The Malnutrition Epidemic

Before You Begin Information presented here is for general educational purposes only. Each one of us is biochemically and metabolically different. If you have a specific health concern and wish my personalized nutritional recommendation, write to me by clicking here.

Contents
Disease Without Symptoms
What Can You Do?
Consider the Evidence
Aging and Nutrition
How About A Healthy Diet?
A Smart Move
The Nutritional Cocktail
What Is the Optimum Intake?
Optimum Daily Allowance (ODA)
Safe Range
Precautions
Conclusion

Disease Without Symptoms

80% of us will die of a heart attack, stroke, cancer, or diabetes. It's a rude awakening for those unprepared. A serious look at these and other deficiency-induced illnesses showed that they develop slowly and subtly, results of decades of dietary and lifestyle abuses.

Consider arthritis, high blood pressure, prostate problems, memory loss, obesity, periodontal disease, and poor circulation. These conditions do not appear overnight. They are not even results of the natural progression of aging as many age without getting these diseases. Many of these illnesses can be traced to or exacerbated by some nutrient shortfall that has persisted for decades. 

While Americans are overfed in terms of calories, they are malnourished in terms of nutrients. No wonder they ranked 17th in terms of life expectancy, despite having the best doctors and most modern medical technology in the world.

In an overfed but malnourished nation, this problem is an epidemic because 80% of the adults are afflicted, whether they are aware of it or not. Furthermore, it is silent because the symptoms of deficiency-induced illness take 10-20 years to surface. During this silent period, we are all lead to believe that we are in a state of "normal" health, supported by "normal" laboratory test results. The reality is that we are in a sub-clinical phase of illness with abnormalities where current laboratory test is not sensitive enough to pick up.


What Can You Do?

The average American consumes 2 pounds of food a day. This equates to over 20 tons of food over a lifetime. If your body does not have access to the optimum amount of building blocks it needs when it needs them, the aging process accelerates.

It would be wonderful if the body comes with an internal alarm clock that monitors levels of all important nutrients and alerts you when their levels are low. Since this alarm system does not exist, it is impossible to accurately anticipate what the body's demand is for each nutrient on any given day or week, much less correlating this information with an intake. 

You can be chronically deficient in many nutrients and not know about it for years. By the time the symptoms surfaces, the disease have often already progress beyond the stage of reversal.

Providing the body with abundant supplies of right nutrients is therefore critical. The combination of eating healthful foods - foods of plant origin, which are rich in essential nutrients, antioxidants, and phytochemicals - and taking nutritional supplements guarantees efficient cellular protection, repair, and replacement.


Consider the Evidence

Thousands of studies have shown that nutritional supplementation enhances life expectancy and prevents diseases if taken at the optimum dosage. Complete testing will take decades more, and even then, no one will be sure due to the many interacting factors. Review of significant research done so far, however, paints a picture with overwhelming supporting evidence that supplementation works.

Here are just a few studies:

• In a landmark article published in Science (2000 Sep 1;289:1567-1569), researchers have found that drugs that mimic some natural antioxidants are able to extend the life-span of worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) by nearly 50%. The scavenging compounds also restored normal life spans to a subgroup of nematodes that would otherwise have aged and died prematurely due to a genetic defect linked to oxidative stress. The drugs are synthetic versions of the oxygen-free radical scavengers superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase.
  
  
• Common and more well-known antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, work by interrupting chain reactions that would otherwise result in oxidation of cells caused by release of substances, from cell membranes. Dr. Irwin Fridovich, PhD, professor of biochemistry at Duke University, notes that "Antioxidants like vitamin E are called chain-breaking antioxidants, because they react with one of the species that's going to propagate and stop the chain reaction. So instead of a process that might involve a hundred molecules, if you have vitamin E around it might stop after only five, so it inhibits oxidation by breaking the chain, preventing the propagation of chain reactions." According to the study's authors, "It appears that oxidative stress is a major determinant of life-span and that it can be counteracted by pharmacological intervention."
  
