Earl Mindell's New Vitamin Bible

Begin Reading

Table of Contents

Copyright Page

A Note to the Reader About
This Revised and Updated
30th Anniversary Edition

Widely expanded and thoroughly revised, this new edition of the Vitamin Bible marks its 30th anniversary in print. Since the book's publication, this is the fourth time it has been updated to ensure it continues to be the trusted, reliable source of current nutritional information that it has been for more than two decades for millions of people around the world. My hope is that this latest iteration is the most comprehensive ever, providing the essential information and explicit guidance you need to safely pursue and successfully achieve optimal health for yourself and your family.

Although there is an abundance of nutritional information on the Internet, there is an equal abundance of misinformation—about supplements, potential food and drug interactions, toxicity levels, and more. Not knowing what or what not to believe, what to look and look out for, can seriously jeopardize your health. The Vitamin Bible was designed to prevent that from happening by becoming the ultimate go-to nutritional reference guide, furnishing facts that you need when you want them—and right at your fingertips.

Along with more than thirty-five new sections in this edition and updated supplement regimens that include superfruits, herbal alternatives to drugs, and the latest nutraceuticals for everything from increasing fertility and dealing with postpartum depression to regaining memory brain power and sidestepping swine flu; from coping with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and dealing with RLS (restless legs syndrome) to protecting the prostate from BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) and boosting the immune system to new heights (and much more), the vitamin and mineral listings have all been expanded to include new FDA dosage recommendations and interactions with drugs. Also included are eye-opening sections on phytoestrogens (chemicals in plants that can act like hormone estrogen in the body), prebiotics (nutrients for probiotics), cortisol (the stress or death hormone), fake-fat falsehoods, and, with heart disease now the leading killer among women, the top heart-protecting supplements every woman needs to know about.

The Vitamin Bible's user-friendly sections are still cross-referenced in the text so you can easily find out more about what you want to know without having to refer to the index. Remember this:The more you know about how vitamins and supplements work, and how they can work for you, the more empowered you are and the more proactive you can be on your journey to optimal health.

ONE IMPORTANT REMINDER

The regimens throughout this book are recommendations, not prescriptions, and are not intended as medical advice. Before starting any new program, check with your physician or a nutritionally oriented doctor (see section 418), especially if you have a specific physical problem or are taking any medication.

Preface

This book is written for you—the untold legions of men and women who are forever trying to fit yourselves into statistical norms only to find that the charts are designed for some mythical average person who is taller, shorter, fatter, skinnier, less or more active than you'll ever be. It is a guide to healthy living for individuals, not statistics. Wherever feasible I have given personal advice. For this, I believe, is the only way to lead anyone to optimal health, which is the purpose of this book.

In these pages I have combined my knowledge of pharmacy with that of nutrition to best explain the confusing, often dangerous, interrelation of drugs and vitamins. I've attempted to personalize and be specific so as to eliminate much of the confusion about vitamins that has arisen with generalizations.

In using the book you will occasionally find that your vitamin needs fall into several different categories. In this case, let common sense dictate the necessary adjustment. (If you are already taking B6, for example, there's no need to double up on it unless a higher dosage is called for.)

The recommendations I've made are not meant to be prescriptive but can easily be used as flexible programs when working with your doctor. No book can substitute for professional care.

It is my sincere hope that I have provided you with information that will help you attain the longest, happiest, and healthiest of lives.

I

GETTING INTO VITAMINS

1. Why I Did

Starting out, my professional education was strictly establishment when it came to vitamins. My courses in pharmacology, biochemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, and public health hardly dealt with vitamins at all—except in relation to deficiency diseases. (Lack of C? Scurvy. Out of B1? Beriberi. Insufficient vitamin D? Rickets.)

There were no references to vitamins' being used for disease prevention or as ways to optimum health.

In 1965 I opened my first pharmacy. Until then I had never realized just how many drugs people were taking, not for illness but simply to get through the day. My partner at the time was very vitamin-oriented. Both of us were working fifteen hours a day, but only I looked and felt it. When I asked him what his secret was, he said it was not a secret at all. It was vitamins. I realized what he was talking about had very little to do with scurvy and beriberi and a lot to do with me. I instantly became an eager pupil, and have never since regretted it. After embarking on the most elementary vitamin regimens, I was not only convinced, I was converted.

Suddenly nutrition became the most important thing in my life. I read every book I could find on the subject, clipped articles and tracked down their sources, dug out my pharmacy school texts and discovered the amazingly close relationship that did indeed exist between biochemistry and nutrition. I attended any health lecture I could. In fact, it was at one such lecture that I learned of antioxidants and their age-reversing properties. (I have been taking antioxidant supplements since then, as well as SOD—superoxide dismutase, an enzyme present in green and white tea extracts. Today, because of these, most people guess me to be five to ten years younger than I am.) I was excited about each new discovery in the field, and it showed.

