Tag Archives: supplements

Supplements: Should you take glutamine?

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Supplements are one of the most difficult nutrition-related issues to contend with. Some people may benefit from certain supplements but oftentimes people are at best wasting their money and at worst potentially causing themselves harm by taking supplements. I was recently inspired to look into some common supplements and thought that I’d share what I found with you.

You may be wondering what glutamine is. It’s the most abundant amino acid (protein is made-up of amino acids) in the human body. We actually make most of the glutamine in our bodies and obtain more glutamine from high protein foods such as legumes, meat, eggs, milk, and tofu. Why, then, do some people believe that supplementation is necessary? Some studies have indicated that blood levels of glutamine are lowered in athletes participating in exhaustive exercise. I’d like to pause here to point out that exhaustive exercise is intense endurance exercise like running a marathon or participating in a triathalon. Exhaustive exercise is not playing a game of soccer, volley-ball, or lifting a few weights. When you think of exhaustive exercise you should think of not physically being able to continue after completing the activity. Okay, back to it… Some people believe that taking a glutamine supplement will reduce post-exercise soreness and boost the immune system. However, to-date there is no conclusive research to support this theory (1). There is no maximum level set for glutamine consumption (although 14 g/d in supplemental form has been proposed) and your risk of reaching toxicity is low. There are risks if you are taking anti-convulsant medication or lactulose (2) and, as with many supplements, you run the risk of contamination or incomplete disclosure of ingredients on the label. If you’re just a recreational athlete, and probably even if you’re a professional endurance athlete, you’d be better off spending your money on something that provides you with other nutrients as well such as actual food.

Digest this: the truth about digestive enzyme supplements

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Over the years I have heard of people taking digestive enzyme supplements to aid digestion. A quick google search for “digestive enzymes” yields a long list of websites peddling various digestive enzyme supplements yet no legitimate evidence to support their use. The average person does not need these supplements.

In case you were wondering, digestive enzymes act to breakdown specific nutrients in food (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates). For example, lipase breaks down fat and amylase breaks down carbohydrates.

It is possible for an individual to be deficient in digestive enzymes, however, unless you have an underlying condition causing the enzymatic deficiency it’s a waste of your money to buy and consume digestive enzyme supplements. The most common enzymatic deficiency is lactase deficiency. Those who have lactase deficiency are unable to digest the milk sugar lactose and are known as “lactose intolerant.” Generally people with this condition will avoid foods containing lactose (or risk gastric pain, gas, and diarrhea) or take a lactase pill before consuming these foods. Sufferers of conditions which damage the pancreas such as pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, and cystic fibrosis may also be deficient in digestive enzymes. That being said, most people do not suffer from pancreatic enzyme deficiency and have no need for digestive enzyme supplements. Your body releases these enzymes as part of the natural digestive process. The only digestive supplement that might be beneficial to much of the population is Beano as we all lack the digestive enzymes necessary to digest the sugar (oligosaccharides) in beans. However, the more frequently you eat beans the less gassy they’re likely to make you.

I’ve also heard mention of the importance of food enzymes. These are present in all raw foods and are really of no importance nutrition-wise. They are broken down during the digestive process like any other protein. There are other good reasons to include raw vegetables and fruits in your diet, such as destruction of heat sensitive vitamins. However, there is no need to go to an entirely raw food diet.

Food Matters but the film does not

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I finally watched the “documentary” Food Matters on Netflix. It’s always good to find out what’s floating around out there regarding nutrition and health. I managed to avoid getting annoyed for approximately the first six minutes of this film. It’s unfortunate that Food Matters has to negate the few good points it makes by containing loads of other inaccurate points and interview a bunch of questionably credentialed “experts”. These experts included a World Authority on Raw Foods & Superfoods and an Holistic Dentist & Nutritionist. Probably a bad sign when I find the most credible person interviewed in a film about nutrition and medicine to be the Investigative Journalist.

What were the good points made in the film?

