Once again about vitamins

Vitamins: prejudice and reality
Source: Knowledge-Power
Published on the website "Izvestia Nauki"It seems that being healthy is becoming as prestigious as being rich.

More and more people are concerned about the problems of a healthy lifestyle. For the new time, the "vitamin" topic is at the forefront of public interest. What can and what can't vitamins do? This is told by the head of the Laboratory of Vitamins and Minerals of the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Vladimir Borisovich Spirichev.

– If we put together all the vitamins included in a person's daily need, then we will get a grain the size of hemp. It is difficult to overestimate its role in maintaining our health. And at the same time, even many doctors have a vague idea of what vitamins are, what is the role of these amazing biochemical compounds in the body and what can be expected from them.

– What causes the urgency of the vitamin problem?

– Food culture is one of the main facets of a healthy lifestyle. It must be comprehended, it must be studied. Inevitably, of course, there is a problem of optimal provision of the body with vitamins.

Let's remember that the main purpose of food is to replenish the spent energy. In ancient times, when a man plowed the earth with a plow, sowed, hunted, "worked hard" from dawn to dawn, his energy consumption was 5-6 thousand kilocalories. Social and scientific and technological progress has reduced this indicator by two or three times. We are reaping the fruits of mechanization, automation, a shortened working day, growing inactivity, endless sitting at the computer.

In order to replenish your strength, you no longer need to eat a side of sheep, a pot of potatoes or a loaf of rye bread. But after all ... with less food, we do not get the amount of vitamins to which our body is adapted. And take him out and put 70-90 milligrams of ascorbic acid, 1.5-2 milligrams B1, B2, B6…
It is curious that the daily diet of a soldier of the old Russian army included up to 1.5 kilograms of black bread with bran, porridge. No sugar was allowed. The oil is only vegetable, rich in vitamin E.

The nature of modern food is completely different. Our menu is dominated by refined, high-calorie products, processed, canned. Vitamins in them, as they say, with Gulkin's nose. But they are designed to support the metabolism, to ensure the supply of the body with a living stream of catalysts-enzymes necessary for the most complex chemical reactions.

A healthy body needs all three groups of vitamins.
The first is B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin (PP), pantothenic and folic acids, biotin, as well as fat–soluble vitamin K. They are part of the active centers of certain enzymes, acting as a building material for them, providing metabolic processes. They are also called coenzymes.
Vitamins of the second group form a number of extremely important hormones in the body. Thus, vitamin D regulates the absorption of calcium by the body, vitamin A in the form of retinoic acid – the growth and development of tissues.
The third group includes antioxidant vitamins C (ascorbic acid), E, as well as numerous carotenoids – beta-carotene, lycopene and others.
This division, of course, is largely conditional. In fact, there is often a "combination of professions".
Perhaps it is worth mentioning the traditional division of vitamins into fat- and water-soluble. The first include vitamins A, D, E and K, the second – all
the others.

One can, of course, rejoice that the cruel vitamin deficiency of the past and their companions – scurvy, beriberi, pellagra – are now quite rare. The most common condition is hypovitaminosis – partial vitamin deficiency. It seems to be easier to fight with him. But this is only at first glance.

There is an opinion: one apple a day can solve the problem of deficiency of essential vitamins. If only!.. In fact, apples, greens, vegetables are just a more or less reliable source of ascorbic acid. Besides, a lot depends on the variety. Japanese scientists have found that in apples, oranges grown by intensive technology, selected for yield, with a beautiful appearance, the content of ascorbic acid and carotene is 10 times lower than in wild fruits!

Yes, we need more vegetables and fruits. After all, these are not only vitamins, but also dietary fibers, without which the intestinal tract does not work. But they do not remove the general problem. Sources of vitamins of the same group In others – meat, liver, bran bread.

– How would you comment on the famous expression of Academician V.A. Engelhardt: "Vitamins manifest themselves not by their presence, but by their absence"?

– A very precise definition. Vitamins are practically not synthesized in the body. They come with food or in the form of tablets, syrups. One can only wonder at the "talents" of vitamins – to cure ailments caused by their deficiency in scanty doses. 50 milliliters of lemon juice a day prevent the appearance of scurvy. One microgram of B12 protects against Addison-Biermer malignant anemia and spinal cord injury. Less than 1.5 milligrams of thiamine – vitamin B1 – guarantee against beriberi…

It is very wrong, the prevailing idea that vitamins are only some kind of activators, stimulants for us. These are independent, vital substances for all of us, especially for expectant mothers, for children. If they are there, everything is fine, but if they are not there, wait for trouble. Kazimir Funk, a Polish scientist who introduced the concept of "vitamin" a hundred years ago, sagaciously took "vita" – "life" as the basis of the word. Deep and prolonged vitamin deficiency threatens death.