A whole new world had opened up for me, and I wanted others to share it.

By 1970 I was totally committed to nutrition and preventive medicine. Today, as a nutritionist, lecturer, and author, I'm still excited about the world that opened up to me more than forty years ago—a world that continues to grow with each new discovery that is made.

2. What Vitamins Are

When I mention the word vitamin, most people think pill. Thinking pill brings to mind confusing images of medicine and drugs. Though vitamins can and certainly often do the work of both medicine and drugs, they are neither.

• Quite simply, vitamins are organic substances necessary for life. Vitamins are essential to the normal functioning of our bodies and, save for a few exceptions, cannot be manufactured or synthesized internally. Necessary for our growth, vitality, and general well-being, they are found in minute quantities in all natural food. We must obtain vitamins from these foods or from dietary supplements.

What you have to keep in mind is that supplements, which are available in tablet, capsule, liquid, powder, spray, patch, and injection forms, are still just food substances, and, unless synthetic, are also derived from living plants and animals.

• It is impossible to sustain life without all the essential vitamins.

3. What Vitamins Are Not

A lot of people think vitamins can replace food. They cannot. In fact, vitamins cannot be assimilated without ingesting food. There are a lot of erroneous beliefs about vitamins, and I hope this book will clear up most of them.

• Vitamins are not pep pills and have no caloric or energy value of their own.

• Vitamins are not substitutes for protein or for any other nutrients, such as minerals, fats, carbohydrates, water—or even for one another!

• Vitamins themselves are not the components of our body structures.

• You cannot take vitamins, stop eating, and expect to be healthy.

4. How They Work

If you think of the body as an automobile's combustion engine and vitamins as spark plugs, you have a fairly good idea of how these amazing substances work for us.

Vitamins are components of our enzyme systems that, acting like spark plugs, energize and regulate our metabolism, keeping us tuned up and functioning at high performance.

Compared with our intake of other nutrients like proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, our vitamin intake (even on some megadose regimens) is minuscule. But a deficiency in even one vitamin can endanger the whole human body.

5. Should You Take Supplements?

Since vitamins occur in all organic material, some containing more of one vitamin than another and in greater or lesser amounts, you could say that if you ate the "right" foods in a well-balanced diet, you would get all the vitamins you need. And you would probably be right. The problem is, very few of us are able to arrange this mythical diet. According to Dr. Daniel T. Quigley, author of The National Malnutrition, "Everyone who has in the past eaten processed sugar, white flour, or canned food has some deficiency disease, the extent of the disease depending on the percentage of such deficient food in the diet." Additionally, the October 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association reported a research study stating categorically that "every adult should take a multiple vitamin since it is impossible to obtain all the nutrients needed in our daily food intake today."

Because most restaurants tend to reheat food or keep it warm under heat lamps, if you frequently eat out or take out you run the risk of vitamin A, B1, and C deficiencies. Also, since so many of our foods are processed or genetically modified (75 percent of the food in grocery stores has been genetically modified), lack of calcium, folic acid, and magnesium is epidemic. (And if you're a woman between the ages of thirteen and forty, this sort of work-saving dining is likely to cost you invaluable bone-building calcium and iron.)

Processed foods have been depleted in nutrients. Take breads and cereals, for example. Practically all of them you find in today's supermarkets are high in nothing but carbohydrates. "But they are enriched!" you say. It's written right on the label: enriched.

Enriched? Enrichment means replacing nutrients in foods that once contained them but because of heat, storage, and so forth no longer do. Foods, therefore, are "enriched" to the levels found in the natural product before processing. Unfortunately, standards of enrichment leave much to be desired nutritionally. For example, the standard of enrichment for white flour is to replace the twenty-two natural nutrients that are removed with three B vitamins, vitamin D, calcium, and iron salts. Now really, for the staff of life, that seems a pretty flimsy stick.

I think you can see why my feeling about taking supplements is clear.

6. What Are Nutrients?

They're more than vitamins, though people often think they are the same thing. Carbohydrates, proteins (which are made up of amino acids), fats, minerals, vitamins, and water are all nutrients—absorbable components of foods—and necessary for good health. Nutrients are necessary for energy, organ function, food utilization, and cell growth.

7. The Difference Between Micronutrients and Macronutrients

Micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, do not themselves provide energy. The macronutrients—carbohydrates, fat, and protein—do that, but only when there are sufficient micronutrients to release them.

