PharmacoNutrition Reviewed

Before going on holiday for the next two weeks, I would like to draw your attention to a recent review entitled “Nutritional Therapies for Mental Health Disorders” published by Lakhan and Vieira online in the Nutrition Journal (21 January 2008).

The authors conclude that “essential vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids are often deficient in the general population in America and other developed countries; and are exceptionally deficient in patients suffering from mental disorders. Studies have shown that daily supplements of vital nutrients often effectively reduce patients’ symptoms. Supplements that contain amino acids also reduce symptoms, because they are converted to neurotransmitters that alleviate depression and other mental disorders. Based on emerging scientific evidence, this form of nutritional supplement treatment may be appropriate for controlling major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders, eating disorders, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD), addiction, and autism.”

So far so good.

Although I am a nutritionist by training (and heart), I don’t like the following paragraph of the abstract: “Most antidepressants and other prescription drugs cause severe side effects, which usually discourage patients from taking their medications. Such noncompliant patients who have mental disorders are at a higher risk for committing suicide or being institutionalized. One way for psychiatrists to overcome this noncompliance is to educate themselves about alternative or complementary nutritional treatments.”

Having spent several years in a neuropharmacology lab, I got convinced that it is essential for the patients’ quality of life to take their drugs. Full stop. Admittedly, drugs have side effects; still, current neuropharmacological active compounds are very effective and in the majority of cases cannot be replaced by a dietary intervention. This, however, does not mean that diet might not be useful to

a) support an ongoing drug treatment (i.e. help to reduce the required dose or to ease side-effects) and

b) prevent the onset of some mental disorders in the first place.

So, rather than asking the question of “nutritional therapy vs. drug treatment”, a combined/complimentary approach of classical drugs and dietary intervention might be most effective for patients with mental health disorders. 

If you want to read more about mental health disorders, have a look here: Mental Health Blog

Image taken from: paho.org

Source: JBC 7 Jan 2008 (Epub)
Article Type: Original Research
Authors: Cuddihy et al.

 

For many people vitamin E supplementation is still the magic bullet for preventing the onset of chronic diseases and even the maladies of aging. Although vitamin E in its various forms is certainly important for cell and organ function, the present paper by Cuddihy et al. is a nice example that mother nature created the activity pattern of biomolecules not in a one-way fashion but somewhat chaotic. But read yourself…..

“Vitamin E is the major lipid soluble chain-breaking antioxidant in mammals and plays an important role in normal development and physiology. Deficiency (whether dietary or genetic) results in primarily nervous system pathology, including cerebellar neurodegeneration and progressive ataxia (abnormal gait). However, despite the widely acknowledged antioxidant properties of vitamin E, only a few studies have directly correlated levels of reactive oxygen species with vitamin E availability in animal models. We explored the relationship between vitamin E and reactive oxygen species in two mouse models of vitamin E deficiency; dietary deficiency, and a genetic model (tocopherol transfer protein, Ttp-/-, mice).

Both groups of mice developed near-complete depletion of alpha-tocopherol (the major tocopherol in vitamin E) in most organs, but not brain, which was relatively resistant to loss of alpha-tocopherol. F4-neuroprostanes, an index of lipid peroxidation, were unexpectedly lower in brain of deficient mice compared to controls. In vivo oxidation of dihydroethidium by superoxide radical was also significantly lower in brain of deficient animals. Superoxide production by brain mitochondria isolated from vitamin E deficient and Ttp-/- mice, measured by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, demonstrated a biphasic dependence on exogenously added alpha-tocopherol. At low concentrations, alpha-tocopherol enhanced superoxide flux from mitochondria, a response which was reversed at higher concentrations.

Here we propose a mechanism, supported by molecular modeling, to explain decreased superoxide production during alpha-tocopherol deficiency, and speculate that this could be a beneficial response under conditions of alpha-tocopherol deficiency.”

Image taken from: dopaminejewelery.com

In March this year Coca Cola announced in a press release the launch of Diet Coke Plus. This new member of the Coke beverage family will provide the consumer with 15% Daily Value of the vitamins B3, B6 and B12 as well as with 10% Daily Value of zinc and magnesium (calculated per eight-ounce serving).
Well, maybe this offers a great opportunity for a prospective, large scale health trial - considering the 1.4 billion servings Coke sells each day. I just worry somewhat about the data collection………

Out of interest I quickly searched Pubmed and here’s what I found (selection):

Belpoggi F et al.:
Results of long-term carcinogenicity bioassays on Coca-Cola administered to
Sprague-Dawley rats.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006, 1076:736-52

Ladas SD et al.:
Gastric phytobezoars may be treated by nasogastric Coca-Cola lavage.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2002, 14:801-3

Malhotra S et al.:
Effect of an acidic beverage (Coca-Cola) on the pharmacokinetics of carbamazepine in healthy volunteers.
Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2002, 24:31-3

Ellertson C:
History and efficacy of emergency contraception: beyond Coca-Cola.
Fam Plann Perspect. 1996, 28:44-8

Image taken from: wikimedia.org

Source: Nutrition Journal (2007), 6:10
Article Type: Original Research
Authors: G McNeill et al.

Image taken from: http://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/431619-54med.jpg

Just recently, I discussed the possibility of mutivitamin supplementation negatively affecting mortality. And there’s more bad news.
In their randomised controlled trial, Mc Neill and colleagues again confirm the inefficiency of multivitamin/-mineral supplementation (duration: 12 months) for the improvement of cognitive function in elderly (>65 years of age) subjects. As the article is freely available I will leave it to you to read the details.
I just wonder if we ever will have the chance to read the report of a prospective study assessing the impact of at least 15-20 years of multivitamin/-mineral supplementation starting well before (!) ongoing biological havoc prevents any possible health-beneficial effect of such intervention.