Experiment: Changing Supplements

According to several sources I've read about, adequate vitamin D ingestion can help support your immune system.  I tested as being pretty low on vitamin D so I started taking supplements of 1000 IU of D3 per day, which I increased (based on feedback from my naturopath) to 2000 IU per day.

In addition to this, I have stopped using hand sanitizer.  In fact, the last bug I caught was after using hand sanitizer so it occurred to me that it might be removing good bacteria as well as the bad stuff.

So here is my experiment:

1.  2000 IU of vitamin D3, in supplement form, per day.  (In case you're curious, I'm taking this SISU brand product)

2.  Hand washing.  I wash my hands almost as soon as I get home and before I start to work with food or do anything, really.  Back and front, using a natural soap if I can (it usually ends up being the fruit and vegetable wash liquid).

3.  Switched brands of vitamin C to the SISU brand as well -- I suspected that the Genestra product (C-1000 with bioflavinoids) I've been using for years was no longer quite doing the trick. One a day (1000 mg) of vitamin C.  This one has Ester C.

4.  Ran out of my normal calcium, so I started using the SISU brand of that as well.  It's a coincidence -- honest!  I'm taking 4 pills (2 with lunch and 2 in the evening) per day.

5.  My usual B-12 folic acid supplement in the morning when I remember to take it.  That one isn't SISU -- at least not right now!

OH!  I just remembered one other change I've made ... I'm drinking boiled water from the kettle at work rather than using (and re-using) either my stainless steel water bottle or plastic bottles.

Let's see how it goes ... fingers crossed ...

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.