|
Raedwulf
|
 |
« on: November 07, 2011, 06:41:53 PM » |
|
I've recently been annoyed with my partner at work trying to sell all this 'Visalus' crap to people telling them it's going to 'change' the world and how 'good' it is. I told him it was nothing more than an overly exaggerated mediocre MRP drink. A cake flavoured multi-vitamin at best.
So I did some research.
I found out that multi-vitamins are complete garbage. I also found out that nearly ever multi-vitamin is synthetic, and this is some seriously bad news. Even the vitamin supplements which are from whole foods are not easily recognized by the body. They are more promising but still a waste of money.
Visalus Vitamin Ingredient list for: Vi-Shape
I have tkaen the time to research the names of each of these vitamins (that were in the Vi-Shape visalus shake) and their natural and synthetic names. Each of the names in quotes are the names written on the ingredient list on the back of the Vi-Shape package. All the vitamins used in the Vi-Shape pack are synthetic.
"Palimate" (Vitamin A) - Synthetic
Fish Oils - Natural
Lemon Grass - Synthetic
Acetate - Synthetic
Palmitate - Synthetic
Palimate - Synthetic
If source not given - Synthetic
"Thiamine Mononitrate" (Vitamin b1(appears as Thiamine) - Synthetic
Yeast - Natural
Thiamine pyrophosphate - Natural
Thiamine triphosphate - Natural
Thiamine Mononitrate - Synthetic
Thiamine Hydrochloride - Synthetic
If source not given - Synthetic
"Riboflavin" (Vitamin B2) - Synthetic
Yeast - Natural
Riboflavin-5-phosphate - Natural
Flavin mononucleotide (FMN) - Natural
Riboflavin - Synthetic
"Niacinamide" (Vitamin B3(appears as niacin) - Synthetic
Yeast - Natural
Nicotinamide (adenine dinucleotide) - Natural
Niacinamide - Synthetic
Niacin - Synthetic
"Biotin" (Vitamin b7(metabolite of d-biotin, appears as biotin) - synthetic
Liver - Natural
D-biotin - Synthetic
Biotin - Synthetic
"Phyto-menadione" (Vitamin K) - Synthetic
Alfalfa - Natural
Menadione - Synthetic
Phyto-menadione - Synthetic
"Folic Acid" (Vitamin B9(appears as Folate) - Synthetic
Yeast or Liver - Natural
Folinic - Natural
Pteroylglutamic Acid - Synthetic
Folic Acid - Synthetic
"Chole-calciferol" (Vitamin D3) - Co-Natural
Fish Oils - Natural
Irradiated Ergosteral (Yeast) - Natural
Chole/Calciferol(Metabolite) - Co-Natural
"Cyano-cobalamin" (Vitamin B12) - Synthetic
Liver - Natural
Micro-organism fermentation - Co-Natural
Cobalamin Concentrate - Co-Natural
Cyano-cobalamin - Synthetic
"Pyridoxine hydrochloride" (vitamin B6) - Synthetic
Hydrochloride - Synthetic
"Vitamin E Acetate" (Vitamin E) - Synthetic
Veg Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, or Mixed Tocopherols - Natural
d-alpha tocopherol - Natural
* dl-alpha tocopherol - Synthetic
Acetate - Synthetic
"Ascorbic Acid" (Vitamin C) - Synthetic
Citrus, Rose Hips, Acerola Berries - Natural
Ascorbic Acid - Synthetic
"Calcium Pantothenate" (Vitamin B5(appears as Pantothenic acid) - Synthetic
Yeast, Rice Bran or Liver - Natural
Calcium D-Pantothenate - Synthetic
Calcium Pantothenate - Synthetic
Multi vitamins may be doing you more harm than good.
This is just a small handful of studies done on synthetic supplements. Visalus is no exception to these dangerous products. Bullshit baffles brains.
Nothing beats wholefood. No supplement can replace any 'actual' food source. For every synthetic supplement consumed with the promised amounts of vitamins, can be obtained easily with a balanced diet and perfectly assimilated by the body all the time.
Medical Research Shows Synthetic Vitamins Can: Increase Cancer Risks and Seriously Damage Your Health
Research done by Dr. Agnes Faye Morgan (University of California) reported that taking synthetic vitamins is worse than starvation.
Animals fed synthetic vitamins had toxic reactions or died quickly of degenerative diseases compared to those fed whole foods. She reported in Science that animals on a synthetic vitamin enriched diet died long before the animals on an unprocessed diet. She stated that the enrichment of processed foods with synthetic vitamins may "precipitate conditions worse than the original deficiency."
Other animal studies reveal untimely deaths, sterility, and serious health deficits with the use of synthetic nutritional supplements versus once-living source whole foods in animal feeds (Scandinavian Veterinary; Journal of Natural Agriculture).
