- What is complementary and alternative medicine?
- Are complementary medicine and alternative medicine different from each other?
- Are complementary and alternative therapies widely used?
- How are complementary and alternative approaches evaluated?
- What are vitamins and how do they work?
- What are minerals and why do we needs them?
- Why take nutritional supplements?
- Do children need vitamin and mineral supplements?
- How can I be sure that I am buying quality and tested natural substances?
- Do cheaper supplements work?
- What are Free radicals and Antioxidents?
- What are Antimutagenics?
- Why do some supplements have wording (a disclaimer) that says: "This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease"?
- What are the optimum intake levels for vitamins and minerals?
Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) - also referred to as Integrative medicine or Natural Medicine - includes a broad range of healing philosophies, approaches, and therapies. A therapy is generally called complementary when it is used in addition to conventional treatments; it is often called alternative when it is used instead of conventional treatment. (Conventional treatments are those that are widely accepted and practiced by the mainstream medical community). Depending on how they are used, some therapies can be considered either complementary or alternative.
Complementary and alternative therapies are used in an effort to prevent illness, reduce stress, prevent or reduce side effects and symptoms, or control or cure disease. Some commonly used methods of complementary or alternative therapy include mind/body control interventions such as visualization or
relaxation; manual healing, including acupressure and massage; homeopathy; vitamins or herbal products; and acupuncture.
Yes, they are different.
• Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine. An example of a complementary therapy is using aromatherapy to help lessen a patient's discomfort following surgery.
• Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. An example of an alternative therapy is using a special diet to treat cancer instead of undergoing surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy that has been recommended by a conventional doctor.
Research indicates that the use of complementary and alternative therapies is increasing. A large-scale study published in the November 11, 1998, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that CAM use among the American public increased from 34percent in 1990 to 42 percent in 1997. According to a national random telephone survey of 1204 British adults in 1999 commissioned by the BBC, 20% of British adults have used complementary or alternative medicine in the past 12 months.
It is important that the same scientific evaluation which is used to assess conventional approaches be used to evaluate
complementary and alternative therapies. A number of medical centers are evaluating complementary and alternative therapies by developing clinical trials
(research studies with people) to test them.
What are the major types of complementary and alternative medicine?
NCCAM classifies CAM therapies into five categories, or domains:
1) Alternative Medical Systems
Alternative medical systems are built upon complete systems of theory and practice. Often, these systems have evolved apart from and earlier than the conventional medical approach used in the United States. Examples of alternative medical systems that have developed in Western cultures include homeopathic
medicine and naturopathic medicine. Examples of systems that have developed in non-Western cultures include traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.
2) Mind-Body Interventions
Mind-body medicine uses a variety of techniques designed to enhance the mind's capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms. Some techniques that were
considered CAM in the past have become mainstream (for example, patient support groups and cognitive-behavioral therapy). Other mind-body techniques are still considered CAM, including meditation, prayer, mental healing, and therapies that use creative outlets such as art, music, or dance.
3) Biologically Based Therapies
Biologically based therapies in CAM use substances found in nature, such as herbs, foods, and vitamins. Some examples include dietary supplements herbal
products, and the use of other so-called "natural" but as yet scientifically unproven therapies (for example, using shark cartilage to treat cancer).
4) Manipulative and Body-Based Methods
Manipulative and body-based methods in CAM are based on manipulation and/or movement of one or more parts of the body. Some examples include chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, and massage.
5) Energy Therapies
Energy therapies involve the use of energy fields. They are of two types:
• Biofield therapies are intended to affect energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the human body. The existence of such fields has not yet been scientifically proven. Some forms of energy therapy manipulate biofields by applying pressure and/or manipulating the body by placing the hands in, or
through, these fields. Examples include qi gong, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch.
• Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies involve the unconventional use of electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, magnetic fields, or alternating current or direct current fields.
