Nutrients and the Body's Defenses
In order for the immune system to function at its best it must have access to nutrients. For this reason, individuals who are malnourished develop more infections than individuals who are well-nourished. Some of the effects of malnutrition on the body's immune system are a thinning of the skin with less connective tissue, weakness, poor wound healing, and a lack of defense against disease. So, an important key to health and longevity is a nutritionally well balanced diet and supplementation when necessary.
Here is a smal sampling of nutrients and their relationship to a healthy functioning immune system:
- Vitamin A helps support immunity by playing a role in the development of helper cells.
- Vitamin A maintains healthy epithelial tissues to fight infection by preventing the invasion of bacteria and viruses.
- Vitamin C strengthens our resistance to infection.
- Vitamin E protects white and red blood cells, thus participating in the body's defenses against foreign material and disease.
- Iron helps fight infection.
- Magnesium supports normal functioning of the immune system.
- Manganese is a facilitator, with enzymes, of many cell processes.
Source: Understanding Nutrition, 7th Edition
Healthful Bacteria Plus Vitamins and Minerals May Help Common Cold
Researchers recently conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to investigate whether the consumption of a dietary supplement containing probiotic bacteria plus vitamins and minerals over a period of at least three months during winter and spring affects the length, frequency, and severity of symptoms of common cold infections as well as cellular immune parameters. The trial involved 477 healthy men and women who did not receive flu vaccines. The participants were randomly assigned to either the supplement group or a placebo group for three months. The final trial data showed that the intake of a dietary supplement containing probiotic bacteria plus vitamins and minerals during a period of at least three months during cold season may reduce the incidence and severity of common cold symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. For more information go to the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, July 2005.
Multivitamins and Minerals May Improve Mental Health in Elderly
A double-blind placebo-controlled trial was recently conducted to determine the effects of nutritional support on depressive symptoms and cognitive function in older patients. The results showed that a daily multivitamin and mineral positively impacted the depressive symptoms of hospitalized acutely ill older people. There was no evidence of a difference in cognitive function scores at 6 months. More research would help to confirm these findings. For additional information go to the journal Clinical Nutrition, 2007. Read More.
Meat and Dairy: Where Have the Minerals Gone?
We continue our series looking at the effect of modern farming on the quality of our food. In this magazine a year ago we highlighted the loss of essential minerals - calcium, magnesium, iron, etc. - from our fruit and vegetable supply. The figures made alarming reading. Read More.
Recommended Intakes of Vitamins and Essential Minerals
Vitamins are substances, that by definition, are essential to life itself, but are not made in the body - or not made in sufficient quantities to support life. Essential minerals are likewise substances required for the day-by-day, minute-to-minute functions of the body. Both must be obtained from foods. Read More.
The Effects of a Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement on Micronutrient Status, Antioxidant Capacity and Cytokine Production in Healthy Older Adults Consuming a Fortified Diet
Inadequate micronutrient intake among older adults is common despite the increased prevalence of fortified/enriched foods in the American diet. Although many older adults take multivitamin supplements in an effort to compensate, studies examining the benefits of this behavior are absent. Read More.
Effect of Homocysteine-Lowering Therapy with Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B6 on Clinical Outcome After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Plasma homocysteine level has been recognized as an important cardiovascular risk factor that predicts adverse cardiac events in patients with established coronary atherosclerosis and influences restenosis rate after percutaneous coronary intervention. Read More.
Importance of Both Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 in Reduction of Risk of Vascular Disease
Fortification of food with folic acid to prevent neural-tube defects in babies also lowers plasma total homocysteine, which is a risk factor for vascular disease. We investigated the effect of folate and vitamin B12 on homocysteine concentrations. 30 men and 23 women received sequential supplementation with increasing doses of folic acid. After supplementation, the usual dependency of homocysteine on folate diminished, and vitamin B12 became the main determinant of plasma homocysteine concentration. This finding suggests that a fortification policy based on folic acid and vitamin B12, rather than folic acid alone, is likely to be much more effective at lowering of homocysteine concentrations, with potential benefits for reduction of risk of vascular disease. Read More.
