Antioxidant vitamins taken by tens of millions of people around the world at least won't lead to a
longer life, according to an analysis of dozens of studies that adds to evidence questioning the value of the
popular, largely synthetically produced, supplements. The large review study of separate studies on
thousands of people found no long-life benefit from vitamins A, E and C and beta carotene and selenium,
according to the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. The
Cochrane organization is a respected international network of experts that does systematic reviews of
scientific evidence on health interventions. For the new report on antioxidants, published in the Journal of
the American Medical Aossociation in 2007, the researchers first analyzed 68 studies involving 232,606
people and found no significant effect on mortality. When they looked more closely at the most
trustworthy studies, they actually found a higher risk of death for people taking vitamins: 4 percent for
those taking vitamin E, 7 percent for beta carotene and 16 percent for vitamin A.
Sodium and water are essential to maintain sodium levels and hydrate the body, but too much of either
can seriously upset the body’s electrolyte balance. Over consumption of vitamin A, for example, can
cause loss of hair, double vision, headaches, and vomiting in women, all indications of vitamin poisoning.
If a woman is pregnant, the supplement can even harm her unborn baby. As we will see, vitamins can
even endanger a person’s life.
Vitamin Deficiency—Or Perhaps, Something Else?
In the beginning of the 17th Century, Japan was afflicted with a disease, called beriberi, which killed
many people. By the year 1860, over one third of Japan’s marines had fallen ill with symptoms of weight
loss, frequent heart complaints, loss of appetite, irritability, burning sensations in the feet, lack of
concentration, and depression. The symptoms quickly disappeared whenever rice, Japan’s most important
staple food, was replaced with other foods.
Thirty years later the Dutch physician Christiaan Eijkman conducted an experiment feeding chicken
white rice. The chicken developed a number of symptoms such as loss of weight, weakness, and signs of
nerve infection, which Eijkman interpreted as being beriberi. The symptoms disappeared again when the
chicken were fed brown rice. Soon after, Eijkman discovered a few, previously unknown substances
within the bran of the whole rice; one of them was named B1. This initiated the era of vitamins.
But, as it turned out, beriberi wasn’t caused by vitamin B1 deficiency. People no longer suffered from
beriberi once they discontinued eating rice altogether. It should have been noticed from the beginning
that, with “no rice—no vitamin B1—no beriberi,” the disease must have had other causes than vitamin
deficiency. Japanese marine soldiers died within three days after consuming white rice, yet it takes much
longer than that to develop a B1 deficiency. The origin of this mysterious disease was revealed when in
1891 a Japanese researcher discovered that beriberi is caused by the poison citreoviridine. Citreoviridine
is produced by mold in white rice that is stored in filthy and moist environments.
Yet until today, the vitamin B1-beriberi-hypothesis is still maintained in medical text books around the
world. Although it has never been proven that a B1 deficiency causes such symptoms as fatigue, loss of
appetite, exhaustion, depression, irritability, and nerve damage, many patients having these symptoms are
told that they have a vitamin-B deficiency. During vitamin B1 trial studies, all the participants complained
about the highly monotonous diet they were given; they suffered fatigue and loss of appetite, regardless of
whether they received B1 in their diet or not. As soon as they returned to their normal diet, even without
B1, the symptoms spontaneously disappeared.
Another B-vitamin is nicotinic acid, also known as niacin. It has become very popular and is now
routinely added to many foods. Niacin is supposed to safeguard us against diarrhea, dementia and the skin
disease pellagra. Pellagra is more widespread among people who eat maize, though not everyone who