In our continuing search for new and interesting information concerning healthy lifestyles, we came upon this little blurb that should be of major concern to those who are taking synthetic vitamins instead of whole food vitamins. It seems as if Swedish researchers have found a link between multivitamin use and an increased risk of breast cancer in a study of more than 35,000 middle aged and older women. Scientists working on the study are concerned and believe more research is needed.

In 1997, scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden asked women to complete a health questionnaire, examining closely what they called “breast cancer risk factors.” At the time, all 35,329 women were cancer-free. In the follow up ten years later, 974 of these women were diagnosed with incident breast cancer, 293 of whom were taking multivitamins. According to the study, these findings show a 19 percent increased risk in breast cancer (after taking out lifestyle factors like exercise, weight, diet, smoking and family history).

“Many women use multivitamins in the belief that these supplements will prevent chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease,” Susanna Larsson, MD, professor of the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology, said in the report on the findings. “However, whether the use of multivitamins affects the risk of breast cancer is unclear.”

The use of multivitamins has always been a source of controversy, and there have been many studies that have given us conflicting information. It is important to remember, however, that often the multivitamins used in studies are isolated, synthetic vitamins, not whole foods. Synthetic vitamins are just another chemical that one should avoid in this chemical world that we are now all living, if one is serious about reducing their cancer risk. Yep, I said it, synthetic vitamins should be avoided. Now I know that many people will disagree with me, but then, some people still think microwave popcorn is a good idea.

A whole food vitamin is another story altogether. Despite the controversy, it is widely accepted that the compounds found in whole foods have a great deal to do with our bodies natural defenses from cancer. A whole food vitamin, like the Mega Multi 100, will help bolster your natural immunities, and can be a very powerful tool in your cancer fighting arsenal.  Which brings me to something we all love….lists. The Santa Rosa Strength and Wellness top 10 things a person can do to avoid (or fight) cancer.

  1. Stop Smoking – This will reduce your chances of contracting some forms of cancer by 30%
  2. Adopt a Plant Based Diet – Studies show that high consumption of fruits and vegetables wards off a variety of cancers.
  3. Strength Train – Regular and vigorous physical exercise has been scientifically established as providing strong preventative medicine against cancer.
  4. Lose a Few Pounds – Being overweight or obese may increase your risk of cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, stomach and uterus.
  5. Get Your Vitamin D – Among other things this will help bolster your immune function.
  6. Eat More Fiber – Fiber plays a key role in keeping your digestive system clean and healthy. It helps keep food moving through your digestive tract, and it also moves cancer-causing compounds out before they can create harm.
  7. Reduce Trans Fats – Trans fats, also called partially hydrogenated oils, are created by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid and less likely to spoil—which is very good for food manufacturers, and very bad for you.
  8. Boost Your Antioxidants – Antioxidants are powerful vitamins that protect against cancer and help the cells in your body function optimally. Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of antioxidants such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium.
  9. Choose Organic Produce – Reducing the intake of pesticides and fungicides is a good way to reduce your risk of many cancers.
  10. Take a Whole Food Multivitamin – That’s right. Try the Mega Multi 100. It’s USDA certified 100% Organic. No chemicals, ever.

Finally, hug someone. I don’t know if this will reduce your cancer risk, but it sure feels good.

Other studies done in the U.S. contest the Swedish institute’s findings. In a 2009 prospective study done by researchers at Harvard and the Tokyo Women’s Medical University, multivitamin use was not found to be associated with the “overall risk of breast cancer.” Instead, it found taking multivitamins regularly might reduce the risk for women consuming alcohol and decrease the risk of certain types of breast cancer for all women.

Larsson pointed out to Reuters Health other reasons could have led to the increased cancer risk. The study might not have examined certain factors that led to these results, or B vitamin folic acid, which commonly gives different results in health studies, is skewing the findings. As multivitamins contain a variety of nutrients, it is hard to pinpoint which mineral or vitamin is causing these results, according to Larsson.

Currently, 28 percent of Americans take a multivitamin regularly, according to the Council on Responsible Nutrition. The Journal of American Medical Association strongly recommends all Americans supplement with a multivitamin. Sales of the supplement are also rising, showing a consumer attachment to multivitamins, according to a 2008 report by Nutrition Business Journal. NBJ reported sales of multivitamins were worth $4.7 billion in 2008, with 4.3 percent growth expected over three years.UPDATE: CRN reports the findings from this study are confusing and need further review to understand what this means to consumers and retailers.

Andrew Shao, senior vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs, CRN:
“As observational studies go, this one appears to have been well done overall. It was a large, prospective cohort of more than 35,000 women who were healthy at baseline and followed for almost 10 years. The finding of an increased risk of breast cancer is puzzling, and in direct conflict with other similarly designed studies such as the well regarded Nurses Health Study out of Harvard, which showed just the opposite – that multivitamin use was associated with a significant decrease in breast cancer risk. And there are a few other studies that show ‘no effect.’ So it is difficult to say what this study means on its own. To their credit, the authors are balanced in their discussion of the findings and are careful not to draw firm conclusions from this one study. More research is definitely needed to sort out the conflicting data. In the meantime, the message to consumers is still the same: it is better to meet your nutrient needs than not, and a simple, affordable daily multivitamin helps us all to achieve that. This study does not change that.”

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