  
• A study of 11,000 Americans showed that intake of 300 mg a day of vitamin C adds 6 years to a man's life and 2 years to a woman's life and decreases cardiovascular disease by 40%.
  
  
• Subjects who take 11,000 IU of beta carotene a day (1/4 cup of carrot juice or 5 carrot sticks) have a 22% lower risk of heart disease than those getting less than 3,000 IU a day in a Harvard study.
  
  
• A Harvard study of 16,000 women and 9,500 men showed those who take 700 mcg of folic acid a day had two-thirds the risk of getting pre-cancerous polyps in the colon compared to those taking only 166 mcg a day. The average American over 50 years old takes in 130 mcg a day.
  
  
• 24 percent of people over 69 years old are deficient and 40% of those over 80 years old are deficient in vitamin B12, which produces pseudo Alzheimer's symptoms. Simple oral supplementation of vitamin B12 is all it takes to reverse the condition.
  
  
• A French study of 3270 women over age 80 showed that those took 1,200 mg of calcium daily plus 800 IU of vitamin D3 had 43% less fracture of the hip and 32% less fracture of the wrist, arm, and pelvis.
  
  
• Chromium supplementation has been shown to normalize blood sugar and reduce insulin resistance in diabetic patients.
  
  
• Ascorbyl palmitate (a fat soluble form of Vitamin C) in conjunction with L-lysine and L-proline, has been show to reduce atherosclerosis and reverse already existing plaque as demonstrated by serial ultrafast CT scans.
  
  
• A University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study found that taking 800 IU of vitamin E for 3 months slashed LDL ("bad") cholesterol oxidation and heart disease by 40%.
  
  
• A large scale Harvard study of 87,000 female nurses showed those taking 100-250 IU of vitamin E a day for 2 year have a 41% lower incidence of major heart disease compare to the controlled group.
  
  
• Monkeys fed 108 IU of vitamin E a day for 3 years showed only a 20% blockage of artery despite a high-fat diet in a study conducted at the University of Mississippi's Atherosclerosis Research Laboratory. 

Aging and Nutrition

After reaching the peak of health at age 25 or thereabouts, the disease of aging creeps in. Modern concepts defined aging as nothing more than a disease state characterized by symptoms clearly definable into three phases:

1. Sub Clinical Phase (between age 25-35) where cellular damage has started without outward symptoms or measurable laboratory results.
   
2. Transitional Phase (between age 35-45) where cellular damage now produces outward symptoms.
   
3. Clinical Phase (age 45 and beyond) where deterioration of bodily function accelerates with illness setting in. 
   

From a nutritional perspective, the price paid for sub optimum nutrition rises with age. During the clinical phase of aging (age 45 and beyond), the gastrointestinal track begins losing its absorptive power. Few of the nutrients in the food you eat actually make their way into the bloodstream. At a time when the body needs the nutrient most to fight disease, it is absorbing less. 

During this phase of aging, the body's production of digestive enzymes gradually declines. Without digestive enzymes, food breakdown is less efficient.

Decreased nutrient absorption means reduced nutrient levels in the cellular level of critical organs and tissues. This in turn leads to accelerated aging. To compound the problem, the gastrointestinal track becomes even less able to absorb nutrients efficiently in a state of malnourishment. This vicious cycle of downward decline accelerates the aging progress with each round.


How About A Healthy Diet?

Unfortunately, you simply cannot get the optimal levels of some of the key vitamins and minerals even if you eat a healthy anti-aging diet rich in dense complex carbohydrates, low in fat and protein. For example, a daily intake of 5,000 calories per day (mostly as fat) is necessary to get the 400 I.U. of vitamin E needed for anti-aging effect. A daily intake of 5,000 calories per day is needed to obtain the minimum requirement of 50 mcg of chromium per day. To get the optimum intake of 200 mcg of chromium, you have to take in more than 12,000 calories a day! A daily intake of 2,400 calories is needed just to get reach the RDA for zinc. An intake of 2,000 calories per day is needed to get enough Magnesium. Intake of 1 pound of sardines, or 2.5 pounds of pancreas, is needed to get 30 mg of Coenzyme 10 (healthy people need 30 mg and chronic patients need 50-150 mg).

