Nutrition Related Supplements
The following was transcribed by Well With Cancer with permission from Stanford’s Nutrition and Supplements Conference:
Nutrition related supplements serve to improve the overall nutrition and the fitness of the patient or individual consumer of these products. The products vary depending on the intended end-user prescription or the pre-existing illness such as cancer, diabetes and many others. However, there are many factors to consider before and after making the decision for a certain choice of nutritional supplements to consume. Notably, the existing medical conditions, on-going medications, the ingredients of the nutrition supplement, the authenticity and ultimately the side-effects. The global demand for the nutrition supplements continue to grow as backed up from consistent survey and data documentation. In the year 2003, the estimated nutritional supplements in the United States amounted to $19.8 billion , where vitamins accounted for $6.6 billion, herbs were $4.2 billion, sports nutrition were valued at $2 billion , meal supplements $2.5 billion ,minerals $1.8 billion and specialty and other products generated a sales volume of $2.7 billion. The data indicates that there is growing demand and adoption of the nutrition supplementary usage.
Consequently, there arise several concerns as related to the use of the nutritional supplements. How well does the specific supplement achieve the intended purpose? If so, what are the optimal results? What are the side effects associated with the use of the nutrition supplements to the human fitness and general health? If used alongside current medication procedures, how does the interaction between the procedures, say chemotherapy, for example blend in with the introduced supplement inside the human body? This article will try to find answers to the highlighted questions based on well-researched and documented information to identify the good, the bad, and the unknown information on nutrition related supplements.
The common nutrition supplements include Vitamin D, Fish Oils, Coenzyme, Curcumen, Ginger, Garlic and Mushrooms. Others taken by mouth consist of minerals, herbal, amino acids and dietary supplements. Erica Corner, a certified oncologist and registered dietician, points out that there exist different connotations underlying which the application of nutrition supplements are perceived. These includes, “if its natural, it’s safe”. However, this brings out the issue of how safe is a supplement based on the natural form without ingredient composition that is regulated against the human body mechanism. The consumption of natural nutrition supplements has been limited to vitamin D and calcium whose source is from the exposure from the sun. Research has indicated that low rates of cancer infection have been recorded in regions with more sun exposure. Other natural nutrition supplements such as pine trees that produce red wines have proven to be effective to prevent heart diseases but acts differently when used on patients on chemotherapy. According to research by Mary’s Clinic, more than 80% of their patients in the early phase chemotherapy trials were using supplements either as minerals or herbs. More research in the year 2005 by Midwestern Oncology illustrated that 65% of the patients receiving chemotherapy took supplements not including vitamins. It is alarming that only 32-69% of the patients reported the use of the supplements to their physicians. The FDA requires manufacturers and the distributors of the supplements to report their side effects on the patients. However, the manufacturers do not have to prove anything regarding their products’ effectiveness and safety. Consequently, a study in 2011 by the MealWatch program reported 1,777 adverse cases on patients who were on the dosage of the supplements. In the year 2013, similar studies by the poison control center reported more than 100,000 adverse cases after consuming supplements.
It is worth noting that dietary supplements ought to be manufactured in a clean and safe controlled laboratory. However, with the absence of adequate regulation, cases whereby manufacturers produce misleading labels where none of the ingredients printed out in the labels is present in the supplements has been on the rise.
Notably, research has identified that fillers are commonly used by manufactures thus compromising the safety of the supplement to the patient. The use of unregulated supplements such as herbs might interact with ongoing medication procedures such as chemotherapy affecting the level of treatment and consequent failure, variation in compliance and quality and skin insensitivity. To address these shortcomings, it is recommendable to consume good supplements consisting of vitamins A, D .E and K. Additionally, consumption of multivitamins in 100% content as daily dosage is advocated for.
“If it could harm you, they couldn’t allow it”. Onto this consideration, the determination of majority interests from business interests could manipulate the manufacturers of these supplements with an aim to increase the profit margins. For example, herbal supplements should be avoided when the patient is undertaking a prescribed medication. Other supplements to avoid are iron supplements, resveratrol, weight loss supplements, supplements sold via the multi-level marketing business models, and any other supplements with exaggerated claims or boost to the human mechanisms. It is worth noting that irrespective of the increase of reported cases, the manufacturers of these supplements are not bound by any standard procedure to access the safety and effectiveness of their products. In addition, with the huge gap in reporting cases where patients in medication consume supplements, there is bound to be interference with the prescribed medical procedures to achieve effective medical results. Research indicates that majority of the supplements are likely to inhibit medical results. Such forms the category of high risk supplements which block pathways shared with other medications. Accordingly, John’s Wott, Gingko and Appricot supplements have high risk of toxicity while Contner could contain pesticides or heavy metals especially those imported from China.
