Articles like the one below rear their ugly head from time to time. They contribute to the confusion the uninformed public is kept under. This state of affairs benefits Big Pharma, and Industrial Agriculture. While it is true that we do best to eat real, organic food, there is a place for supplements to help people recover faster from chronic health conditions, most of which are cause by poor nutrition. This is particularly true due to depleted soils, and industrial food growing, processing, packaging and distribution. Add a poor Microbiome, and real foods lose some of their micronutrients.
The number of negative studies on supplements do not begin to compare to the ones that support their use. Unfortunately, the latter are seldom highlighted. Ask yourself why. You may wish to peruse previous blogs on this website. You will find evidence to support the following points:
- Statistics can be manipulated to serve the interest of those funding the research.
- Results reflect effects on the “average man.” People who benefit from a supplement are ignored.
- People studied tend to be very healthy, or very sick. The former will not show any benefits form supplements because they are already eating fairly well. The latter are too far gone for a simple supplement to reverse years of cellular damage.
You need to examine the article below to form your own opinion. I have included two points that give me pause. See what you think.
Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment
Journal of the American College of Cardiology Volume 71, Issue 22, June 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.04.020
- Researchers admit to study weaknesses
“The weaknesses included our lack of consideration of data from the fixed-effects model and from the results from cohort studies. RCTs are often of shorter duration, whereas cohorts of longer duration might be required to fully capture chronic disease risk. Participants in RCTs are often more health-conscious, and therefore, they were not representative of the general population. Supplement differences might also have influenced outcomes. Adherence to and persistence with supplement use were also an issue. Furthermore, dose−response data were not usually available. However, cohorts might be larger and longer than many RCTs, which would allow the effects of the dose to be assessed. This might require multiple assessments over time and might be confounded by many lifestyle and dietary factors in supplement users that might be difficult to adjust for adequately. Finally, combining different types of antioxidants might be suboptimal, because their mechanisms of action might also be different. Nevertheless, when studies containing selenium were removed from the meta-analysis, the significance level favoring control increased from p = 0.05 to p = 0.0002 (Figure 10), although the risk ratio only increased from 6% to 9% with a number needed to harm reduction of 250 to 127.
We used a random effect model for our meta-analyses. However, the random effects approach might be unsatisfactory when there is heterogeneity among studies because it gives undue weight to smaller studies at the extremes, whereas a fixed-effect model reduces this false irregularity (91). Random effects models assess no fixed or “true” treatment effect, but assess a distribution of effects. The random effects model therefore provided a more conservative summary effect estimate, although in the absence of heterogeneity (I2 = 0%) both approaches provided the same results.”
2. Who paid for the study
“This work was supported by the Canada Research Chair Endorsement, Loblaw Cos. Ltd., and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). Dr. Jenkins is funded by the government of Canada through the Canada Research Chair Endowment; has received research grants from Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program through the Pulse Research Network, the Advanced Foods and Material Network (Loblaw Companies Ltd.), Unilever, Barilla, the Almond Board of California, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Pulse Canada, Kellogg’s Company, Quaker Oats, Procter & Gamble Technical Centre Ltd., Bayer Consumer Care, Pepsi/Quaker, International Nut & Dried Fruit (INC), Soy Foods Association of North America, the Coca-Cola Company (investigator-initiated, unrestricted grant), Solae, Haine Celestial, the Sanitarium Company, Orafti, the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation, the Peanut Institute, the Canola and Flax Councils of Canada, the Calorie Control Council, the CIHR, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund; has received in-kind supplies for trials as a research support from the Almond Board of California, Walnut Council of California, American Peanut Council, Barilla, Unilever, Unico, Primo, Loblaw Companies, Quaker (Pepsico), Pristine Gourmet, Bunge Limited, Kellogg Canada, and WhiteWave Foods; has been on the speakers panel, served on the scientific advisory board, and/or received travel support and/or honoraria from the Almond Board of California, Canadian Agriculture Policy Institute, Loblaw Companies Ltd., the Griffin Hospital (for the development of the NuVal scoring system), the Coca-Cola Company, EPICURE, Danone, Diet Quality Photo Navigation, Better Therapeutics (FareWell), Verywell, True Health Initiative, Institute of Food Technologists, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, Sanitarium Company, Orafti, the American Peanut Council, the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation, the Peanut Institute, Herbalife International, Pacific Health Laboratories, Nutritional Fundamental for Health, Barilla, Metagenics, Bayer