The consensus among researchers in the forefront of longevity medicine is that diet alone cannot satisfy the body's nutrient needs from an anti-aging perspective.


A Smart Move 

While a calorie restriction diet to attain the ideal body weight is a must for anyone interested in living a long and healthy life, such calorie restriction must be accompanied by adequate nutritional supplementation to ensure that the body stays in a state of undernourished in terms of calories but over-nourished in terms of specific nutrients critical for optimum for anti-aging.

Daily supplementation therefore provides powerful protection against age-accelerating nutritional deficiencies by supplying all the important nutritional building blocks required by the body for optimum function and protection against free radical attacks from poor dietary habits, lifestyle, and environmental pollution.

Nutritional supplementation also enriches the internal biochemical soup, increasing nutrient bioavailability and facilitating the complex set of biochemical reactions that we call life. As each of the body's cells renews itself in this nutrient rich environment over months, years, and decades, your body is able to defend itself better against diseases and cancer. This is therefore a cornerstone and foundation of any comprehensive anti-aging program.

The Nutritional Cocktail

There is no single magical nutritional bullet for optimum health and anti-aging.

The body needs a continuous supply of 50 or more nutrients - none of which it can make for itself. Deficiency in any one of these nutrients affects the overall function of the body. Nutrients are raw materials of the body. Chronic deficiency undermines heath and promotes degenerative disease. Running low on beta-carotene, for example, opens the door to most types of cancer. A shortage of calcium depletes bone mass and leads to osteoporosis. Deficiency of folic acid precipitates heart attack, and deficiency of selenium weakens the immune system.

24% of people over 69 years old and 40% of those over 80 years old are deficient in vitamin B12. Sub-optimum levels of vitamin B12 are a prescription for pseudo-Alzheimer's symptoms. Sad to say, the definition of "deficiency" from optimum heath and aging perspective is not currently measurable in routine laboratory test. One can be "normal" in blood calcium level and be osteoporotic. Current tests are simply not sensitive enough to measure nutrient deficiency from a cellular level. 

Each nutrient is a specialist. Each performs a specific set of functions within the body to effect cellular energy production, repair, and replacement. They work synergistically as a group. One nutrient is more effective in an environment supported by another nutrient. Vitamin C, for example, has shown to have higher antioxidant effect in an environment rich in vitamin E. A network of mutually beneficial interactions is created. Only by working together can nutrients dramatically slow the aging process. 

This is well demonstrated in a Harvard study of 87,000 female nurses, where there was a 34% drop in heart disease in those taking vitamin E alone for 2 years or more; 22% drop in heart disease in those taking beta carotene alone; and 20% drop in heart disease in those taking vitamin C alone. For those taking the highest amount of all three antioxidants, the rate of heart disease dropped 50%.

The whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts. In this respect, nutritional supplements together in the form of a "cocktail" is the best approach and offers the maximum insurance against aging. By supplying your body with the optimal dosages and combinations of supplements, your body is able to defend itself better against diseases and cancer. 

The key in a successful supplementation strategy lies in knowing the optimum intake for each of the key nutrients.


What Is the Optimum Intake?

The National Academy of Science establishes Recommended Daily Allowance (RDAs) for many common nutrients. These guidelines are created to establish minimum requirements for healthy people to avoid deficiency disease states, such as scurvy (deficiency of vitamin C) or rickets (deficiency of vitamin D). They do not represent the amounts most researchers now believe are needed to achieve optimal health and prevent a variety of diseased, including aging.

Taking the amount recommended by the RDA is the minimum each person must have to avoid deficiency disease. It is sad to say that the majority of Americans over 60 years old do not even meet the minimum RDA for many nutrients.

