SS:  So what should we be careful to avoid on a supplement label?
CP:  If the label just says “d-alpha tocopherol” next to the vitamin E entry, it means it is incomplete; it is missing the other tocopherols-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocopherols.  This is not good.
Some tricky manufacturers list the majority of vitamin E as d-alpha-tocopherol and then add a very small amount of mixed tocopherols.  That to me is purposely deceiving, in order to look good on paper.  Do not accept anything other than “mixed tocopherols” as the primary form of vitamin E listed.  What is even more disturbing is that whenever they produce synthetic vitamin E, the chemical process automatically creates seven other unnatural vitamin E compounds that are mixed in.  And since it is too expensive to separate the artificial ones, they leave them in and call it dl-alpha-tocopherol.  You can recognize this because the labels will sometime state it as “Vitamin E (dl-alpha tocopherol). The “d1” letters are the clue, but how many people know this?  That is only one of the problems with very inexpensive vitamins, and there are lots of them on the market.

SS:  What other problems are you referring to?  Can these affect cancer risk?
CP:  Yes.  For example, many nutritional supplements contain artificial dyes.  But why put these artificial dyes in our bodies every day?  Theses are also added in foods like puddings, snack bars, fiber supplements, and many packaged foods.  That is because they are considered GRAS (which stands for Generally Recognized As Safe).  For example, the artificial dyes yellow #5 and #6 are still considered safe, but yellow #1, #2, #3, and #4 are now on the list of banned additives, even though they were considered safe in the past.  You can read a detailed report on these at www.cspi.com, the website of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

SS:  So the artificial chemicals are considered safe until proven otherwise, or “innocent till proven guilty,” while the general population are the guinea pigs on whom we are running experiments to see what happens.  I cannot believe we give these chemicals a free pass to be used widely in our food and supplements supply.
CP:  A simple look at the history of the GRAS list shows many of these dyes that are now banned due to carcinogenicity or other detrimental health effects were considered safe for a long time.

SS:  What about folic acid? I know you told me about this a year ago and I just read in the Los Angeles Times health section that there is new awareness from scientists that taking to much folic acid may increase the risk of cancer.  They were also emphasizing in the article there are different forms of folate that may have different effects.  Can you explain?
CP:  Yes, this is a very important public health issue, especially because of the impact of flour fortification with folic acid, and it’s finally breaking out in the mainstream media.  The article did not explain all the issues well enough, in my opinion, but at least it brought it to everybody’s attention.
The issue is that all of a sudden epidemiological studies brought out evidence that too much folic acid may promote the growth of precancerous cells.  We also become more aware that there are big differences between synthetic folic acid, which does not occur in nature, and natural folates, found mainly in fruits, vegetables, and liver. Many studies have shown that supplementation with folic acid in people who are deficient can reduce their risk of various cancers.  So people figured, “The more the better.”  Nobody guessed that supplementation with high amounts of folic acid may reach a point of diminishing returns and potentially increase the risk of cancer.
Do not get me wrong-we all still agree that folates are a beneficial vitamin family but we need to take them in the right amounts  this it varies by individual) and in the naturally occurring forms. Folates may be needed in higher doses for preventing certain birth defects but that is obviously only appropriate for women of childbearing age.  Men and women who cannot conceive may need to keep folate intake and especially folic acid at moderate levels for their optimal health.  One problem arises from the fact that many people may be eating large quantities of fortified-flour products, and so they ingest a proportionally large amount of folic acid that they do not really need.

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