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Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription dietary supplement. As a therapy, it is used to prevent and treat scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency.
Vitamin E is classified as an essential nutrient for humans that is found naturally in some types of food and is also widely available as a nutritional supplement. It exists as a group of eight molecular-structure related compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E functions as a fat-soluble antioxidant which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen species. Various government organizations recommend that adults consume between 3 and 15 mg per day, whereas a worldwide review reported a median dietary intake of 6.2 mg per day. Foods rich in vitamin E include seeds, nuts, seed oils, peanut butter, and vitamin E-fortified foods. Symptomatic vitamin E deficiency is rare, is usually caused by an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vitamin E. Deficiency can cause neurological disorders.
Tocopherols are a class of organic compounds comprising various methylated phenols, many of which have vitamin E activity. Because the vitamin activity was first identified in 1936 from a dietary fertility factor in rats, it was named tocopherol, from Greek τόκοςtókos 'birth' and φέρεινphérein 'to bear or carry', that is 'to carry a pregnancy', with the ending -ol signifying its status as a chemical alcohol.
A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources, or that are synthetic. The classes of nutrient compounds in supplements include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, and amino acids. Dietary supplements can also contain substances that have not been confirmed as being essential to life, and so are not nutrients per se, but are marketed as having a beneficial biological effect, such as plant pigments or polyphenols. Animals can also be a source of supplement ingredients, such as collagen from chickens or fish for example. These are also sold individually and in combination, and may be combined with nutrient ingredients. The European Commission has also established harmonized rules to help insure that food supplements are safe and appropriately labeled.
Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine that claims to maintain human health through nutritional supplementation. It is rejected by evidence-based medicine. The concept builds on the idea of an optimal nutritional environment in the body and suggests that diseases reflect deficiencies in this environment. Treatment for disease, according to this view, involves attempts to correct "imbalances or deficiencies based on individual biochemistry" by use of substances such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements and fatty acids. The notions behind orthomolecular medicine are not supported by sound medical evidence, and the therapy is not effective for chronic disease prevention; even the validity of calling the orthomolecular approach a form of medicine has been questioned since the 1970s.
Herbal medicine is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from Artemisia annua, a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of many plants used in 21st-century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes includes fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.
Bromelain is an enzyme extract derived from the stems of pineapples, although it exists in all parts of the fresh plant and fruit. The extract has a history of folk medicine use. As a culinary ingredient, it may be used as a meat tenderizer.
Nootropics, colloquially brain supplements, smart drugs and cognitive enhancers, are natural, semisynthetic or synthetic compounds which purportedly improve cognitive functions, such as executive functions, attention or memory.
Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP or B[a]P) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and the result of incomplete combustion of organic matter at temperatures between 300 °C (572 °F) and 600 °C (1,112 °F). The ubiquitous compound can be found in coal tar, tobacco smoke and many foods, especially grilled meats. The substance with the formula C20H12 is one of the benzopyrenes, formed by a benzene ring fused to pyrene. Its diol epoxide metabolites, more commonly known as BPDE, react with and bind to DNA, resulting in mutations and eventually cancer. It is listed as a Group 1 carcinogen by the IARC. In the 18th century a scrotal cancer of chimney sweepers, the chimney sweeps' carcinoma, was already known to be connected to soot.
Max Gerson was a German-born American physician who developed the Gerson therapy, a dietary-based alternative cancer treatment that he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. Gerson therapy involves a plant-based diet with coffee enemas, ozone enemas, dietary supplements and raw calf liver extract, the latter was discontinued in the 1980s after patients were hospitalized for bacterial infections.
Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; capers, red onions, and kale are common foods containing appreciable amounts of it. It has a bitter flavor and is used as an ingredient in dietary supplements, beverages, and foods.
Grape seed extract is an industrial derivative of whole grape seeds. The extract (GSPE) contains proanthocyanidins. Grape seed extract quality is measured by the content of procyanidins which are formed from proanthocyanidins. Generally, grape seed extract quality contains 95% procyanidins, but potency varies among products. Eating foods or beverages high in procyanidin results in an astringent sensation in the mouth.
Grapefruit seed extract (GSE), also known as citrus seed extract, is a liquid extract derived from the seeds, pulp, and white membranes of grapefruit. GSE is prepared by grinding the grapefruit seed and juiceless pulp, then mixing with glycerin. Commercially available GSEs sold to consumers are made from the seed, pulp, and glycerin blended together. GSE is sold as a dietary supplement and is used in cosmetics.
Megavitamin therapy is the use of large doses of vitamins, often many times greater than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) in the attempt to prevent or treat diseases. Megavitamin therapy is typically used in alternative medicine by practitioners who call their approach orthomolecular medicine. Vitamins are useful in preventing and treating illnesses specifically associated with dietary vitamin shortfalls, but the conclusions of medical research are that the broad claims of disease treatment by advocates of megavitamin therapy are unsubstantiated by the available evidence. It is generally accepted that doses of any vitamin greatly in excess of nutritional requirements will result either in toxicity or in the excess simply being metabolised; thus evidence in favour of vitamin supplementation supports only doses in the normal range. Critics have described some aspects of orthomolecular medicine as food faddism or even quackery. Research on nutrient supplementation in general suggests that some nutritional supplements might be beneficial, and that others might be harmful; several specific nutritional therapies are associated with an increased likelihood of the condition they are meant to prevent.
Cytochrome P450 1B1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the CYP1B1 gene.
Many dietary recommendations have been proposed to reduce the risk of cancer, few have significant supporting scientific evidence. Obesity and drinking alcohol have been correlated with the incidence and progression of some cancers. Lowering the consumption of sweetened beverages is recommended as a measure to address obesity.
A health claim found on a food labels and in food marketing is a claim by a food manufacturer that their product will reduce the risk of developing a disease or condition.
Intravenous Ascorbic Acid or PAA, pharmacologic ascorbic acid, is a process that delivers soluble ascorbic acid directly into the bloodstream. It is not approved for use to treat any medical condition.
In biochemistry, cytochrome P450 enzymes have been identified in all kingdoms of life: animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, and archaea, as well as in viruses. As of 2018, more than 300,000 distinct CYP proteins are known.
References
- ↑ Tan, H. L. et al (2007). "Salvestrols–natural anticancer prodrugs in the diet". Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 59(S1):A-59–A-63. doi:10.1211/002235707781850122.
- ↑ Ware, W. R. (2009). "Nutrition and the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer: Association of Cytochrome P450 CYP1B1 With the Role of Fruit and Fruit Extracts". Integrative Cancer Therapies . 8 (1): 22–28. doi: 10.1177/1534735408328573 . PMID 19116217.
- ↑ "SALVESTROL UK00002375611". Intellectual Property Office . Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ↑ Lewis, Andy (10 July 2006). "Trademarked Science Trade-Offs". The Quackometer Blog. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ↑ Ware, W. R. (2008). "Nutrition and the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer: Association of Cytochrome P450 CYP1B1 with the Role of Fruit and Fruit Extracts". Integrative Cancer Therapies. 8 (1): 22–8. doi: 10.1177/1534735408328573 . PMID 19116217.
- ↑ Lewis, Andy (15 February 2007). "We the undersigned…". The Quackometer Blog. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