In a recent USDA survey, more than 80% of women and more than 70% of men consumed less than two-thirds of the RDA for one or more nutrients. These individuals suffer from chronic malnutrition and experienced unexplained symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, and shortness of breadth. Specifically, most adult women don't meet the RDAs for zinc, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin E. Most adult men don't meet the RDAs for zinc and magnesium. While the overall consumption of vegetables has increased the past 20 years, 25% of the "vegetable" consumed is in the form of artery clogging french fries. Fewer than 20% of people eat the recommended 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day. In fact, 20% of all Americans don't eat any fruits and vegetables at all!

The RDA assumes a healthy individual free of disease and consuming 2,000 calories a day. In particular, RDAs are inadequate for the elderly, people who are ill, immune compromised, or on medication. The elderly is especially at risk since they not only absorb nutrient less easily, but also consume fewer calories and thus fewer nutrients from food. Pollution also robs us of vital nutrients and increases our exposure to a variety of dangerous toxins and synthetic hormones. Physical and mental stress weakens the immunity system and ups our nutritional needs.

As we age, our nutritional needs increase. At the same time, the nutritional content of our food is decreasing from over-farming. Over-fertilization depletes fruits and vegetables of vital nutrients, as do food processing, refinement, storage, and cooking.

It is obvious that the RDA is grossly insufficient in providing the accurate level of nutrients for optimum health.


Optimum Daily Allowance (ODA)


The optimum daily allowance (ODA) represents a new reference level beyond the RDA, which many researchers in anti-aging believe to have disease preventive effects. These dosages are those frequently used in research studies and commonly practiced among those nutritionally minded professionals.

ODA is often many times higher than the RDA and for a good reason. To prevent diseases caused by deficiency of nutrients such as scurvy or rickets, follow the RDA. For optimum health and to prevent diseases such as aging or cancer, consider the ODA. It is that simple.

Here are just some examples of the differences:

Vitamin C:     RDA is 85 mg, ODA is 250 - 3,000 mg
Vitamin E:     RDA is 15 IU, ODA is 50 - 800 IU
Magnesium:  RDA is 350 mg, ODA is 400 - 600 mg
Vitamin B12: RDA is 3 mcg, ODA is 10 - 100 mcg

A complete list in shown in the accompanying table. The optimum daily allowance (ODA) and safe range assumes an completely healthy non-pregnant ( also not trying to get pregnant), non lactating adult who is not on prescription drugs and who intends to use nutritional supplementation to optimize heath rather than to avoid deficiency state diseases such as scurvy or rickets. Figures reflect a compilation of common intake levels among researchers and practitioners focused on nutritional medicine as a way to better heath and longevity. These figures are not reflective of recommendations set by any governmental agency, as none exist, with the exception of vitamin C and E, which the National Academy of Science has set as 2,000 mg and 1,500 IU, respectively, for the first time in year 2000 as the recommended upper limit.

There is generally no benefit to exceeding the Optimal Daily Allowance, except to treat or prevent specific disease conditions under expert medical guidance (e.g. mega-dose niacin for elevated serum cholesterol).

Attention Because of tremendous individual variation, the use of nutritionals should therefore be personalized for your body. One person’s nutrient can be another person’s toxin. If you have a specific health concern and wish my personalized nutritional recommendation, write to me by clicking here.

Safe Range

The Optimal Daily Allowance is well within the upper limit of many nutrients that can potentially cause side effects. While the ODA of vitamin A is 10,000 IU, safe range is up to 20,000 IU. Beta-carotene has been safely taken at dosage up to 100,000 IU a day, although the ODA is only 25,000 - 50,000 IU. Some may experience slight diarrhea or gastric discomfort after taking several grams of vitamin C, while others are not bothered by ten times that amount. While the ODA for vitamin E is up to 800 IU, one must be mindful that intake of over 3,000 IU can cause headache, diarrhea, and increased blood pressure. Over consumption of magnesium in dosage of over 1,000 mg can lead to diarrhea that resolves when the intake is decreased. Rare liver problems have been reported in people taking niacin of several thousand milligrams, while the ODA is only 25-100 mg. Calcium at up to 2,500 mg a day for long term use has minimal side effects, unless one has an ulcer as excessive calcium unabsorbed can cause "milk alkali" syndrome. 

