Word: vitaminous
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Scientists have so far identified 13 organic substances that are commonly labeled vitamins. In the human body, they play a vital role in helping regulate the chemical reactions that protect cells and convert food into energy and living tissue. Some vitamins are produced within the body. Vitamin D, for example, is manufactured in the skin during exposure to sunlight, and three other vitamins (K, biotin and pantothenic acid) are made inside the human gut by resident bacteria. But most vitamins must be ingested...
Mystique and faddish lore have long surrounded these essential biochemical ; compounds. Consider vitamins C and E. "Somebody has made practically every claim you could dream of about these vitamins," points out John Hathcock, chief of the experimental-nutrition branch of the Food and Drug Administration. People have been gobbling vitamin C for 20 years in the certainty that it can cure the common cold, though evidence is still lacking. Vitamin E has been wildly popular for four decades because of its putative power to enhance sexual performance. In fact, studies indicate only that it is necessary for normal fertility...
More recently, B6 has won favor as a relief for premenstrual syndrome. Vitamin A is touted as a rejuvenator by people who mistakenly believe that it, like its synthetic relative Retin-A, can give wrinkled, mottled skin that youthful rosy glow. "We never know what next year's fad is going to be," says Hathcock...
...just this whiff of quackery that made vitamins a research backwater for years. Most reputable scientists steered clear, viewing the field as fringe medicine awash with kooks and fanatics. A researcher who showed interest could lose respect and funding. Certainly Linus Pauling lost much of his Nobel-laureate luster when he began championing vitamin C back in 1970 as a panacea for everything from the common cold to cancer. Drug companies too have been leery of committing substantial energy and money to studies, since the payoff is relatively small: vitamin chemical formulas are in the public domain and cannot...
...population surveys worldwide started to uncover a consistent link between diet and health. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, for instance, became associated with a lowered incidence of cancer and heart disease. Researchers then turned to examining the data nutrient by nutrient, looking at minerals as well as vitamins, to see which are tied most closely with specific ailments. Low vitamin C intake appears to be associated with a higher risk of cancer, low levels of folic acid with a greater chance of birth defects, and high calcium consumption with a decreased danger of osteoporosis...