Fish oils have found extensive use in chemotherapy as anti-cancer properties, reducing inflammation, arthritis and depression. Research indicates that fish oils are effective while used in cancer-related cachexia and endometria cancer. However, they exhibit minimal influence in cancer prevention. For safe consumption, the FDA prescribes intake of 3 grams daily, 7.5-8 grams for cancer cachexia, and 2 servings of fatty fish weekly for endometrial cancer. In addition, the consumption of fish oils in 600mg-3.6g of EPA & or DHA from white fish during chemotherapy or radiation preserved body composition. However, research shows the effect does not influence the size of the tumor.
Mushrooms act as natural nutrition supplements backed up by research showing enhanced immune system. The recommended variety of mushrooms as nutrition supplements are Shiitake, Turkey Tail and Reishi. Research indicates that Maitake, Shiitake and button mushrooms are safe to eat when properly cooked. Reishi mushrooms aids in reducing the effects of colorectal cancer while not affecting lung cancer.
The recommended dosage is 3 grams of PSK taken daily, 600-1800mg/day for 3 times in a day 12 weeks consecutively reishi mushroom, and 0.5 -5 mg/kgg extract of Maitake mushrooms for 3 weeks. However, the safety of consuming Shiitake remains unclear. Notably, uncontrolled usage alongside coagulant drugs may result to bleeding. It is worth noting that PSK was banned based on the threat of toxicity when consumed by human.
Turmeric or Curcumin have found extensive use as nutrition supplements. According to scientific research, the two have been established to be antioxidants, possessing anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Turmeric has been recommended for colon cancer treatment, regulating blood pressure. The authorized dosage is 750mg two times a day for 9 months for diabetic conditions,1500mg daily of curcuminoids for six weeks for arthritis and 4000mg of 98% for a month to prevent colon cancer for smokers and up to 8000mg of whole food curcumin formulation for two months in advanced pancreatic cancer. Turmeric is safe when incorporated in the diet. However, it is worth noting that excessive consumption of the supplements might lead to bleeding especially when used alongside coagulant drugs. Research proves that turmeric and curcumin consumption decreases blood glucose, increases insulin levels if used with diabetes medications, decreased blood pressure and elevated liver enzymes. Finally ginger is another natural supplement that finds usage in the chemotherapy induced nausea or vomiting. Inconclusive research indicates that ginger can reduce the severity and duration of chemotherapy but not better than placebo. Excessive use could lead to bleeding especially when used alongside anti-coagulant drugs. Effective when administered as powdered ginger root or liquid extract of the ginger root in 0.6-2g daily in 2-4 divided doses daily ,3 days before the chemotherapy and 3 days after successful chemotherapy.
The suitability and effectiveness of the nutrition supplements are regarded based on the scale of safety, dosage and approval. The user ought to investigate before use by checking with their medical team, verify contact information in the labels, and avoid exaggerated product information and avoiding a mixture of different supplements. That said the approval of the manufactured supplements predetermines its safety in human body mechanisms. For example, it is recommendable that the FDA takes up regulatory measures against manufacturers and distributers to ensure compliance and consistency of the product information and use. This will greatly reduce the rising cases of side effects reported and non-reported. The culture of reporting parallel consumption of supplements on prescribed medication should be encouraged in order to avoid recurrent conditions and non-effective medical procedures.
Secondly, the dosage levels for the natural nutrition supplements such as mushrooms, ginger, turmeric, and fish oils should be adhered to avoid the side effects arising thereafter. Additionally, the presence of heavy metals and pesticides should be accessed in these natural supplements to make sure that they do not interfere or compromise with their efficiency in the human body.
Further research is recommended to establish the extent to which the supplements could be used to prevent cancer and alter the dosage levels to achieve the optimal dosage that is less likely to have any side effects to the human body.
References:
1 See the https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Nutritional+Supplements for information about the documented sales of nutrition supplements in the U.S as at 2003.
2 See the https://stanfordhealthcare.org/for-patients-visitors/cancer-supportive-care-program.html/presentation-mode/stanford-health-care-now/videos/nutrition-related-supplements for the good, bad and unknown supplements
