Vitamin C seems to not only protect healthy cells but cancerous cells as well.

Factoid #4: Vitamin E, especially when taken in combination with other vitamins and/or minerals, seems to actually account for a HIGHER mortality rate (4% if only taking vitamin E -- 6% if taking vitamin E in combination with other vitamins/minerals -- according to one study) than taking nothing at all.

Factoid #5: In one study, people being treated with radiation for neck and head cancer were given doses of vitamin E. It seemed to reduce the side-effects of the radiation, but the cancer recurrence rates seemed to be higher in the group taking vitamin E.

On a positive note ... well, it's not all bad. B12/folic acid is still a good thing if you're a woman of child-bearing age. And taking calcium does seem to help with osteoperosis if you're a woman over the age of 65.

It's a fascinating article - suggest you check it out.

drinking coffee protects your liver? who knew?!?

I am a coffee drinker.

But apparently, in some respects, that has now been found to be a good thing.  According to an article I just read online in RealAge, the benefits of consuming coffee include:

• improved liver function
• decreased mortality from certain diseases
• ingestion of some great anti-oxidants

Sounds (reads) too good to be true.  But if it is ... woo hoo!

Wander on over to Real Age to read this article or just the highlights if you want to find out more about this.

to vaccinate or not to vaccinate ... interesting article

Read an interesting article in the September/October 2008 edition of Mother Jones Magazine on the safety of vaccinations and your kids.

Given that I have a kid myself - and was torn when it came to vaccinating him - I was curious as to what this particular magazine writer's take would be on the subject. The author of the article, Arthur Allen, has written a book on the subject called Vaccine ... and seems to be saying that the problems associated with vaccinations are unproven, and that the risks of NOT vaccinating are so much higher.

One of the most interesting points he makes are that there is a corollary between educational level received and outbreaks of illnesses which would be otherwise covered by preventative vaccinations. PhD? Chances are better that you chose to not get your child those shots.

Worth a read -- check out the article and let me know what you think.

And if you want to pick up Arthur Allen's book, feel free to get it from Amazon.ca -- it will help support my book habit! :)