The amount of micronutrients and macronutrients you need for proper health is vastly different—but each is important. (See section 75 for the protein–amino acid connection.)

8. How Nutrients Get to Work

Nutrients basically work through digestion. Digestion is a process of continuous chemical simplification of materials that enter the body through the mouth. Materials are split by enzymatic action into smaller and simpler chemical fragments, which can then be absorbed through walls of the digestive tract—an open-ended muscular tube, more than thirty feet long, which passes through the body—and finally enter the bloodstream.

9. Understanding Your Digestive System

Knowing how your digestive system works will clear up some of the more common confusions about how, when, and where nutrients operate.

Mouth and Esophagus

Digestion begins in the mouth with the grinding of food and a mixture of saliva. An enzyme called ptyalin in the saliva begins to split starches into simple sugars. The food is then forced to the back of the mouth and into the esophagus, or gullet. Here is where peristalsis begins. This is a kneading, "milking" constriction and relaxation of muscles that propels material through the digestive system. To prevent backflow of materials, and to time the release of proper enzymes—since one enzyme cannot do another enzyme's work—the digestive tract is equipped with valves at important junctions.

The tiny valve at the end of your esophagus opens long enough for chewed-up particles to enter the stomach. Occasionally, especially after eating, this valve relaxes—which is what enables you to belch. But a relaxed valve can also allow the acid from your stomach to be pushed back up into the esophagus, causing what's known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)—better known to those who experience it as heartburn (see section 290).

Stomach

This is the biggest bulge in the digestive tract, as most of us are well aware. But it is located higher than you might think, lying mainly behind the lower ribs, not under the navel, and it does not occupy the belly. It is a flexible bag enclosed by restless muscles, constantly changing form.

Virtually nothing is absorbed through the stomach walls except alcohol.

Watery substances, such as soup, leave the stomach quite rapidly. Fats remain considerably longer. An ordinary meal of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats is emptied from the average stomach in three to five hours. Stomach glands and specialized cells produce mucus, enzymes, hydrochloric acid, and a factor that enables vitamin B12 to be dissolved through intestinal walls into the circulation. A normal stomach is definitely on the acid side, and gastric juice, the stomach's special blend, consists of many substances:

Pepsin The predominant stomach enzyme, a potent digester of meats and other proteins. It is active only in an acid medium.

Rennin Curdles milk.

HCl (hydrochloric acid) Produced by stomach cells and creates an acidic state.

The stomach is not absolutely indispensable to digestion. Most of the process of digestion occurs beyond it.

Small Intestine

Twenty-two feet long, this is where digestion is completed and virtually all absorption of nutrients occurs. It has an alkaline environment, brought about by highly alkaline bile, pancreatic juice, and secretions of the intestinal walls. The alkaline environment is necessary for the most important work of digestion and absorption. The duodenum, which begins at the stomach outlet, is the first part of the small intestine. This joins with the jejunum (about ten feet long), which joins with the ileum (ten to twelve feet long). When semiliquid contents of the small intestine are moved along by peristaltic action, we often say we hear our stomachs "growling." Actually the stomach lies above these rumblings (called borborygmi), but even with the truth known it's doubtful the phrase will change.

Large Intestine (Colon)

Any material leaving the ileum and entering the cecum (where the small and large intestine join) is quite watery. Backflow is prevented at this junction by a muscular valve.

Very little is absorbed from the large intestine except water.

The colon is primarily a storage and dehydrating organ. Substances entering in a liquid state become semisolid as water is absorbed. It takes twelve to fourteen hours for contents to make the circuit of the intestine.

The colon, in contrast to a germ-free stomach, is lavishly populated with bacteria, normal intestinal flora. A large part of the feces is composed of bacteria, along with indigestible material, chiefly cellulose, and substances eliminated from the blood and shed from the intestinal walls.

Liver

The liver is the largest solid organ of the body and weighs about four pounds. It is an incomparable chemical plant. It can modify almost any chemical structure. It is a powerful detoxifying organ, breaking down a variety of toxic molecules and rendering them harmless. It is also a blood reservoir and a storage organ for vitamins such as A and D and for digested carbohydrate (glycogen), which is released to sustain blood sugar levels. It manufactures enzymes, cholesterol, proteins, vitamin A (from carotene), and blood coagulation factors.

One of the prime functions of the liver is to produce bile. Bile contains salts that promote efficient digestion of fats by detergent action, emulsifying fatty materials.

Gallbladder

This is a saclike storage organ about three inches long. It holds bile, modifies it chemically, and concentrates it tenfold. The taste or sometimes even the sight of food may be sufficient to empty it out. Constituents of gallbladder fluids sometimes crystallize and form gallstones.