Can Dietary Supplements with Folic Acid or Vitamin B6 Reduce Cardiovascular Risk? Design of Clinical Trials to Test the Homocysteine Hypothesis of Vascular Disease
Moderately elevated levels of blood total homocysteine have been identified as a potentially important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Many studies, conducted in various settings, have reported that patients with coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, have higher homocysteine levels than controls. The initial studies were case-control (or 'retrospective') studies, which compared homocysteine levels in samples from cases, collected after the onset of disease, with those in controls. Weaker associations have reported in some prospective studies in which blood was taken some years before vascular disease was diagnosed, and no association was reported in others. Read More.
More Folic Acid for Everyone, Now
Research during the last five years has made it clear that people who do not take folic acid supplements are at increased risk for functional folate deficiency, which has been proven to cause spina bifida and anencephaly and also has been associated with an increased risk for occlusive cardiovascular disease. The overriding folate policy issue is how to increase dramatically the folate consumption of 75% of the population who are not now consuming 0.4 mg of folic acid in a supplement. The most expedious way to increase consumption is through fortification of a food staple. Public health programs are also needed to educate people about the vital importance of increased consumption of folic acid vitamin supplements and of foods rich in natural folates. Read More.
Effects of Folic Acid and Combinations of Folic Acid and Vitamin B-12 on Plasma Homocysteine Concentrations in Healthy, Young Women
Elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations are considered to be a risk factor for vascular disease and fetal malformations such as neural tube defects. Recent studies have shown that plasma homocysteine can be lowered by folic acid in amounts corresponding to 1-2 times the recommended dietary allowance. Preliminary evidence indicates that vitamin B-12 may be beneficial when included in supplements or in a food-fortification regimen together with folic acid. Read More.
Folate and Vitamin B6 from Diet and Supplements in Relation to Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Among Women
Hyperhomocysteinemia is caused be genetic and lifestyle influences, including low intakes of folate and vitamin B6. However, prospective data relating intake of these vitamins to risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) are not available. Read More.
Folic Acid Antagonists During Pregnancy and the Risk of Birth Defects
Multivitaminsupplementation in pregnant women may reduce the risks of cardiovascular defects, oral clefts, and urinary tract defects in their infants. We evaluated whether the folic acid component of multivitamins is responsible for the reduction in risk by examining the associations between maternal use of folic acid antagonists and these congenital malformations. Read More.
Folic Acid Antagonists During Pregnancy and the Risk of Birth Defects
Multivitaminsupplementation in pregnant women may reduce the risks of cardiovascular defects, oral clefts, and urinary tract defects in their infants. We evaluated whether the folic acid component of multivitamins is responsible for the reduction in risk by examining the associations between maternal use of folic acid antagonists and these congenital malformations. Read More.
Dietary Beta-Carotene, Vitamin C, and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Results from the Western Electric Study
Dietary factors are likely candidates for important determinants of prostatic cancer risk. Among the most investigated nutritional factors have been antioxidants. We evaluated dietary beta-carotene and vitamin C in relation to subsequent risk of prostate cancer in a prospective study of 1,899 middle-aged men. We combined prostate cancer cases diagnosed in the first 24 years of follow-up with incident cases identified from the Health Care Financing Administration hospitalization and outpatient files during an additional 6-year follow-up period. We obtained death certificates for all decedents. During the 30-year follow-up, prostate cancer developed in 132 men. Read More.
Prevention of Neural-Tube Defects with Folic Acid in China
Periconceptional use of multivitamins containing folic acid can reduce a woman's risk of having a baby with a neural-tube defect. As a part of a public health campaign conducted from 1993 to 1995 in an area of China with high rates of neural-tube defects (the northern region) and one with low rates (the southern region), we evaluated the outcomes of pregnancy in women who were asked to take a pill containing 400 µg of folic acid alone daily from the time of their premarital examination until the end of their first trimester of pregnancy. Read More.
Dietary Strategies for Lowering Homocysteine Concentrations
Elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHey) concentrations are associated with increased risk of vascular disease, and there is a strong inverse association between dietary and blood folate and blood tHcy concentrations. Increased folate consumption may lower the risk of tHcy-mediated cardiovascular disease. Read More.