Consumer Care, Unilever Canada and Netherlands, Solae, Kellogg, Quaker Oats, Procter & Gamble, the Coca-Cola Company, the Griffin Hospital, Abbott Laboratories, the Canola Council of Canada, Dean Foods, the California Strawberry Commission, Haine Celestial, PepsiCo, the Alpro Foundation, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, DuPont Nutrition and Health, Spherix Consulting and WhiteWave Foods, the Advanced Foods and Material Network, the Canola and Flax Councils of Canada, the Nutritional Fundamentals for Health, Agri-Culture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, Pulse Canada, the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Soy Foods Association of North America, the Nutrition Foundation of Italy, Nutra-Source Diagnostics, the McDougall Program, the Toronto Knowledge Translation Group (St. Michael’s Hospital), the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, the Canadian Nutrition Society (CNS), the American Society of Nutrition (ASN), Arizona State University, Paolo Sorbini Foundation, and the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes; has received an honorarium from the United States Department of Agriculture to present the 2013 W.O. Atwater Memorial Lecture; has received funding and travel support from the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism to produce mini-cases for the Canadian Diabetes Association; is a member of the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC); his wife is a director and partner of Glycemic Index Laboratories, Inc.; and his sister received funding through a grant from the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation to develop a cookbook for one of his studies. Dr. Spence is an officer of Vascularis, Inc.; and has received lecture fee from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Kendall has received grants or research support from the Advanced Food Materials Network, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, Almond Board of California, American Pistachio Growers, Barilla, Calorie Control Council, CIHR, Canola Council of Canada, International Nut and Dried Fruit Council, International Tree Nut Council Research and Education Foundation, Loblaw Brands Ltd., Pulse Canada, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and Unilever; has received in-kind research support from the Almond Board of California, American Peanut Council, Barilla, California Walnut Commission, Kellogg Canada, Loblaw Companies, Quaker (Pepsico), Primo, Unico, Unilever, and WhiteWave Foods; has received travel support and/or honoraria from the American Peanut Council, American Pistachio Growers, Barilla, California Walnut Commission, Canola Council of Canada, General Mills, International Nut and Dried Fruit Council, International Pasta Organization, Loblaw Brands Ltd., Nutrition Foundation of Italy, Oldways Preservation Trust, Paramount Farms, Peanut Institute, Pulse Canada, Sabra Dipping Co., Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, Sun-Maid, Tate & Lyle, Unilever, and White Wave Foods; has served on the scientific advisory board for the International Tree Nut Council, International Pasta Organization, McCormick Science Institute, Oldways Preservation Trust, Paramount Farms, and Pulse Canada; and is a member of the International Carbohydrate Quality Consortium (ICQC), an executive board member of the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group (DNSG) of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), is on the Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committee for Nutrition Therapy of the EASD, and is a director of the Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis and Clinical Trials Foundation. Dr. Sievenpiper has received research support from the CIHR, Diabetes Canada, PSI Foundation, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre (BBDC), CNS, ASN, Calorie Control Council, INC, National Dried Fruit Trade Association, The Tate and Lyle Nutritional Research Fund at the University of Toronto, and the Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Fund at the University of Toronto (a fund established by the Alberta Pulse Growers); has received in-kind research support from the Almond Board of California, California Walnut Commission, American Peanut Council, Barilla, Unilever, Unico, Primo, Loblaw Companies, Quaker (Pepsico), Kellogg Canada, and WhiteWave Foods; has received travel support, speaker fees, and/or honoraria from Diabetes Canada, CNS, Mott’s LLP, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Sprim Brasil, WhiteWave Foods, Rippe Lifestyle, mdBriefcase, Alberta Milk, FoodMinds LLC, Memac Ogilvy & Mather LLC, PepsiCo, The Ginger Network LLC, International Sweeteners Association, Nestlé Nutrition Institute, Pulse Canada, Canadian Society for Endocrinology and Metabolism, Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition Foundation, and the GI Foundation; has ad hoc consulting arrangements with Winston & Strawn LLP, Perkins Coie LLP, and Tate & Lyle; is a member of the European Fruit Juice Association Scientific Expert Panel; is a member of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Expert Committees of Diabetes Canada, EASD, Canadian Cardiovascular Society, and the Canadian Obesity Network; serves as an unpaid scientific advisor for the Food, Nutrition, and Safety Program and the Technical Committee on Carbohydrates of the International Life Science Institute North America; is a member of the ICQC, Executive Board Member of the DNSG of the EASD, and Director of the Toronto 3D Knowledge Synthesis and Clinical Trials Foundation; and his wife is an employee of Unilever Canada.”
