LITTLE ROCK — Until the late 1970s, iron deficiency anemia was a serious health threat that - although rarely fatal - led to fatigue that annually cost the nation billions of dollars in lost productivity in the workplace.
The cause was almost always excessive menstrual blood loss. Because of blood loss and inadequate iron in diets, 30 percent of premenopausal women had too little iron in their bodies, 20 percent had a severe enough deficiency that abnormalities developed in their red blood cells and 5 percent were severely anemic.
To correct this problem, a national campaign led to the fortification of food with iron. Today most flours, breads and cereals have added iron and, as a result, iron deficiency and anemia have become much less common.
Over the same period, millions of Americans began usingnutritional supplements, often in very large doses, because of the belief that these supplements improved health, prevented disease and increased energy. Today more than 50 percent of adults and many children consume numerous supplements on a daily basis. And many take more iron than they need.
It turns out that our effort to eradicate iron deficiency by adding iron to our diets and taking supplements comes with a cost. Gradually andinsidiously, the iron stores of Americans have increased, and this has correlated with a modest but significant increased risk of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Iron is an oxidant, and when present in cells contributes to cell damage. This leads to a greater risk of cell abnormalities that can cause cancer and impairment in the immune system that helps fight disease.
A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine provides more evidence that too much iron is too much of a good thing. Researchers followed thousands of women, with an average age in 1986 of 61, who participated in the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Every woman completed a large questionnaire at frequent intervals from 1986 to 2004. This included information on whether they took vitamins, minerals and other dietarysupplements. As these women grew older, more and more took supplements, increasing from 62 percent in 1986 to 85 percent in 2004.
By December 2008, 15,594 women had died. Women who took iron supplements were twice as likely to die as those who did not. And remarkably, the risk of death was also higher in women taking multivitamins, Vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, magnesium and zinc. The only supplement exerting a positive effect on life expectancy was calcium, which is frequently quite deficient in the average American diet.
While it makes sense that too much iron can damage cells, how could vitamins and minerals - integral parts of food - shorten life expectancy? One explanation is that the composition of vitamins and minerals in pill or capsule form is too dissimilar to the vitaminsand minerals found in food.
Vitamin E is a good example. In food, the vitamin consists of a mixture of alpha, beta, gamma and delta tocopherols. When taken as a capsule, all of the Vitamin E is the alpha tocopheral. This might explain why Vitamin E in capsule form has been shown to do more harm than good in numerous studies.
More vitamins than we need may not be better than the ideal or natural amount. Deficiencies of vitamins and minerals are very rare - our problem is overnutrition rather than malnutrition - and taking much more than is required to meet our needs can lead to adverse effects.
Vitamin and mineral sales in the United States run into the many billions of dollars, and many exercise and nutrition experts promote various supplements as essential for optimum health and fitness. While some research studies have shown benefits of consuming vitamins and minerals, just as many studies have shown no benefit. Meanwhile, compelling evidence is piling up that points to potential harm.
To me the message is clear. The best source of every nutrient required for our health comes from food. Truly understanding how, what and when to eat is a better approach than trying to get a nutrient in a pill or capsule form.
Dr. David Lipschitz is the director of The Longevity Center at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center. More information is available at:
drdavidhealth.com
High Profile, Pages 45 on 10/30/2011