YOU PROBABLY REMEMBER the great vitamin C scare earlier this year. A team of British researchers reported in the journal Nature that vitamin C supplements increased DNA damage.
DNA, of course, is the stuff that makes up your genes, and damage to it can set the stage for cancer. Newspaper headlines roared with warnings about vitamin C.
The latest word on this research? It's basically "nevermind."
To refresh your memory, Ian Podmore, Ph.D., of the University of Leicester, England, gave 500 mg of vitamin C to 30 people for six weeks. They noted more mutations in 8-oxoadenine and fewer mutations in 8-oxoguanine, two indicators of DNA damage.
In response, leading scientists and nutrition researchers lambasted Podmore's research. They pointed out that 8-oxoadenine is not a reliable indicator of DNA damage, that other studies show vitamin C to protect DNA, and that Podmore's results were likely the result of a sloppy experiment.
But it was all too late. By that time, newspaper reporters had moved on to other stories. And many people, alarmed by the headlines, stopped taking their vitamin C. Now, Nature has published some of the criticisms of Podmore's research. Not surprisingly, Podmore rejected them. But he did make a surprising pro-vitamin C concession that, if pub-lished with his original article, would have avoided scaring people. Podmore admitted that the DNA damage caused by vitamin C was practically inconsequential and that it was far outweighed by vitamin C's ability to protect DNA. His final words were, "...hence our study shows an overall profound protective effect of this vitamin."
So, do you need vitamin C supplements? You be the judge. In Phoenix, researchers recently measured vitamin C levels among almost 500 people going to their doctors for routine exams. More than one-third had below-normal levels of vitamin C.
I never stopped taking my vitamin C. If you're interested in good health, you shouldn't either.
Breathe Easier With Vitamin C
In a recent study, researchers measured lung function and blood levels
of vitamin C in 3,000 rural Chinese people. Those with higher vitamin C
levels had the lowest risk of lung disease. (American journal of Epidemiology,
1998; 148: 594-9)
Calcium Is the Best Hearing Aid
Calcium has long been known to help prevent age-related osteoporosis.
New research now suggests that calcium may also play a role in preventing
hearing loss in the elderly. Researchers from the University of Georgia,
in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, studied
women ages 60 to 71 who suffered from hearing loss, along with women of
similar age with normal hearing. The women with hearing impairment had
a 25% to 30%
lower calcium intake than the women with normal hearing. The
women who had hearing loss also possessed a lower spinal bone density than
their counterparts.
To maintain strong teeth and bones and prevent hearing loss, take 1,000
to 1,500 mg of calcium daily. (FASEB Journal, 1998; 12(5): A878)
December 1998 Let’s Live