  • Medical doctors usually have very little nutrition education
  • Our diets suck
  • There’s no profit to be made if we don’t need drugs anymore (promptly negated by the fact that they’re pushing the use of megadoses of vitamins – who’s profiting there?)
  • Good nutrition can help improve depression
  • “Conventional” agriculture methods are less than ideal

These good points were hugely overshadowed by the bad points:

  • The nutritionists who made the film are both graduates from The Global College of Natural Medicine which is listed on Quack Watch as a school not accredited by a recognised accrediting agency
  • They allege that cooked food is basically toxic to the body through the process of digestive leukocytosis. This is based on a distortion of questionable research by Kouchakoff in 1930. If you want to read more about this topic check out the article on Beyond Veg. In actual fact, the cooking of some foods makes nutrients more biologically available.
  • There’s some pushing of “superfoods” which are a made-up phenomenon. There are arguments for any whole food to be a superfood.
  • It’s purported that the residual deficiency from one day of poor eating can’t be compensated for with a healthy diet on subsequent days so nutrient supplements are necessary. Oh please, one day of crappy eating does not mean you have to start popping vitamin supplements the following day.
  • Most of the talk about nutrition being used to improve health is translated into the pushing of vitamin supplements. Um, how about actually eating a healthy diet?
  • The use of megadoses of niacin are recommended for treatment of depression and alcoholism. However, there is insufficient evidence for the use of niacin in treating these conditions and high doses of niacin can lead to serious side effects including liver problems, loss of vision, and irregular heartbeat. I think it’s dangerous that “experts” are encouraging people to self-medicate using megadoses of vitamins.
  • It’s suggested that we need colonics and detox diets and that they can lead to huge amounts of weight loss through flushing of toxins through the bowel. Apparently exercise is dangerous because we’re losing toxins through our skin!!?
  • There’s discussion about the Max Gerson cancer therapy, which allegedly cured cancer through nutrition therapy and megadoses of vitamin C. There is no evidence that his method is at all effective. Further to this, it’s suggested that “a normal healthy body can’t get cancer.” I think that’s offensive to people who get cancer. Especially those who live healthy lives. Yes, a healthy diet strengthens your immune system. Is it guaranteed to protect you from cancer? No.
  • Even though the title of the film is Food Matters hardly any of the film is about food. It’s basically a massive nutritional supplement commercial. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the producers had a vested interested in the supplement store they promote on the film’s website.

Should you take a vitamin or mineral supplement?

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Myth 5: You need vitamin and mineral supplements to be healthy
What Dietitians of Canada says:
“Most healthy people can meet their vitamin needs by following Canada’s Food Guide. There are some times in your life, however, when you might need supplements. For example… adults over 50 should take a vitamin D supplement. Also, women who could become pregnant, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding need a daily multivitamin with folic acid.”
What I say:
So… That’s a myth well busted. I’d say DC pretty much just validated the myth. No, not everyone needs vitamin and mineral supplements. And it’s best to try to get your nutrients from whole foods because we still don’t understand how all the components in foods work together when we digest them. However, many people do need supplements. The most recent vitamin D recommendations make it very difficult for most of us in northern climates to get enough vitamin D from food sources during the winter months. Personally, I don’t eat fatty fish as often as I should so I take an omega-3 supplement every second day. Everyone’s vitamin and mineral supplements differ and if you’re not eating a balanced diet (or you fall into one of the categories above, as more than half the population does) then you quite likely should be taking a supplement and should meet with a registered dietitian or your primary health care provider to determine what nutrients you may be lacking in your diet and the best way for you to obtain them.

Twitter twit

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Wasn’t sure what I was going to rant about today but then I stumbled across this tweet in my twitterfeed: “Vit E slows formation of blood clots inside blood vessels. It’s a natural blood thinner & great for skin & muscle regeneration.” Nothing in this tweet is explicitly wrong. However, 140 characters do not give a lot of space to work with. Hence, there is a lot of information missing from this tweet. Between the lines, this tweet says to me that I should be taking Vitamin E supplements. There are a number of things wrong with this. It’s generally best to get your vitamins and minerals naturally from food. Why? Because the ways in which vitamins and minerals work in your body may depend on other components in food. Also, you’re quite unlikely to achieve a toxic level of Vitamin E consumption through eating sunflower seeds or wheat germ but you might if you’re taking it as a supplement. Too much Vitamin E can interfere with Vitamin K and lead to hemorrhaging. There’s also a difference in the effect of Vitamin E depending on the form it’s in. Twitter is a great way to share information but tweets like the one above don’t provide enough information.