Nutrients for Bone and Joint Health Interview

This interview was given to Whole Foods Magazine, excerpts were published in the February 2011 issue:

Despite evidence in recent medical journals, including several review studies calling for a far higher RDA and UL (upper limit) that would be five times the previous levels, the IOM held true to its conservative bent and raised the RDA and the UL; but only by 50% by only 100%, respectively . Observers are somewhat disappointed, but not really surprised. The most controversial part of the IOM committee’s report is that the only proven role for vitamin D is in bone and calcium metabolism, combined with its finding that most Americans already get enough for those benefits. That should come as news to researchers from Mayo Clinic operating under an NIH grant who recently reported that “Vitamin D insufficiency is common globally and in the United States. Approximately 25-50% of patients seen in routine clinical practice have vitamin D levels below the optimal range…” It also should be news to European regulators that recognize vitamin D’s beneficial effects on muscles, immunity, inflammation, cellular health, and reproduction. We recognize the new increased recommendations for vitamin D and the new higher safety recommendation, but believe that these numbers are insufficient to support vitamin D’s roles that go beyond calcium and bone health.

The need for joint and bone health nutrients in general increases with age. Aging also tends to reduce absorption of nutrients, forcing us to take higher amounts and better forms in order to assure adequate nutrition. The tendency of many seniors to cut back on meals, for reasons such as loss of taste or smell or interest in cooking, may also increase the need for supplementation of essential nutrients. The major joint and bone problems increase with age, and studies have shown the ability of relevant nutrients to maintain healthy bone and joint structures during these vulnerable times of life. Older customers that are more likely to take calcium supplements also tend to have diminished stomach acid available for digesting calcium from food and non-chelated (predigested) forms, so tend to do better with the predigested forms. These include calcium as citrate, malate, ascorbate, or bonded to specific amino acids; all are weak acidic sources that form a stable bond with the alkaline calcium and the resulting compound simulates the calcium complexes formed naturally during proper digestion.

While calcium and vitamin D are known for their role in bone and calcium metabolism, there are other nutrients necessary for bone health. These include silica, boron, magnesium, vitamins C and K, etc. protein. Comprehensive bone formulas include over a dozen nutrients, which are also available singly.

Children need to get sunshine, exercise, and a variety of calcium from food sources to ensure the body’s needs for bone health. If the child does not eat ample amounts milk and dark green leafy vegetables, they may need to complement the diet with appropriate dietary supplements.

Adults need to take care of their bodies and not impact the joints too much with hard exercises or excess weight. Support the joints nutritionally with glucosamine, vitamin C, a good multivitamin, and natural substances that modulate inflammation.

One should not neglect the long-term benefits of glucosamine to maintain joint distances that may otherwise erode, for example, while seeking fast-term temporary relief of aches and pains. By providing those products in both categories as well as overlapping combination products, we can supply a more holistic and sustainable nutritional joint support program.

Many of the Joint Structural Support Products contain varying amounts of glucosamine and/or chondroitin, as well as MSM, Hyaluronic Acid, and other well-known ingredients.

Nutrition, Eye Health & Diseases of Aging Eyes

Glaucoma is pressure in the eyes and can be from different causes such as narrow/inflamed tear duct drainage or a type of high blood pressure type problem. Since synthetic prostaglandin eye drops (travatan, etc) are sometimes used to maintain normal pressure, it implies that natural prostaglandins (GLA, fish oil) might prevent certain forms of glaucoma. Cataracts and macular degeneration are caused by oxidative damage. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17478338?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum Lutein is the key but not sole antioxidant. It does take about 5 grams of fat to absorb 10 milligrams of lutein (usually found in a complex also containing zeaxanthin), so lutein only absorbs well if taken with a meal. Eye formulas are also very good to supply multiple antioxidants and eye nutrients. These should also be taken with meals. Lutein is also the yellow pigment in egg whites, dark green leafy vegetables, yellow corn, orange peppers and squash. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=9828775

