This is basically just a rant, but here it goes. I'm so exausted right now, I don't feel like even getting up to get something to eat. I've been a little low on sleep since classes started again after exams (last week a and week before). I was doing some squats on Monday, I ride my bike to and from school every day, I went to the fitness center on Wednesday and did some intense ab work and ran at about 8.5 mph for 15 min, and just today I rode my bike to indoor track (we meet at a location not in the school for indoor) where we did a ladder workout of 600m, 400m, 200m, 100m, then back up from 100-600; where I sprinted hard against a friend of mine for the last 150m (it just kind of happens, one of us speed up a little, the other speeds up a little more, until we're going full out), then I biked back home (stupid icy steep hill I have to climb right at the beginning since the indoor track is in our river valley), made something quick to eat but didn't have much cause I felt sick to my stomach, then I went to swim practice, was there from 7:00-8:30. That takes me to now... I'm so tired... ugh.I just want my homework to go die... so I can get some sleep. I'm done now....
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Ugh.. tired...
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I brought some cheese and crakers for you .....And a hug!
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How important is vitamin C?I take multi-vitamins, but apart from the occasional (like... once a week) orange juice I can't see any other source I'd get it from.
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Oh man, so many different things. I'm guessing vitamin C is worth investing in, not sure about vitamin E, I'd look like a druggy popping all those pills. What about flaxseed oil? It keeps showing up in various articles saying how great this stuff is, not just for body building, but also for the immune system. Another thing, where do you find all this great information? Whenever I do a search for a product (flaxseed oil for example), all I get are ads for people trying to sell it. I generally don't trust these sources as they're somewhat biased.
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What you quoted is all over the Internet. (Did Whole Foods, which sells vitamins, post it first?) It says that studies have shown this, and studies have shows that, but it cites no actual studies.> researchers concluded that doses of 1,000 to 6,000 mg a day at the onset of symptoms reduced a cold's duration by 21%, and shortened its duration by one day on averageI'd like to see the study. I think the claim is bllsht.It's not good to be deficient in any vitamin, but you'd have to have an unusual diet to be deficient in vitamin C. From the time of Linus Pauling onward, they keep doing tests on megadoses of vitamin C, and they keep finding that they do no good. Do huge doses of vitamin C prevent cancer or cause it? The jury is still out. Also, large doses of vitamin C are not good for people with a history of kidney or gallbladder stones (oxalate is a vitamin C metabolite).It's very doubtful that taking a vitamin C supplement will cause any harm to most people, but there are a lot of overblown claims that are not backed up by anything real. I would definitely stay away from megadoses (thousand of milligrams a day).A huge study (was it a meta-study?) from a year or two ago showed that vitamin supplements other than folate (or folic acid) didn't do any measurable good. (Omega-3 oils seemed to be useful.) On the other hand, according to a recent study:In reply to:The antioxidant properties of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and zinc were found to ward off macular degeneration, in which abnormal blood cells grow in the eye and leak blood and fluid that damages the retina's center.. . .The eight-year study involved more than 4,000 older residents of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.From a 2 Aug. 2005 New York Times article, "Vitamin E Fails to Deliver on Early Promise":In reply to:"Based on what we've seen, we don't recommend vitamin E supplements for the prevention of heart disease or cancer," said I-Min Lee, a Harvard Medical School epidemiologist and lead investigator of one of the most recent and weightiest studies to sully the supplement's reputation.As part of Harvard's double-blind, placebo-controlled Women's Health Study, nearly 20,000 healthy, middle-aged women were given 600 international units of vitamin E every other day for roughly 10 years. Results reported in the July 6 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association found no overall protective benefit against those illnesses.In the 27 Sept. 2005 New York Times, in an article titled "Which of These Foods Will Stop Cancer? (Not So Fast)":In reply to:. . .Dr. Barnett Kramer, deputy director in the office of disease prevention at the National Institutes of Health, said: "Over time, the messages on diet and cancer have been ratcheted up until they are almost co-equal with the smoking messages. I think a lot of the public is completely unaware that the strength of the message is not matched by the strength of the evidence."But Dr. Arthur Schatzkin, chief of the nutritional epidemiology branch in the National Cancer Institute division of cancer epidemiology and genetics, said people wanted answers, even if they are not are not definitive.. . .But as the results from those studies have begun to roll