All vitamins are organic food substances that with few exceptions (vitamin D, and niacin) the body cannot make. Vitamins are indispensable to the normal functioning of human body. They are necessary for growth, energy, and general well-being. They must be supplied in the diet or in dietary supplements. Without vitamins, humans cannot stay alive. They are needed in every single organ in the human body. As organs perform their functions, vitamins assist them and participate in a body chemical reactions.
Minerals are non-organic substances necessary for proper functioning of the body. There are 60 minerals! in the body out of which 22 are considered necessary for good health. While human body can manufacture some vitamins, it cannot manufacture a single mineral! The importance of minerals is clear when it is realized that all body tissues and fluids contain some or all minerals. Minerals are in bones, teeth, soft tissue, muscle, blood, and nerve cells. They are indispensable for mental and physical well-being. All the complex substances the body needs to build new and healthy cells, are dependent on minerals. The human body cannot maintain good health without a complete set of minerals that are included in the daily diet. Also in the human body, there are minerals that exist in minute quantities and traces (trace minerals), yet they play a major role in health, being essential to the assimilation and use of vitamins and other nutrients.
We would not need to take supplements in the perfect world, however, mass production and processing methods used by the food industry today, strip many of natural nutrients normally found in foods. Therefore, to keep our bodies anywhere near optimal nutritional levels, requires
us to supplement our dietary intake with important vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
There are also a number of other factors that deplete our bodies of nutrients including:
a) Smoking – strips 25mg of vitamin C for each cigarette smoked.
b) Stress – utilizes a lot of B-complex vitamins and minerals.
c) Eating sugar and other refined products – will strip chromium, zinc,
vitamin B3 and other minerals from the body.
A human body begins to build itself from the food it absorbs from the mother's womb and to proper development must be
provided with all necessary ingredients. If there is a deficiency of vitamins and minerals, a child may develop a deficiency disease and not develop properly.
They do need increased amount of some vitamins and minerals, while some others can safely be skipped. This is a reason why children should not be fed 'adult' supplements. Again, if the child eats properly and has a balanced well prepared diet (which is rare in modern society) no supplement is needed. How often children refuse to eat spinach, or broccoli that provide their organisms with, enough calcium needed at this point to build new growth bone. Moreover, the effects of serious illness, or even a cold, flu, other virus or even pollution may have serious, negative effect on a child's development and adding vitamin and mineral supplements may be necessary.
As consumers, we have few, if any, means of directly testing what we are about to ingest. Therefore, most of us must rely on experts to do the testing for us. Fortunately, there is a scientific method of accurately identifying herbs and testing nutritional formulas in the laboratory. It is called chromatography. For your safety, we recommend that you procure herbal and nutritional products only from companies that utilize chromatography to properly identify the substances they sell. The vast majority of products sold on worldwidehealthcenter.net are tested in this way.
As a general rule, the answer is no - you get what you pay for. Cheaper vitamin products may contain 100% Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) levels, but as any professional will tell you, RDA levels are way out of date. We now know that you need much higher doses than previously thought to work effectively. Then comes the quality of ingredients used within the supplement, for example: Ascorbyl Palmitate is a special type of vitamin C (expensive) that has an excellent absorption compared to ascorbic acid or calcium ascorbate and d-alpha tocopherol is the natural form of Vitamin E whereas dl-alpha tocopherol is a synthetic Vitamin E that has 36% less absorption. Most cheaper supplements are in tablet form as oppose to capsules which again means less absorption into the body. Also important is the testing of the raw ingredients as mentioned above in the previous question.
So you can soon see how buying cheaper supplements is a false economy. You not only get less vitamins and minerals in the first place which mainly render them ineffective but some of the nutrients are not absorbed into the body and end up being flushed away. A report in the U.K. press stated that Vitamins were a waste of money. What they were referring to were vitamins at the cheaper end of the market, commonly sold in high streets and supermarkets, which is true. This cannot be said about all Vitamin supplements. You only have to read some of the research articles available on this web site, many of them written by scientist and M.D.'s to realize this is not the case. It is always worth paying a little extra for good quality supplements.
Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that react with and damage cells throughout the body. Research has shown that they can be responsible for causing cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological disorders, cataracts, arthritis, aging and many other conditions.
Antioxidants are substances that neutralize the “bad” effects of free radicals. Many researchers believe that by supplementing with extra antioxidants
you can dramatically reduce free radical damage or oxidative stress, prevent and delay the onset of chronic degenerative diseases, and possibly extend your lifespan.
Cancer and other chronic diseases are often preceded by certain biological signposts or changes to cellular structures. Often, medical doctors will observe specialized cellular and DNA damage, which can indicate the strong possibility of developing a tumor.
Antimutagenics are specialized substances identified by clinical research, that enable enzymes to bind to these potentially mutagenic compounds, helping to rid the body of them before damage can occur.
This statement or "disclaimer" is required by law (DSHEA) when a manufacturer makes a structure/function claim on a dietary supplement label. In general, these claims describe the role of a nutrient or dietary ingredient intended to affect the structure or function of the body. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring the accuracy and truthfulness of these claims; they are not approved by FDA. For this reason, the law says that if a dietary supplement label includes such a claim, it must state in a "disclaimer" that FDA has not evaluated this claim. The disclaimer must also state that this product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease," because only a drug can legally make such a claim. Adding this disclaimer does not mean the claim being made is untrue (apart from claims made by unrepeatable companies), but because dietary supplements (natural products) are under the "umbrella" of foods, the FDA very rarely approve any dietary supplements so it merely a legal requirement.
Listed below are the optimal intake ranges for Vitamins and Minerals
VITAMIN_______________________ RANGE FOR ADULTS
Vitamin A (retinal).....................................5,000 lU (a)
Vitamin A (from beta-carotene).............5,000-25,000 IU
Vitamin D.............................................100-400 IU (b)
Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol).................100-800 IU (c)
Vitamin K (phytonadione)............................60-300 mcg
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)....................100-1,000 mg (d)
Vitamin BI (thiamin).....................................10-100 mg
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)....................................10-50 mg
Niacin........................................................10-100 mg
Niacinamide..................................................10-30 mg
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)................................25-100 mg
Biotin......................................................100-300 mcg
Pantothenic acid..........................................25-100 mg
Folic acid.......................................................400 mcg
Vitamin B12...................................................400 mcg
Choline......................................................10-100 mg
Inositol.......................................................10-100 mg
MINERALS
Boron...............................................................1-6 mg
Calcium.............................................250-1,500 mg (e)
Chromium...........................................200-400 mcg (f)
Copper.............................................................1-2 mg
Iodine........................................................50-150 mcg
Iron.........................................................15-30 mg (g)
Magnesium...........................................250-500 mg (h)
Manganese....................................................10-15 mg
Molybdenum................................................10-25 mcg
Potassium..................................................200-500 mg
Selenium..................................................100-200 mcg
Silica..............................................................1-25 mg
Vanadium..................................................50-100 mcg
Zinc..............................................................15-45 mg
(a) Women of childbearing age should not take more than 2,500 IU of retinal daily if becoming pregnant is a possibility, due to the risk of birth defects.
(b) Elderly people in nursing homes who live in northern latitudes should supplement at the high end of the range.
(c) it may be more cost-effective to take vitamin E separately.
(d) It may be easier to take vitamin C separately.
(e) Making a separate calcium supplement may be necessary in women at risk or suffering from osteoporosis.
(f) For diabetes and weight loss, dosages of 600 mcg can be used.
(g) Men and postmenopausal women rarely need supplemental iron.
(h) When magnesium therapy is indicated, take a separate magnesium supplement.
worldwidehealthcenter.net
Copyright © 2003 worldwidehealthcenter.net. All rights reserved.
|