From the Middle Ages came terrible stories about the "camp disease", which claimed thousands of soldiers during the siege of fortresses. Like many navigators in the past, the discoverers of the North Vitus Bering and Georgy Sedov died of scurvy. In the lean year of 1849, over 260 thousand people fell ill with scurvy in Russia. More than 60 thousand of them did not survive.

The Chinese 30-volume encyclopedia described the insidious beriberi disease 1400 years ago. In the nineteenth century, up to 50 thousand Japanese died from it every year. In 1953, the epidemic of this new plague in the Philippines claimed about 100 thousand lives. The reason? They didn't get to her right away. As it turned out, it was hidden in the fact that the main food of the population was polished, peeled from the shell and thus deprived of vitamins rice.

Excavations of archaeologists sometimes push to unexpected conclusions. The remains of distant ancestors testify that in ancient times people suffered from rickets, and hence from a lack of vitamin D, from "chicken blindness" associated with a lack of vitamin A, pellagra, caused by a lack of vitamin PP – nicotinic acid in the body. No wonder the wise Hippocrates advised patients to eat raw liver in honey once or twice a week, as if guessing that it is rich in vitamin A…

The activity of vitamins in the body can be likened to a metalworking line. The work of the machines depends on the equipment – drills, cutters, cutters. Machines are the same enzymes. The body prepares them for itself. Snap–in is vitamins that our body "does not know how to do", must receive from the outside – with food, in the form of appropriate additives, drugs. Here we sometimes wonder: why would this "suddenly", seemingly unprovoked malaise? And we are talking about an elementary failure in metabolism caused by a deficiency of vitamins.

– Is it possible to counter such a deficit with a counterflow, a kind of pressure of vitamins?

– Everyone understands the food culture in their own way. So in the ideas about the benefits and harms of vitamins, there are enough shies from one extreme to the other. ...The end of winter. Lethargy approaches, colds, chronic ailments worsen. Hypovitaminosis is becoming more acute. What actions follow this?

For some reason, someone is sure that vitamin deficiency can be replenished using their "horse doses". Many, even experts, forget one essential circumstance: vitamins, unlike other nutrients, cannot be prepared in the body for the future. Attempts to achieve this are obviously doomed, and often dangerous to health.

However, there are subtleties here too. A multiply increased amount of B vitamins, for example, in the worst case will cause allergies. Toxicosis should not be feared.

It's a different matter when it comes to fat-soluble vitamins A and D. They, like their "colleagues", play an important role in the body. For example, one of the forms of vitamin A – retinoic acid – regulates the formation of connective tissues. Vitamin D triggers the synthesis of proteins that carry out the absorption and assimilation of calcium. Their excess can play a very negative role. It's dangerous to joke with them. If a 2-fold or even a 10-fold amount is not terrible, then more is simply unacceptable.

...In poultry farms, vitamin D is added to feed for chickens and birds in the form of an oil solution. There are many cases when local workers, having stolen such "oil", used it for frying, added it to soups, salads. And they got poisoned.

The role of the same vitamin D in the prevention of childhood rickets is known. But here's what happened in Hitler's Germany. Here it was decided, at the suggestion of a certain Dr. Harnap, to give newborns an annual supply of vitamin D at once.

Massive hypervitaminosis followed. The fact is that this vitamin regulates the level of calcium in the blood, which is necessary for bones, for muscle contraction, and a clear heartbeat. With its excess, the bones begin to dissolve. Doctors, not having received the desired effect, often increased its dose further. As a result, calcium was deposited in the aorta, causing its stenosis. Germany has experienced an "epidemic" of disorders in the circulatory system.

Harnap, who was released from prison by the Allies, declared himself a victim of the Nazis. He said that a single serving of 600 thousand international units of vitamin D will eliminate the threat of rickets in children of the GDR. His idea was picked up in the USSR and other countries of the socialist camp. For trustfulness, I had to pay a heavy price.

With some delay, doctors realized: children's rickets and D-hypervitaminosis – scylla and charybdis, between which an experienced pediatrician should guide the child.

Vitamin A is also insidious in its own way. Deer hunters, seal hunters, walruses, polar bears in the North know that you cannot eat the liver of these animals. Otherwise, you can suffer from an excess of vitamin A.

– But there are cases when vitamins can become the basis for the prevention and treatment of ailments?