in, many researchers say they are taken aback. The findings, they say, are not what they expected.Fat in the diet, the studies found, made no difference for breast cancer. "For fat and breast cancer, almost all of the prospective studies were null," Dr. Schatzkin said.Fiber, in the form of fruits and vegetables, seemed to have a weak effect or no effect on colon cancer.. . .Nonetheless, the study contrasted sharply with those preceding it. Several involved beta carotene and antioxidant vitamins like C and E, substances that scientists thought were the protective agent in fruits and vegetables. The idea was that antioxidants could mop up free radicals in the body, which left unchecked could damage DNA, causing cancer.Beta carotene was of special interest. People who ate lots of fruits and vegetables had more beta carotene in their blood, and the more beta carotene in the blood, the lower the cancer risk.But a four-year study that asked whether beta carotene, with or without vitamins C and E, could protect against colon polyps, from which most colon cancers start, found no effect. People who took either beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E or all three had virtually identical rates of new polyps compared to participants taking dummy pills.Another study, of 22,000 doctors randomly assigned to take beta carotene or a placebo, looked for an effect on any and all cancers. It found nothing. Two more, involving current and former smokers, found that those taking beta carotene actually had slightly higher lung cancer rates than those taking placebos.Studies of fiber and colon cancer were similarly disappointing.. . .From a 28 Jun. 2005 NYT article:In reply to:Most dermatologists believe that no amount of sun exposure is safe because of the risk of skin cancer, and Dr. Esther John, the lead author on the study, does not recommend sitting in the sun. "The effects from supplements and sun exposure on vitamin D levels in the blood are the same," she says. "Supplement use would be a safer option than sun exposure."There is some evidence that vitamin D may help prevent prostate cancer (more studies need to be done), but getting it from a supplement is as good as getting it from the sun, without the skin damage risk.According to a 12 Apr. 2005 NYT article:In reply to:A new study in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that when cancer patients took high doses of vitamin E, their risk of a new cancer actually went up. The study was led by Dr. Isabelle Bairati of Laval University in Quebec.The big study I mentioned at the top goes back a little further, and I'm tired of digging through the archives, but it supports the other recent well-done studies on the subject.The problem I have with the article you quoted is that it dumbs down a very complicated subject to the level of a medicine show. It serves the interests of vitamin sellers more than those of consumers.
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I'm going to go to mass and pray for you. But first I'll check with the local fortune teller to make sure it's safe to do so.
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In reply to:What about flaxseed oil? It keeps showing up in various articles saying how great this stuff is, not just for body building, but also for the immune system. Flaxseed oil is high in Omega-3 fatty acids, as is fish oil. They help to lower your levels of LDL cholesterol and raise the levels of HDL. In addition, various fatty acids are essential for the growth and functioning of nervous tissues and Omega-3s aren't generally consumed in the amounts that the body needs. It's been shown to lead to better cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of Alzheimers.I've taken a couple days rest since Thursday so I'm feeling much better. Considering I haven't done a serious track workout since the fall or done a lot of swimming lately, I probably started too quickly.Something I'm a little unsure about with vitamin C... it turns into an unusable form when exposed to oxygen for a long period of time doesn't it? I've heard that vitamin C enriched juices don't actually have much positive effects because the Vitamin C oxidizes and is made into a form that can't be absorbed by the body. I haven't looked this up to verify it and I don't have time right now since I'm about to leave to go swimming.
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In case people didn't know, flaxseed is the same as linseed.Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is easily oxidised to dehydroascorbic acid by standing in air. The usual assays of Vitamin C don't pick up dehydroascorbic acid, so they report that the Vitamin C level has dropped. However, dehydroascorbic acid is absorbed by the body, and it is just as effective in preventing scurvy. Whether it is as effective for other things isn't established; nor is whether Vitamin C itself is effective. It doesn't seem to boost the immune system as had been claimed.
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It doesn't seem to boost the immune system as had been claimed.It doesn't seem to do a lot of things that have been claimed. There are clinics in Mexico where IV drips of vitamin C (and peroxide) are given to desperate people who have cancer. It's a very sad situation. Many would die anyway, but some avoid standard care when their cancer is at a point where it would be highly treatable. Coretta Scott King seeked help in a place like that.