Since each person is different, always consult a knowledgeable professional in nutritional medicine prior to embarking on any supplementation program designed for anti-aging and health optimization.

Questions? Ask me.

Precautions

While nutritional supplementation is generally very safe, those with specific health conditions should consult their nutritionally minded physician first. If you are on a blood thinner, do not take excessive amounts of vitamin E, which has blood-thinning properties. If you have kidney disease or heart failure, magnesium can exacerbate this problem. Zinc in high doses (over 300 mg a day) can inhibit copper, iron, calcium, and magnesium absorption. People with Wilson's disease should not take copper supplements. 

If you are in general good health, taking nutritional supplements should not pose any heath hazards.

Click Here to see Dosage Guide

Conclusion

Aging is a disease accelerated by vitamin deficiency and malnutrition of monumental magnitude ignored for the past century. This silent epidemic affects 80% of all adults. Nutritional supplementation in optimum intake levels is needed to ensure adequate levels for cells to carry out repair and rejuvenation processes.

There is very little doubt that supplements in optimum dosage enhances life span and prevents diseases.

The average American women lives to 76 years old, and men to 73 years old. The average person performs less than 1 hour of physical exercise a week and consumes an average of 2,000 calories a day. These calories are consistent with that you find in fast-food restaurants - high in fat, refined sugar, and low in fiber and dense carbohydrates.

If you want to live an average life, follow what the average do. If you want to live longer and heartily well into the eighties and nineties, the reality is that you have to do things that the "average" person does not do. It is quite simple.

Study after study over the past 40 years confirms that nutritional supplementation is a cheap insurance for longevity and cancer prevention if taken at the optimum dosage. Nutritional supplementation is a food. It is not giving your body something that your body does not have. It is to supplement your body's existing level and to ensure that the proper nutrient at the proper level is available for the body at all times.

It is an accepted fact that people have different nutritional needs based on genetics, weight, gender, age, health status, physical activity, and ability to absorb nutrients. If you don't know what you need, the safest strategy is to err on the side of slight excess if you are in general good heath. Having a little extra of any nutrient won't harm you. But a brief deficiency can, and a chronic will.

Taking optimal amounts of nutritional supplements is a cornerstone and key component of any comprehensive anti-aging program. You simply cannot get enough of these nutrients from your diet for optimum health, and having inadequate amounts can kill you.

Message from Dr. Lam I hope you have enjoyed reading this article. If you have areas you don’t understand, comments (good or bad), or if you have a specific health concern, feel free to write to me by clicking here.

About The Author

Michael Lam, M.D., M.P.H., A.B.A.A.M. is a specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine. He is currently the Director of Medical Education at the Academy of Anti-Aging Research, U.S.A. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from  Loma Linda University School of Medicine, California. He also holds a Masters of Public Health degree and  is Board Certification in Anti-aging Medicine by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. Dr. Lam pioneered the formulation of the three clinical phases of aging as well as the concept of diagnosis and treatment of sub-clinical age related degenerative diseases to deter the aging process. Dr. Lam has been published extensively in this field. He is the author of The Five Proven Secrets to Longevity (available on-line). He also serves as editor of the Journal of Anti-Aging Research.

For More Information

For the latest anti-aging related health issues, visit Dr. Lam at www.LamMD.com. Feel free to email Dr. Lam at dr@LamMD.com if you have any questions.


Reprint Information

This article may, in its unabridged, unaltered form and in its entirety only, be reprinted and republished without permission provided that it is for personal and non commercial education use only and further provided that credit be given to the author, with copyright notice and www.LamMD.com clearly displayed as source. Written permission from Dr. Lam is required for all other use.
 

©2000  Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.

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