– Only in cases when the disease is caused or complicated by a lack of a particular vitamin. True, there are congenital, hereditary diseases, fortunately rare, in which the mechanisms of assimilation of a particular vitamin are disrupted. It is necessary to resort, under strict medical supervision, to large doses.

In the 50s, the USA developed a formula of breast milk substitutes based on various vitamins. Not yet knowing the dosage, the exact need for them, not knowing how many vitamins the mother's milk itself contains… A wave of anemic and convulsive conditions swept among the newborns. Vitamin B6 deficiency affected. In the end, it was possible to establish its norm. But some babies still have seizures. Studies have shown that these are vitamin-dependent children. They required doses increased up to 100 times.

– Like solar prominences, there are flashes of hope that vitamins can overcome almost all diseases. How justified are they?

– It would be great if vitamins reduced the risk of the same cardiovascular, oncological diseases. Namely, this was stated by other authorities, calling for "megavitamin" therapy. Practice has not confirmed their optimism.

The statement of the Nobel laureate Linus Pauling received a wide resonance at the time: a "volley" intake of vitamin C is able to prevent a cold, save from the flu. The scientist's data on the ability of ultra-high doses of ascorbic acid to prolong the life of doomed cancer patients were also not confirmed. Studies in serious clinics in different countries have dispelled such hopes. Moreover. There is evidence that overdoses of vitamin C are undesirable if a person has oxalate stones in the urinary tract.

In science, negative results are also very valuable. Research continues. In the meantime, it can be considered an axiom: vitamins manifest themselves perfectly when there is a lack of them, when it is necessary to make up for their deficiency.

I could cite hundreds of confirmations of this from the long-term practice of the staff of the Laboratory of Vitamins and Minerals of the Institute of Nutrition. I recall our recent work with the power engineers of the Pskov region. Multivitamins made it possible to significantly increase the physical and emotional tone of the staff, the responsiveness of the operators. Good results were obtained in Pervouralsk when multivitamins were included in the comprehensive treatment of women suffering from osteoporosis and other diseases of the musculoskeletal system. And how many such examples!..

– Now various, sometimes quite exhausting diets are in fashion. What is your attitude towards them as a vitamin scientist?

– I'll say it briefly. Everyone is free to mock themselves. In any case, with any diets, it is important to provide the body with vitamins, trace elements. Otherwise, along with the long-awaited weight loss, you can get anemia and a bunch of other problems.

– We have to hear: "synthetic" vitamins are not the same as natural ones. They should be avoided, they say. Is it so?

– Recently, British scientists have announced the dangers of synthetic vitamins. There have been reports of mutagenic effects of tablet vitamins C, A and E.

Specialists of the Medical and Genetic Research Center, the State Research Institute of Pharmacology and the Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences conducted special studies in which a large group of volunteers took part. Conclusion: reproaches against vitamins have no basis. With prolonged intake of a complex vitamin and mineral complex, no violations of leukocyte chromosomes were detected. It is once again confirmed that vitamins produced by the medical industry are not surrogates, they are completely identical to "natural" ones – both in chemical structure and biological activity.

Another thing is how to treat aggressive advertising of the same biologically active additives – dietary supplements, mostly imported? Despite the bright packaging, often with a sky-high price, such products do not always contain the full set of vitamins that they promise. It is worth making sure whether they are registered by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, to get to know their recipe more closely, reflected on the label.

– What is the conclusion?

– And the conclusion is simple: vitamins are not "activators", not "stimulants" of biochemical processes. These are absolutely necessary "details" in complex metabolic pipelines. Details that must come from the outside – with food or in the form of appropriate additives, since our body is not trained to synthesize them.

The lack of vitamins inevitably affects our well-being, efficiency, resistance to various diseases. There is only one way out – to regularly replenish vitamin and mineral deficiency. Not forgetting: vitamins help in cases where their deficiency in the body really affects. No more than that. But this is quite a lot!..

What is true of a healthy person is all the more true of a sick person. Any patient, no matter what he is sick with, is primarily a hypovitaminous patient. And before treating him, in order to successfully treat, it is necessary to make up for the lack of vitamins in his body. After all, their lack is able to nullify the most sophisticated achievements of modern medicine.

It should be taken into account: if in the USA, Canada, England, and other Western countries every second resident regularly uses vitamin–enriched foods or multivitamin preparations, then in our country - no more than 10-20% of the population. The deficit is found in 50-70% of Russians.

The conversation was conducted by Mikhail Glukhovsky.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru09.11.2009