Source: Thailand Medical News Dec 01, 2019 5 years, 3 weeks, 1 day, 15 hours, 24 minutes ago
Health Supplements
Online sites and store shelves are filled with nutritional supplements that promise to help with everything from protecting the heart to lowering cholesterol. Despite those claims, only a few
supplements have been shown to provide some protection against cardiovascular disease.
Dr Miguel Quinones, M.D., a cardiologist with Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center told
Thailand Medical News, “Studies have shown that nitric oxide can help regulate blood pressure, limit the progression of atherosclerosis and provide vascular protection that could help prevent strokes and heart attacks. It can be found in sodium nitrate, beetroot juice and beetroot juice powders. Nitric oxide helps healthy individuals as well as those with cardiovascular disease.”
Red yeast rice, another
supplement, has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels. Quinones says the chemical found in red yeast rice called monacolin K has similar properties to lovastatin, the first statin developed to lower cholesterol.
Dr Quinones said, “We also know that omega-3 fatty acids may lower triglycerides and provide protection from cardiovascular disease, but studies show that for the general population it is more advisable to eat fish two to three times a week rather than take a supplement. However, some populations at high risk may benefit from special preparations of omega 3 fatty acids.
Vitamins of any kind, with the exception of folic acid, have been shown to provide no cardiovascular benefit.”
Dr Quinones adds that while coenzyme Q, more commonly known as CoQ10, has been prescribed by many cardiologists because it might prevent deterioration of the heart muscle, it’s hard to say if it actually prevents heart disease. However, some studies suggest that CoQ10 may benefit people who experience muscle aches from taking statins.
He added, “Statins in their mechanism for reducing cholesterol inhibit a specific chemical pathway which results in lower levels of CoQ10. There is a theory that muscle aches are brought on by a lowering of CoQ10 in the muscle cells, thus by taking it, you can possibly reverse the muscle aches.”
Dr Quinones says a person should be able to get all of the nutrients they need from a healthy diet without having to worry about taking
supplements.
“Even though it might say ‘vitamin d’ or ‘omega-3 fatty acids’ on the bottle, we know not all
supplements are made the same and might not be helping at all, so there is no point in taking them,” Quinones added.
There has been many studies in recent years that shows that many top
supplement brands when tested actually do not contain the ingredients they listed or might contain it in minute amounts or even in non-bioactive forms ie not absorbable by the human body.
In the case of CoQ10, there are actually two isomers of the compound, the expensive natural occurring trans isomer which is absorbable by the human body and the c
heaper synthetic cis isomer that is barely absorbable. Due to lax labeling laws, almost 97 percent of all
supplement brands selling CoQ10 are using the cis isomer. Its similar for many other vitamins, and amino acids and nutritional ingredients, most of the
supplement brands are basically loaded with ingredients that are either not absorbable or have no bioactive potential.
Most of the
nutritional supplement brands made in Asia are basically the worst. There is so far not one decent Asian brand.
Thailand Medical News highly recommends Now Foods or Life Extension
Nutritional Supplement products from the US.
Reference: Raizner A, Cooke JP. Dietary Supplements: Facts and Fallacies. Methodist DeBakey Cardiovasc J. 2019;15(3):169-70.