Many Studies Show No Health Benefits From Synthetic Vitamins
A Harvard study of 22,000 physicians reported no health benefits from synthetic vitamins.
A 1994 study in the New England Journal of Medicine on elderly Americans, designed to improve muscle weakness and physical frailty, demonstrated no benefits whatsoever.
In a study, published in the 1945 American Journal of Digestive Diseases, Vitamin E-deficient laboratory animals that were fed synthetic tocopherols died before the control group that did not receive any nutritional supplements at all.
Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School ran a four-year study to see if antioxidant nutritional supplements could prevent the recurrence of adenomas of the colon after surgical removal in 864 patients. After four years of giving 25 mg of beta-carotene, 1000 mg of ascorbic acid, and 400 mg of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E), all in synthetic forms, there were no positive effects noted and the researchers concluded that: "Current data do not support the use of antioxidant (synthetic) vitamin supplements for purposes of cancer prevention." (July 22, 1994 New England Journal of Medicine).
Medical Research Shows Synthetic Vitamins and Nutritional Supplements Can Increase Cancer Risk
In a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study, 18,000 American men and women at risk of lung cancer took either a placebo or supplements of synthetic vitamin A. The researchers, led by Dr. Gilbert Omen, stopped the study in January, 1996, because the group on nutritional supplements had a 28% higher incidence of lung cancer. Regarding these troublesome findings, Dr. Susan Taylor Mayne of Yale University told New Scientist "I'm concerned about all of these nutrients that people go out and take in massive doses. These nutrients have adverse effects."
She was, of course, talking about the multivitamin side effects caused by what's in synthetic vitamins.
Other studies show that synthetic beta carotene can block antioxidant activity and the anti-cancer activity of antioxidants (carotenoids) in the diet.
A study of 29,000 Finnish smokers proved that synthetic vitamins increased death rates significantly enough to stop a 10-year study prematurely. To the researchers' horror the risk of cancer increased by 16% and there were more heart attacks, more strokes, and an 8% higher increase in the overall death rate of those smokers taking the synthetic nutritional supplements.
New England Journal of Medicine Reported Major Health Problems With Synthetic Vitamin A
A New England Journal of Medicine (Nov, 1995) study at Boston University School of Medicine found that synthetic vitamin A given to pregnant women, in medium to high doses, increased the risk of birth defects by 240% at the lower dosage and 400% at the higher dosage. Serious genetic damage that caused cleft lip, cleft palette, heart malformations, and nervous system damage were linked to synthetic vitamins. This comprehensive study of 22,748 women over a period of four years reported that there was no birth defect risk noted from foods containing Vitamin A.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Goals:
Be the best I can be
|
|
|
|
Rani3110
|
|
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2011, 06:24:55 AM » |
|
Ooooooohhhh yeah, those studies sure weren't the first to find no benefit from multi's. I posted a collation of studies on multi's and heart disease in my saturated fat and cholesterol article in a discussion with someone. Ill re-post it here. This one examining Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) amongst other things in association with reduced risk of lung cancer. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled primary-intervention trial with nearly 30,000 people lasting 8 years.
"We found no reduction in the incidence of lung cancer among male smokers after five to eight years of dietary supplementation with alpha-tocopherol or beta carotene."- http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199404143301501Another looking at omega-3 PUFA's and Vitamin E. The PUFA supplementation had an expected result whereas the Vitamin E had no benefit. 11000 people lasting 3.5 years. "Dietary supplementation with n-3 PUFA led to a clinically important and statistically significant benefit. Vitamin E had no benefit. Its effects on fatal cardiovascular events require further exploration."- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10465168Another concluding that Vitamin E has no effect on cardiovascular outcomes. Nearly 10000 subjects for 4.5 years. "In patients at high risk for cardiovascular events, treatment with vitamin E for a mean of 4.5 years has no apparent effect on cardiovascular outcomes."- http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200001203420302Yet another randomized large trial involving about 4500 people for 3.5 years. "Vitamin E showed no effect on any prespecified endpoint"
"The results on vitamin E's cardiovascular primary preventive efficacy are not conclusive per se, although our results are consistent with the negative results of other large published trials on secondary prevention."- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11197445More studies. The famous randomized, placebo controlled HPS trial involving 20000 people over 5 years all with some sort of vascular disease. Half were given antioxidants and half weren't. The results? "Among the high-risk individuals that were studied, these antioxidant vitamins appeared to be safe. But, although this regimen increased blood vitamin concentrations substantially, it did not produce any significant reductions in the 5-year mortality from, or incidence of, any type of vascular disease, cancer, or other major outcome."- http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2802%2909328-5/abstract And the major 'Vitamin E Atherosclerosis Prevention Study' (VEAPS) study lasting 3 years. In which they concluded: "VEAPS indicates that in well-nourished healthy vitamin E replete individuals at low risk for CVD, vitamin E supplementation has no perceptible effect on the progression of atherosclerosis."- http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/106/12/1453.full.pdf |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
HerrKaputt
|
|
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2011, 07:50:41 AM » |
|
Yep, I've found similar information myself a few times (I posted the link once or twice in these forums). I never took the time to collect a bunch of studies like you and Rani did though, good job.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Polished
|
|
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2011, 11:34:17 PM » |
|
Interesting. There goes another hour of my night from reading studies (for which I'm thrilled, no sarcasm; I love information)!