Natural Health: Ten Predictions for the Year 2008

Natural Health: Ten Predictions for the Year 2008 By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA 12/10/2007 The New Year will bring more proof of antioxidant benefits for human health. Recent research shows that antioxidants help to maintain healthy brain functions during aging, protect brain and nerve cells, and prevent hormones and cholesterol fractions from oxidizing to become more harmful forms. Look for an expanded understanding of the benefits of these synergistic nutrients in 2008. 2008 will provide more proof of omega-3 fatty acids’ benefits. For example, DHA helps to maintain healthy balances of cholesterol fractions and protects the brain and nerves. EPA helps normalize cell membranes and cellular health. These essential fats are typically very low in the American diet, so dramatic results could occur in clinical trials providing these nutrients to participants. There will be more safety scares regarding popular prescription and Over-The-Counter drugs, creating new safety warnings and label cautions. Since the most popular medications are typically blocking or inhibiting natural body functions (calcium channel blockers, cholesterol production inhibitors, serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, stomach acid production inhibitors, etc.) rather than dealing holistically with the causes of problems that create body imbalances (lack of optimal levels of nutrients, environmental chemicals and metals, chronic stress - lack of deep sleep, low fiber - high carbohydrate diets, etc.), major side effects from such drugs are inevitable. Side effects from pain medications will become more evident, increasing the number of people looking for safer alternatives. Herbs and spices are the major natural alternatives with some scientific evidence of efficacy. The market for organic and local foods will continue to grow at amazing levels. This will put pressure on the regulatory, farm and grocery industries to manage these products and segregate them to maintain their integrity. That contrasts with the increased reliance on genetically engineered corn to produce ethanol that raises food costs and increases the use of farm chemicals. And there is much evidence that non-genetically engineered foods are both environmentally and nutritionally superior to their modified cousins, while natural farming techniques are proving superior to chemical and genetically engineered farming in terms of managing fuel and seed costs, water use, improving both crop yields and selling prices, etc. Millions of farmers around the world have already weaned themselves from the chemical-genetic “green revolution” to use appropriate local farming techniques and have actually been more successful as a direct result of truly “green” practices. America has begun to awaken to the benefits of local and organic foods in terms of freshness, reducing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and demonstrable benefits to local economies. Watch for these trends to accelerate in 2008. Blood pressure and blood sugar concerns will continue to grow, along with a medical backlash attacking natural strategies to manage these concerns. However, science will also continue to amass evidencing the positive health benefits of natural products to help people maintain already healthy blood levels, in contrast with the poor symptom management that is a characteristic of pharmaceutical or surgical interventions used to “correct” chronic biological imbalances. These issues dovetail with current obesity and cardiovascular concerns and are part of the same syndrome related to chronic stress and poor diets. Positive reports of the benefits of higher levels of vitamin D will continue to proliferate, though with some bias against the synthesized vegetarian/vegan form of vitamin D2 versus D3 from fish oil or sheep lanolin. Health authorities will be pressured to raise both the recommended Daily Value and the Upper Limit of vitamin D to five times the current levels. Research will