Pancreas

This gland is about six inches long and is nestled into the curve of the duodenum. Its cell clusters secrete insulin, which accelerates the burning of sugar in the body. Insulin is secreted into the blood, not the digestive tract. The larger part of the pancreas manufactures and secretes pancreatic juice, which contains some of the body's most important digestive enzymes—lipases, which split fats; proteases, which split protein; and amylases, which split starches.

10. The Importance of Enzymes

Enzymes are necessary for the digestion of food, releasing valuable vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that keep us alive and healthy.

Enzymes are catalysts, meaning they have the power to cause an internal action without themselves being changed or destroyed in the process.

Enzymes are destroyed under certain heat conditions.

Enzymes are best obtained from uncooked or unprocessed fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats, and fish.

Each enzyme acts upon a specific food; one cannot substitute for the other. A deficiency, shortage, or even the absence of one single enzyme can mean the difference between sickness and health.

Enzymes that end in -ase are named by the food substance they act upon. For example, with phosphorus the enzyme is called phosphatase; with sugar (sucrose) it is known as sucrase.

Pepsin is a vital digestive enzyme that breaks up the proteins of ingested food, splitting them into usable amino acids. Without pepsin, protein could not be used to build healthy skin, strong skeletal structure, rich blood supply, and strong muscles.

Rennin is a digestive enzyme that causes coagulation of milk, changing its protein, casein, into a usable form in the body. Rennin releases the valuable minerals from milk, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and iron, which are used by the body to stabilize the water balance, strengthen the nervous system, and produce strong teeth and bones.

Lipase splits fat, which is then utilized to nourish the skin cells, protect the body against bruises and blows, and ward off the entrance of infectious virus cells and allergic conditions.

Hydrochloric acid in the stomach works on tough foods such as fibrous meats, vegetables, and poultry. It digests protein, calcium, and iron. Without HCl, problems such as pernicious anemia, gastric carcinoma, congenital achlorhydria, and allergies can develop. Because stress, tension, anger, and anxiety before eating, as well as deficiencies of some vitamins (B complex primarily) and minerals, can all cause a lack of HCl, more of us are short of it than we realize. If you think that you have an overacid problem or heartburn, for which you are dosing yourself with an antacid such as Maalox, Pepsid Complete, Tums, Rolaids, or Alka-Seltzer, you are probably unaware that the symptoms of having too little acid are exactly the same as having too much, in which case the taking of antacids could be the worst possible thing for you to do.

Dr. Alan Nittler, author of A New Breed of Doctor, has stated emphatically that everyone over the age of forty should be using a HCl supplement.

Betaine HCl and glutamic acid HCl are the best forms of commercially available hydrochloric acid.

11. Why You Need Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, the scourge of misinformed dieters, are the main suppliers of the body's energy. During digestion, starches and sugars, the principal kinds of carbohydrates, are broken down into glucose, better known as blood sugar. This blood sugar provides the essential energy for the brain and central nervous system.

You need carbohydrates in your daily diet so that vital tissue-building protein is not wasted for energy when it might be needed for repair. If you eat too many carbohydrates, more than can be converted into glucose or glycogen (which is stored in liver and muscles), the result, as we know all too well, is fat. When the body needs more fuel, the fat is converted back to glucose and you lose weight.

Don't be too down on carbohydrates. They're as important for good health as other nutrients—and gram for gram they have the same 4 calories as protein. Though no official requirement exists, a minimum of 50 g. daily is recommended to avoid ketosis, an acid condition of the blood that can happen when your own fat is used primarily for energy.

12. Name That Vitamin

Because at one time no one knew the chemical structure of vitamins and therefore could not give them a proper scientific name, most are designated by a letter of the alphabet. The following vitamins are known today; many more may yet be discovered: vitamin A (retinol, carotene); vitamin B-complex group: B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin, niacinamide), B4 (adenine), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B10, B11 (growth factors), B12 (cobalamin, cyanocobalamin), B13 (orotic acid), B15 (pangamic acid), B17 (amygdalin), Bc (folic acid), Bt (carnitine), Bx or PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid); choline; inositol; C (ascorbic acid); D (calciferol, viosterol, ergosterol); E (tocopherol); F (fatty acids); G (riboflavin); H (biotin); K (menadione); L (necessary for lactation); M (folic acid); P (bioflavonoids); Pp (nicotinamide); P4 (troxerutin); T (growth-promoting substances); U (extracted from cabbage juice).

Japanese scientists at the Tokyo-based Institute of Physical and Chemical Research say that PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone), a substance discovered in 1979 and subsequently shown to play an important role in fertility in mice and possibly in humans, could be categorized as a vitamin. If so, it would be the first new vitamin identified in fifty-five years.