Chucking my mutli's I keep around for what is now clearly no reason.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Goals: Squat 365 ATG (315 3x3 Current) Deadlift 455 425x3Bench 275 1RM 245x3Check out my progress diary if you'd like =)
|
|
|
|
Raedwulf
|
|
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2011, 05:16:37 AM » |
|
Exactly what I did with mine. Chucked em right out. Nothing beats FOOD!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Goals:
Be the best I can be
|
|
|
|
beginner
|
|
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2011, 05:22:08 PM » |
|
Yep totally correct. My metabolic biochem course pretty much revolved around bagging multivitamins and suppliments because most of them dont work, and generally the ones which do only work because you arent eating properly.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
hooahfries
|
|
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2011, 05:42:35 PM » |
|
Well, glad I forget to take my multi vitamins I got for free then...
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
I have beat orthorexia, bulimia, depression, obesity, binge eating disorder, etc. I don't give a damn what you think, I am the master, I have powers, I have the force. May all food nazi's go away or shut up, you are problematic. The enemy of good is perfection, be forever flexible, but conservative.
|
|
|
|
Rani3110
|
|
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2011, 06:13:55 PM » |
|
To be fair there are studies showing beneficial outcomes from multivitamin supplementation.
I'll rape PubMed when I get time and post some linkies.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Davebrown1
|
|
« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2011, 07:11:55 PM » |
|
Nice post you should include the video you made on it
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
ozmuz
|
|
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2011, 07:46:00 PM » |
|
Yeah good job, other side the coin is when someone says just eat right ?
eg: Rani is in victoria I`m Queensland over 2000k away, brocolli is grown on Vic and by the time its eaten up here it could be a month old from picking, mant nutritionist state that most nutrients are lost so multi`s can make up some difference....thoughts
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
‘Whatever can be conceived and believed can be achieved.’ The body holds true to whatever course the mind sets as a future reality. Believing in yourself and being able to clearly visualize what you will soon become are the keys to bodybuilding success.” Boyer Coe
|
|
|
|
Rani3110
|
|
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2011, 10:06:37 PM » |
|
Yeah good job, other side the coin is when someone says just eat right ?
eg: Rani is in victoria I`m Queensland over 2000k away, brocolli is grown on Vic and by the time its eaten up here it could be a month old from picking, mant nutritionist state that most nutrients are lost so multi`s can make up some difference....thoughts
I'm actually in Brissie  . Yeah no doubt that's just domestic as as well, imagine all the stuff from overseas... Testing the efficacy of multi's (or any drug) is actually very easy study-design-wise. So far there is alot of evidence showing a totally passive effect from them. Your best bet would be to save your money and just eat the freshest foods you can get your hands on. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ThePurpleOrange
|
|
« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2011, 04:54:38 AM » |
|
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
The intake of periconceptional multivitamins may decrease the risk of preterm births (PTBs) or small-for-gestational-age (SGA) births.
OBJECTIVE:
We related the timing and frequency of periconceptional multivitamin use to SGA births and PTBs and its clinical presentations (ie, preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, and medical induction).
DESIGN:
Women in the Danish National Birth Cohort (n = 35,897) reported the number of weeks of multivitamin use during a 12-wk periconceptional period. Cox regression was used to estimate the relation between any multivitamin use and PTBs (<37 wk) or SGA births (birth weight adjusted for gestational age >2 SDs below the mean on the basis of fetal growth curves). The timing (preconception and postconception) and frequency of use were also analyzed. Regular users (4-6 wk) and partial users (1-3 wk) in each period were compared with nonusers.
RESULTS:
The association between periconceptional multivitamin use and PTBs varied according to prepregnancy overweight status (P-interaction = 0.07). Regular preconception and postconception multivitamin use in women with a prepregnancy BMI (in kg/m(2)) <25 was associated with reduced risks of a PTB (HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.73, 0.95) and preterm labor (HR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.94). No similar associations were shown for overweight women. The adjusted risk of an SGA birth was reduced in multivitamin users regardless of their prepregnancy BMI (HR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.73, 0.95), with the strongest association in regular users in the postconception period.