continue to accumulate regarding the health benefits of whole grains and whole foods, as will reports of people allergic or sensitive to gluten, corn, and other grains. More mainstream processed groceries will have whole food options in 2008. This is a good trend, though with cautions for the sensitive minority. There will be continuing claims that “dietary supplements” are illegally contaminated with steroids or other pharmaceutical drugs. These claims will typically be self-serving and defensive, made primarily by athletes accused of cheating by using banned substances. Beyond the obvious fact that legitimate supplement manufacturers do not have illegal substances on hand and that GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices certification) quality manufacturing protocols would avoid inadvertent contamination, these accusations are a barometer of how “unregulated” the mainstream media and the public thinks dietary supplements are. While there are plenty of regulations written specifically to regulate supplements, and even the FDA claims that it has adequate regulatory authority, somehow certain medical authorities and journalists like to pretend otherwise; perhaps to have a handy punching bag to deflect attention from the well-documented hundreds of thousands of deaths caused annually from pharmaceuticals and medical errors. In any case, expect more of this blame game in 2008. With a presidential election campaign under full swing, no meaningful legislation regarding health care or Medicare will be passed in 2008. There will be a narrow window of opportunity for such measures in 2009 with a new Congress and Administration. Natural health advocates will continue to press for meaningful use of nutrition to combat the major causes of disease and illness in America, with probably little impact against the lobbying might of the medical and pharmaceutical interests. The wild card is if, by some miracle, the insurance industry finally notices that their costs could be contained by the use of targeted nutrition such as the use of calcium and vitamin D to prevent osteoporosis, antioxidants to prevent age-related macular degeneration and oxidative-related glaucoma that affect vision and impact seniors’ independence, omega-3 fats to prevent coronary heart disease, the use of fiber to manage healthy cholesterol levels, etc. That could swing the pendulum towards the use of natural products to control healthcare costs. But I’m not betting on it happening in 2008, though I hope that they wise up soon enough to manage the recently overactive increases in medical costs. There will be additional, unjustified health scares about essential nutrients in 2008. Especially beware of “meta-analyses” that mix unrelated studies and magnify the number of variables using often-flawed statistical models. Some probable targets: · Kava (a few unrelated, anecdotal reports of liver problems) · Folic acid (a few reports of higher cancer levels despite a lot of cellular data indicating the opposite, creating a backlash against re-fortification of refined foods) · Vitamin E (continued championing/publicity of questionable meta-analyses over more rigorous blood-level studies will continue the inexplicable controversy over the safety of this essential nutrient that most Americans are reportedly deficient in.) · Beta-Carotene (again, blood level studies and total antioxidant studies repeatedly show its safety, but studies measuring only administration of certain doses to sick populations that may be deficient in antioxidants create a conflicting picture.) · DHEA (this adrenal hormone has been vilified as a “steroid”, but is no more so than vitamin D. No less an authority than physician and US Senator Tom Coburn has sent a letter to his colleagues informing them that he has reviewed the issues and urging them to avoid a ban of this natural product, which is useful in anti-aging strategies but not for bodybuilders. Efforts by leading senators (including presidential candidates Clinton and McCain) to ban DHEA are ongoing.

