Tag Archive for: vitamin E

The Bottom Line on Vaping Today

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Recent reports indicate that in addition to fruit juices and flavors such as menthol and bubble gum, two natural products may be contributing to the issues with vaping: vitamin E and CBD oil. Vitamin E has been found in some vaping cartridges that contain CBD oil. CBD, short for cannabidiol, is the second most abundant cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. It has levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) below the legal limit and is often used for pain relief and psychological distress such as anxiety. I can’t comment on CBD oil; it’s not my area of expertise.

What I do know is that while cannabis is typically inhaled, CBD oil can be administered orally or topically and that’s probably a better delivery system. When any oil is produced, vitamin E is typically added so the oil doesn’t go rancid. In addition, there may be other additives so the CBD doesn’t break down. There’s no research to suggest that the oil or the vitamin E are safe when incinerated. Even if a cold aerosolized process is used, the ingredients are not designed to be administered that way.

Lung tissue is very sensitive. Think of the aerosolized droplets thousands of times larger than individual molecules of vitamin E or omega-3 fatty acids that would be found in blood. Those droplets would create a barrier, making it tough to breathe, whether natural or not. The benefit relies on the absorption and while some would be absorbed quickly, how long would the residue remain? Could it even be removed?

The Bottom Line Today

As I said in the Tuesday Memo, the governor of Michigan banned the sale of flavored vaping products; I think she made the right decision even though she is taking political heat for it. Business interests have interfered in public health initiatives for too long. Do I even have to mention the tobacco industry? And that it has heavily invested in the vaping industry? With the health of a generation at stake, I think taking time to examine the safety and marketing of these products is warranted.

I wish I could say this is the last word on vaping, but this is a rapidly changing health topic. The only vaping that should be allowed is as a method for quitting smoking—not to replace smoking, but as part of a strategy to quit smoking. It should be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration because nicotine is a drug.

As for the rest of what’s being used in vaping products, I think everyone should take a pass. If the industry actually conducts safety testing to discover any health issues for vapers, maybe, but I just don’t see that happening. The burden shouldn’t be on the health industry to prove vaping is bad; the burden should be on the vaping industry to prove it’s safe. We do enough to ourselves already to impair our health. We don’t need to add any more habits that we’ll need to break in the future. If you smoke, there’s no question you should quit. Talk with your doctor about the best way to accomplish that before you start vaping.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Winterize Yourself

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The official start to winter is quickly approaching, but for most of us the cold, wet, snowy, rainy weather has already begun. Today’s Memo contains some tips on how to winterize your body by focusing on basic nutritional supplementation.

Water: Make sure you increase fluid intake during the winter. The humidity is lower because the heat is on in your home, work, and school. You breathe out more water as a result. You have to replace those fluids. Every day drink one-half your body weight in ounces of water or any other fluid; if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces of water daily.

Multivitamin-mineral (MVMM): If you haven’t been consistent in taking your MVMM, this is a good time to begin. Your immune system needs some basic nutrients and a MVMM is a good place to start, especially if it’s one that contains plant concentrates and extracts.

Probiotics: The immune system starts in the gut. Taking a probiotic every day can help your immune system function better. In addition, taking fiber with the probiotic can help feed all the good bacteria in your digestive system.

Vitamin D: Consider adding vitamin D to your regimen because we get a lot less sun during the winter. Ask your physician to test your vitamin D levels; if it’s below 30 ng/ml, add 2,000 IU vitamin D to your supplementation. There’s no real danger in taking vitamin D, so make sure you’re getting some even without a test.

Antioxidants: Help your immune system; add additional vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene to your supplementation.

Supplementation may or may not help you avoid getting a cold or the flu, but it may help reduce the severity and duration of a respiratory infection if you do get one. That’s worth the small expense of the supplements in my opinion.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Paula and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. We are grateful for your support throughout the year. This week is one to spend with family and friends, so this will be the only Memo of the week. Thanks for being a member of the Dr. Chet family.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Interaction Between Food and Blood Thinners

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Blood thinners are the second most common medication that can interact with food and supplements. Blood thinners such as warfarin are used to prevent blood clots in people with atrial fibrillation, artificial heart valves, and deep vein thrombosis.

When a blood thinner is prescribed, people are given a list of foods and supplements to avoid. Top of the list is vitamin K and foods that contain vitamin K such as green leafy vegetables. Herbs such as garlic and ginkgo, supplements that contain vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, and omega-3 fatty acids are also discouraged because they may make the blood thinner. The goal is to optimize the international normalized ratio (INR), a measure of clotting ability. It isn’t that those types of patients have blood that coagulates more than normal; the theory is that keeping vitamin K from interfering with the blood thinner will reduce the probability of clots.

The problem: the recommendations are not supported by definitive research; it’s more a matter of playing it safe based on the theory of what the nutrients will do rather than actually based on science. In a recent review article, the authors concluded: “Restriction of dietary vitamin K intake does not seem to be a valid strategy to improve anticoagulation quality with vitamin K antagonists. It would be, perhaps, more relevant to maintain stable dietary habits, avoiding wide changes in the intake of vitamin K.” I absolutely agree.

What do you do? First, decide what diet you want to eat and supplements you want to take and stick to it. Second, work with your physician to adjust the blood thinner to get the dosage just right to keep your INR within range. Third, if you can’t get it normalized, there may be other factors as yet unknown that are affecting clotting. You’ll have to stick to the common recommendations, science-based or not.

Last chance to become an Insider and listen to tonight’s free conference call and get your health questions answered. You can learn more and join at this link.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Mar;95(10):e2895.

 

Vitamin E: Foods and Supplements

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Finishing up our look at vitamin E, the logical question is how much vitamin E do we need and where should we get it from? Let’s get right to it.

The RDA for vitamin E, in natural form as d-alpha tocopherol, is 15 mg per day in people 14 and over and 19 mg if a women is breast feeding. That corresponds to 22.4 IU and 26.8 IU. That would be the minimum intake per day from food or supplements. Why two units of measurement? Vitamin E is reported in mg in foods and IUs in . . .

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Symptoms of Vitamin E Deficiency

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If 90% of us are deficient in vitamin E as recent research estimated, what are some of the issues we could face? That’s one of the problems the author was examining because there are no documented overt symptoms of vitamin E deficiency other than children who cannot absorb it or in times of extreme malnutrition (1). That’s one reason it’s so difficult to pinpoint vitamin E deficiencies in people.

The symptoms are mostly neurological disorders that continue to get worse. It can cause nerve death in the peripheral sensory nerves—the arms and legs—and ataxia, which . . .

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Vitamin E Update

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As a member of the American Society of Nutrition, I receive three e-journals. I’m not going to tell you I read them cover to cover, but I check out what’s going on in nutrition research. That’s why a recent review article titled “Vitamin E Inadequacy in Humans: Causes and Consequences” caught my attention (1). See if this wouldn’t catch your attention:

It is estimated that more than 90% of Americans do not consume sufficient dietary vitamin E as alpha-tocopherol to meet estimated average requirements.

Wow! More than 90% of us come up short? How . . .

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