Multivitamin/Mineral Supplementation Improves Plasma B-Vitamin Status and Homocysteine Concentration in Healthy Older Adults Consuming Folate-Fortified Diet
Elevated homocysteine has been identified as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Although multivitamin use has been associated with low plasma homocysteine concentrations in several observational studies, no clinical trials have been conducted using multivitamin/mineral supplements to lower homocysteine. We determined whether a multivitamin/mineral supplement formulated at about 100% Daily Value will further lower homocysteine concentration and improve B-vitamin status in healthy older adults already consuming a diet fortified with folic acid. Read More.
Agriculture: The Real Nexus for Enhancing Bioavailable Micronutrients in Food Crops
Human existence requires that agriculture provide at least 50 nutrients (e.g. vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, essential fatty acid) in amounts needed to meet metabolic demands during all seasons. If national food systems do not meet these demands, mortality and morbidity rates increase, worker productivity declines, livelihoods are diminished and societies suffer. Today, many food systems within the developing world cannot meet the nutritional needs of the societies they support mostly due to farming systems that cannot produce enough micronutrients to meet human needs throughout the year. Read More.
Associations of Serum and Dietary Magnesium with Cardiovascular Disease, Hypertension, Diabetes, Insulin, and Carotid Arterial Wall Thickness: The Aric Study
The objective of this study was to examine the relationships of serum and dietary magnesium (Mg) with prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, diabetes mellitus, fasting insulin, and average carotid intimal-medial wall thickness measured by B-mode ultrasound. A cross-sectional design was used. The setting was the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study in four US communities. A total of 15,248 participants took part, male an female, black and white, aged 45-64 years. Read More.
Baseline Characteristics and the Effect of Selenium Supplementation on Cancer Incidence in a Randomized Clinical Trial: A Summary Report of the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial
The Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial was a randomized, clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of selenium as selenized yeast in preventing the recurrence of nonmelanoma skin cancer among 1312 residents of Eastern United States. Original secondary analyses through December 31, 1993 showed striking inverse associations between treatment and the incidence of total [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.46-0.82], lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer and total cancer mortality. This report represents results through February 1, 1996, the end of blinded treatment. Effect modification by baseline characteristics is also evaluated. The effects of treatment overall and within subgroups of baseline age, gender, smoking status, and plasma selenium were examined using incidence rate ratios and Cox proportional hazard models. Read More.
Effects of Selenium and Zinc Supplementation on Nutritional Status in Patients with Cancer of Digestive Tract
Objective: To evaluate the effect of oral administration of selenium and zinc tablets in patients with cancer of the digestive tract during chemotherapy. Read More.
Potassium, Magnesium, and Fruit and Vegetable Intakes are Associated with Greater Bone Mineral Density in Elderly Men and Women
Osteoporosis and related fractures will be growing public health problems as the population ages. It is therefore of great importance to identify modifiable risk factors. We investigated associations between dietary components contributing to an alkaline environment (dietary potassium, magnesium, and fruit and vegetables) and bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly subjects. Read More.
Effects of Selenium and Zinc Supplementation on Nutritional Status in Patients with Cancer of Digestive Tract
Trace elements consist mostly of metal ions mainly acting as basic components of essential enzymatic systems or proteins, which play major roles in the physiology of the gastrointestinal tract (Jackson, 1989). The relationship between trace elements and cancer development is not completely clear. Read More.
Prediagnostic Serum Selenium Concentration and the Risk of Recurrent Colorectal Adenoma: A Nested Case-Control Study
Several studies have suggested that selenium may help to prevent colorectal neoplasia. To investigate the relation between prediagnostic serum selenium concentrations and colorectal adenomas, we conducted a nested case-control study using data from a large, multicenter, adenoma prevention trial. Cases comprised a total of 276 patients who developed a colorectal adenoma during this time interval, matched to case subjects on age, sex, and clinical center. Total and bound selenium concentrations were measured from baseline or year 1 serum samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis. Read More.
Minerals and Blood Pressure
The mineral elements sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium play a central role in the normal regulation of blood pressure. In particular, these mineral elements have important interrelationships in the control of arterial resistance. These elements, especially sodium and potassium, also regulate the fluid balance of the body, and, hence, influence the cardiac output. Evidence shows that the present levels of intake of mineral elements are not optimum for maintaining normal blood pressure but predispose to the development of arterial hypertension. Read More.