My review of studies supporting the use of aromatherapy to reduce symptoms of aging

http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD003150/frame.html Aroma therapy is the use of pure essential oils from fragrant plants (such as Peppermint, Sweet Marjoram, and Rose) to help relieve health problems and improve the quality of life in general. The healing properties of aroma therapy are claimed to include promotion of relaxation and sleep, relief of pain, and reduction of depressive symptoms. Hence, aroma therapy has been used to reduce disturbed behaviour, to promote sleep and to stimulate motivational behaviour of people with dementia. Of the three randomized controlled trials found only one had useable data. The analysis of this one trial showed a significant effect in favour of aroma therapy on measures of agitation and neuropsychiatric symptoms. More large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed before firm conclusions can be reached about the effectiveness of aroma therapy. Aroma therapy for dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(3):CD003150. Review. PMID: 12917949 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=9672344&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus RESULTS: Eight randomized, controlled trials were located. Collectively they indicate that peppermint oil could be efficacious for symptom relief in IBS. A metaanalysis of five placebo-controlled, double blind trials seems to support this notion. In view of the methodological flaws associated with most studies, no definitive judgment about efficacy can be given. Peppermint oil for irritable bowel syndrome: a critical review and metaanalysis. Am J Gastroenterol. 1998 Jul;93(7):1131-5. PMID: 9672344 In aromatherapy, grapefruit is used to treat depression and induce euphoria, whereas lavender is beneficial in reducing stress and relaxing the mind. This raises the possibility that stimulation with grapefruit or lavender may influence the activity of sympathetic nerves. Mechanism of changes induced in plasma glycerol by scent stimulation with grapefruit and lavender essential oils. Neuroscience Letters, Volume 416, Issue 3, 18 April 2007, Pages 241-246 The antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of essential oils have been known for a long time, and a number of investigations have been conducted into their antimicrobial activities using various bacteria, viruses and fungi. A common feature of plant volatiles is their hydrophobic nature, and studies addressing the mode of antimicrobial action of such compounds generally point to the cell membrane as primary target (Stammati et al., 1999). Recent studies have shown that essential oils of oregano, thyme, clove and cinnamon are among the most active in this respect. Chemical analysis of these oils has shown the constituents to be principally carvacrol, thymol and eugenol and their precursors...Essential oils—their antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and effect on intestinal cell viability. Toxicology in Vitro, Volume 20, Issue 8, December 2006, Pages 1435-1445 Symptoms of tiredness, lack of muscle co-ordination and dysarthria, and difficulty in maintaining attention in elderly people may be wrongly labelled as part of the ageing process and so ignored. If adequate sleep can reduce these symptoms and restore therapeutic activity, it is of enormous value to elderly people in retaining their independence and quality of life. Safe promotion of sleep without daytime lethargy is needed. In order to test the hypotheses that Essential Oil of Lavender has a sedative effect, and that the resultant sleep promotes therapeutic activity, a pilot study was arranged with acutely ill elderly people. This was followed by a more detailed trial with long-term patients. The results show a positive trend towards improvement with lavender. The value of lavender for rest and activity in the elderly patient. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. Volume 4, Issue 1, January 1996, Pages 52-57 These findings clarify that lavender and rosemary enhance FRSA [free radical scavenging activity] and decrease the stress hormone, cortisol, which protects the body from oxidative stress. Smelling lavender and rosemary increases free radical scavenging activity and decreases cortisol level in saliva. Psychiatry Research Volume 150, Issue 1, 28 February 2007, Pages 89-96 A general feature of these various antioxidant parameters measured was that their activities remained higher in rats whose diets were supplemented with thyme oil, suggesting that they retained a more favourable antioxidant capacity during their life span. Dietary supplementation of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oil during the lifetime of the rat: its effects on the antioxidant status in liver, kidney and heart tissues. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development. Volume 109, Issue 3, 8 September 1999, Pages 163-175 Symptoms of tiredness, lack of muscle co-ordination and dysarthria, and difficulty in maintaining attention in elderly people may be wrongly labelled as part of the ageing process and so ignored. If adequate sleep can reduce these symptoms and restore therapeutic activity, it is of enormous value to elderly people in retaining their independence and quality of life. Safe promotion of sleep without daytime lethargy is needed. In order to test the hypotheses that Essential Oil of Lavender has a sedative effect, and that the resultant sleep promotes therapeutic activity, a pilot study was arranged with acutely ill elderly people. This was followed by a more detailed trial with long-term patients. The results show a positive trend towards improvement with lavender. The value of lavender for rest and activity in the elderly patient. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. Volume 4, Issue 1, January 1996, Pages 52-57 Aromatherapy can be a useful addition to self-care especially in managing stress and minor self-limiting conditions. Caring for the wounded healer—nurturing the self. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. Volume 10, Issue 4, October 2006, Pages 251-260 The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of the essential oils of orange and lavender on anxiety, mood, alertness and calmness in dental patients. Two hundred patients between the ages of 18 and 77 years (half women, half men) were assigned to one of four independent groups. While waiting for dental procedures patients were either stimulated with ambient odor of orange or ambient odor of lavender. These conditions were compared to a music condition and a control condition (no odor, no music). Anxiety, mood, alertness and calmness were assessed while patients waited for dental treatment. Statistical analyses revealed that compared to control condition both ambient odors of orange and lavender reduced anxiety and improved mood in patients waiting for dental treatment. These findings support the previous opinion that odors are capable of altering emotional states and may indicate that the use of odors is helpful in reducing anxiety in dental patients. Ambient odors of orange and lavender reduce anxiety and improve mood in a dental office. Physiology & Behavior. Volume 86, Issues 1-2, 15 September 2005, Pages 92-95 In this review we detail the current state of knowledge about the effect of lavender oils on psychological and physiological parameters and its use as an antimicrobial agent. Although the data are still inconclusive and often controversial, there does seem to be both scientific and clinical data that support the traditional uses of lavender. Biological activities of lavender essential oil. Phytother Res. 2002 Jun;16(4):301-8. Review. PMID: 12112282