Vitamin and Mineral Shortages Cause Degenerative Diseases

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http://www.naturalnews.com/028493_nutrition_degenerative_disease.html

 

When micronutrients like vitamins and minerals are in short supply they are

temporarily reserved for the most essential organs, at the expense of less

pressing tasks. This is a survival mechanism, an example of physiological triage

(1). Neglecting less essential functions on occasion may do no harm but chronic

shortages due to bad diets will cause health problems in the long run.

That micronutrients are crucially important should come as no surprise. Vitamins

are defined as substances that the body needs but cannot make or cannot make in

sufficient quantities; and we obviously cannot make minerals. Chronic

micronutrient deficiencies therefore have to be expected to take their toll.

Vitamins and minerals play numerous roles; they are antioxidants, stabilize

protein structures and act as enzyme cofactors. They are therefore involved in

all aspects of physiology, including such fundamental tasks as DNA maintenance

and repair (2).

Inefficient or incorrect DNA repair due to micronutrient shortages leads to

genome instability, a known contributor to increased cancer risk, accelerated

aging and neurodegenerative diseases (2). Genome damage caused by micronutrient

deficiencies is believed to be at least as common and extensive as genome damage

from environmental genotoxins like chemical carcinogens, UV and ionizing

radiation. Genome instability caused by micronutrient deficiencies in turn

increases DNA sensitivity to environmental genotoxins.

The increase in cancer risk with increased DNA damage was demonstrated in a

case-control study involving participants from Scandinavia and Italy (3). Cancer

patients and matching controls were divided into three groups according to the

degree of chromosomal damage found in their lymphocytes. Those in the groups

with the most extensive DNA damage were 2.35 (Scandinavia) and 2.66 (Italy)

times as likely to develop cancer as those with the lowest amount of damage.

Separate analyses of the data for non-smokers, smokers and people with past

exposure to environmental toxins produced essentially the same results (3). In

other words, it didn`t matter whether the chromosomal abnormalities were caused

by smoking, environmental genotoxins or other factors such as nutritional

deficiencies; only the extent of DNA damage was important.

If micronutrient deficiencies cause DNA damage and DNA damage contributes to

degenerative diseases, it makes sense to diagnose and try to prevent chromosomal

damage by adequate micronutrient intakes. This has led to a call for adjusting

recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) to optimize genome stability:

" There is a strong international awareness that it is also necessary to redefine

RDA for the prevention of degenerative disease (such as cancer, cardiovascular

disease and Alzheimer`s disease) and compression of the morbidity phase during

old age. Because diseases of development, degenerative disease and ageing are

partly caused by damage to DNA it seems logical that our attention would be

better focused on defining optimal requirements of key minerals and vitamins for

preventing damage to both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. " (2)

Optimal intakes for most of the micronutrients known to be critical - the

vitamins C, E, B2, B6, B12, folate and niacin, and the minerals zinc, iron,

magnesium and manganese - haven`t been determined yet. However, for those that

have been studied - e.g. folate and vitamin B12 - intakes in excess of current

RDA values are required to prevent chromosomal damage (2). Yet, many people

don`t even reach current RDA values.

Optimizing micronutrient intakes seems like an effective and affordable way to

reduce the degenerative disease burdens threatening to bankrupt medical care

systems in developed countries.

Sources:

Ames BN. Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of

aging through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage. Proc Natl Acad Sci

USA 2006;103(47):17589-17594.

http://www.pnas.org/content/103/47/17589.full.pdf

Fenech M. Nutritional treatment of genome instability: a paradigm shift in

disease prevention and in the setting of recommended dietary allowances. Nutr

Res Rev 2003;16:109-122.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/NRR200359

Bonassi S, Hagmar L, Stromberg U et al. Chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes

predict human cancer independently of exposure to carcinogens. Cancer Res

2000;60:1619-1625.

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/60/6/1619

About the author

Helmut Beierbeck has a science background and a strong interest in all

scientific aspects of health, nutrition, medicine, weight loss, or any other

topic related to wellness. You can follow his ruminations on his blog

http://healthcomments.info and leave comments on this or any other

health-related topic.

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