CONCLUSION:
Regular periconceptional multivitamin use was associated with reduced risk of SGA births and PTBs in nonoverweight women.
Abstract
Although multivitamin/mineral supplements are commonly used in the United States, the efficacy of these supplements in preventing chronic disease or premature death is unclear. To assess the relation of multivitamin use with mortality and cancer, the authors prospectively examined these associations among 182,099 participants enrolled in the Multiethnic Cohort Study between 1993 and 1996 in Hawaii and California. During an average 11 years of follow-up, 28,851 deaths were identified. In Cox proportional hazards models controlling for tobacco use and other potential confounders, no associations were found between multivitamin use and mortality from all causes (for users vs. nonusers: hazard ratio = 1.07, 95% confidence interval: 0.96, 1.19 for men; hazard ratio = 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.85, 1.09 for women), cardiovascular diseases, or cancer. The findings did not vary across subgroups by ethnicity, age, body mass index, preexisting illness, single vitamin/mineral supplement use, hormone replacement therapy use, and smoking status. There also was no evidence indicating that multivitamin use was associated with risk of cancer, overall or at major sites, such as lung, colorectum, prostate, and breast. In conclusion, there was no clear decrease or increase in mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer and in morbidity from overall or major cancers among multivitamin supplement users.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Dietary supplements are widely used in industrialized countries.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective was to examine the association between multivitamin use and myocardial infarction (MI) in a prospective, population-based cohort of women.
DESIGN:
The study included 31,671 women with no history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 2262 women with a history of CVD aged 49-83 y from Sweden. Women completed a self-administered questionnaire in 1997 regarding dietary supplement use, diet, and lifestyle factors. Multivitamins were estimated to contain nutrients close to recommended daily allowances: vitamin A (0.9 mg), vitamin C (60 mg), vitamin D (5 μg), vitamin E (9 mg), thiamine (1.2 mg), riboflavin (1.4 mg), vitamin B-6 (1.8 mg), vitamin B-12 (3 μg), and folic acid (400 μg).
RESULTS:
During an average of 10.2 y of follow-up, 932 MI cases were identified in the CVD-free group and 269 cases in the CVD group. In the CVD-free group, use of multivitamins only, compared with no use of supplements, was associated with a multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.93). The HR for multivitamin use together with other supplements was 0.70 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.87). The HR for use of supplements other than multivitamins was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.81, 1.08). The use of multivitamins for ≥5 y was associated with an HR of 0.59 (95% CI: 0.44, 0.80). In the CVD group, use of multivitamins alone or together with other supplements was not associated with MI.
CONCLUSIONS:
The use of multivitamins was inversely associated with MI, especially long-term use among women with no CVD. Further prospective studies with detailed information on the content of preparations and the duration of use are needed to confirm or refute our findings.
Moral of the story?
Its easy to find studies that support your view.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
Raedwulf
|
|
« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2011, 09:15:13 AM » |
|
They don't say if the vitamins were from wholefoods or their synthetic forms.
My call is that they were vitamins synthesized from wholefood sources, rather than synthetic copies of the vitamins.
If you do enough research, which I have lost many hours a night in doing so in many different areas. I don't have a very active life outside of my computer to be completely honest, so I spend most of my time reviewing articles and educating myself. I try my best to approach scenarios in an as un-biased manner as possible..but anyway, you'll find that there are hundreds of co-factors with vitamins that occur naturally in foods that technology can not yet replicate with vitamins in their synthetic form. These co-factors aid in assimilation of the vitamin and actually make the vitamin work. It's like trying to turn on a computer without a power supply. Synthetic vitamins are useless and dangerous and they rob these co-factors from your body in order to assimilate, but wholefood vitamins are beneficial because they are not man made. Synthetic vitamins are man made and provide little..so very little..to zero benefits to anyone.
Anti-oxidant effects of synthetic vitamins, such as vitamin C yield no results whatsoever. Due to their structure as a vitamin, and it's missing co factors it doesn't produce a charge to attract free-radicals to eliminate them (atoms with missing electrons). Studies find that synthetic vitamins work perfectly in a lab, but have no benefits within the human body.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Goals:
Be the best I can be
|
|
|
|
beginner
|
|
« Reply #14 on: November 12, 2011, 07:35:07 PM » |
|
Yeah but I expect that would vary between vitamins, not all require cofactors or co-enzymes. Yep the body is super specific about how it uses molecules so one tiny rearrangement of atoms when trying to get a specific structure when synthesising will make them completely useless and they are likely not to be absorbed. But the body doesnt know the difference between two identical molecules whether they be natural or synthetic, but nothing beats food for nutrition. Many small molecules play essential roles, and many of them still havent been discovered so its crazy to think that a pill can be anywhere near as effective as simple food.  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
