I began thinking about vitamins after I quit smoking in my late 20s. (I was sick and away from home – and decided that I wouldn’t feel much worse, so I quit.) This new interest in health led me to look for information on vitamins – and I found Adele Davis. I found, bought, read and reread all of her books; in addition to general information I found an important generality: Individual need for a particular vitamin can vary over a 1000:1 range.
A decade later I had a friend who was working towards a PhD in Nutrition at Harvard. I picked her brain as often and intensely as politeness allowed. She debunked some of what I “knew”, but gave me another important generality: “We know a lot about what the average person needs, but almost nothing about individuals.” This was consistent with the earlier generality and confirmed me in my try-it-and-see approach. So I’ve taken vitamins for two reasons: To help solve a particular problem, and to help with general health. I can evaluate the effectiveness of the first by listening to my body, but the second should – and mostly does – depend on science.
Vitamin Sources
For the first decade or so, I purchased my vitamins from health food stores – where I could read the labels and chat with (presumably) knowledgeable people. This seems a good place to mention one of my father’s favorite self-descriptions: “Often in error but never in doubt.” (Which applies equally to me.) Obviously, I would be susceptible to this with the people in the stores – but the books I purchased there generally gave additional credence, perhaps because they read them too. After mail-order catalogs became common, I browsed these for additional ideas and sources.
After the Internet became available I used its information and availability. For the “general principles” part of my vitamins I tried to find companies the frequently modified their formulas in accordance of research results. While several said they did this, none of them were long-term successful, so I had to find a new company every few years. Eventually, I stumbled on Life Extension Foundation, which has supplied most of my “general principles” vitamins since. While I order from them, I also check their prices on Amazon as it is frequently lower. For non-LEF products I also check iHerb.
Vitamin C
One of the major assertions of the Adele Davis books, later repeated and amplified by Linus Pauling is an emphasis on vitamin C. So I took a lot of it for many years, generally as powder dissolved in water. As it was an acid – ascorbic acid – over time it dissolved some of the outer surface of my front teeth. When I finally noticed this I stopped using the powder. More recently, I became aware of ascorbates – vitamin C with a mineral, calcium for me, dissolved in water. This isn’t ascetic, so doesn’t further dissolve my teeth, and doesn’t affect my digestion as the acid did.
Did I notice any difference with vitamin C? Yes, two: First, when I visited friends in Ohio who lived near a grain mill I wasn’t sneezing all the time. Second, my frequency of sinus troubles declined. So it wasn’t just general principles for me, my conclusion was that I needed more vitamin C than the average and I’ve continued to provide it.
Blood Sugar
When both I and my sister were old enough to drink we noticed a pattern: When our family went out to dinner, my mother, sister, and I were all in bad moods until we had a few swallows of wine or a drink – then we were fine. We discussed it and concluded that we all had low blood sugar because dinner was later than usual. As we became aware of it we learned to resist the effects, making these events more pleasant for my father.
After I was diagnosed with prostate cancer I again started reading. At the Life Extension Foundation web site I found some studies relating cancer growth and metastasis to blood sugar spikes. They hypothesized that some cancers needed this to grow. As a roundabout way to test that hypothesis they looked at cancer incidences in diabetics taking metformin – and found that many cancers had lower incidences. Metformin is widely used to prevent the blood sugar spikes that do diabetics so much harm. So, I asked my doctor to prescribe it and took it for several years. No surprise, my problems with low blood sugar went away. However, eventually the side effects led me to look for something else.
I found berberine, which was anecdotally reported to have the same blood sugar effects as metformin, but without the side effects.
Anecdotal reports digression: I tentatively accept and act on anecdotal reports if (1) no one is making excessive profits from it (making a living is OK, buying a jet is not); and, (2) the effects if I’m wrong to try it are minimal.
Berberine met these tests, so I tried some. I bought it as a powder – with capsule loading equipment, as I wanted to try loading my own capsules. I was immediately banished to the basement as the berberine was bright yellow and would stain the kitchen counters. This was inconvenient, so I bought capsules after I used up the powder. It didn’t work as well as metformin for me, but I’ve continued taking it because of its reported other benefits. It’s not expensive, but after writing this I plan to stop taking it for a while and see if I notice a difference.
Low Dose Naltrexone
Generally know as Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), it is a drug, not a vitamin, but I think of it more as a vitamin so I’ll discuss it here. It was suggested to me by a medically-knowledgeable friend who is not a doctor. He first suggested it for another friend who has Machado-Joseph Disease, with effects similar to ALS. Before suggesting it to that friend, I read all the material available on the Internet. While that second friend wasn’t comfortable asking his doctor for it, I didn’t forget it – as it entirely meets my position on anecdotal reports.
When I was diagnosed with a precancerous blood condition I asked my doctor to prescribe it. After a few years that condition disappeared, which I attribute to the LDN – my hematologist didn’t agree, he called it spontaneous. When Paula was diagnosed with fibroymyalgia she asked her doctor if she could try it; it’s 80-90% effective for her. And she can test it: 2-3 weeks after she stops taking it she can’t walk downstairs normally; then, 2-3 weeks after she resumes, she can do so. I continue to take it for prostate cancer, and general health. (There is also the possibility that LDN’s effect on autoimmune conditions might prevent the cytokine storm sometimes found with Covid-19.)
LDN is a single pill taken at bedtime. It removes the beta-endorphins from the blood; then, about 3am, when the body makes them it recognizes the scarcity and makes more than usual – resulting in more available. Thus, it’s a direct effect on the immune system. That’s why the list of things that it is considered useful for is so long. The cost of manually compounding the capsules is essentially all of its cost. As naltrexone is commercially available in 50mg tablets; these are crushed to provide the (typical) 4.5mg LDN capsules.
SAMe
Sadenosylmethionine (a/k/a SAMe) was something I tried when I was looking for alternatives to lifelong naproxen for arthritis pain. It solved that problem for me, and also helped even out my moods. I’ve never been good with interruptions to my thinking, but SAMe has smoothed that out for me.
Taurine
I first encountered taurine in Steve Gibson’s first healthy sleep article. Gibson gives a weekly podcast on computer security and sells a program for fixing broken hard disks. He was experiencing difficulty sleeping and – characteristically – exhaustively researched what might fix it. His write-up and references on taurine hit a chord with me. I had been experiencing SVT, a rapid heart rate due to miswiring of some of my heart’s nerves. While I could take a drug when it occurred, I wanted to avoid doing so. I tried 2 grams of taurine twice a day and the episodes declined from every-week-or-two to every-month-or-two – a clear improvement, so I’ve continued it. (BTW, since I’ve used a CPAP machine they’ve further declined to twice a year.)
Vitamins D3, K2 Mk7, Calcium, & Magnesium
It was Steve Gibson, again, that raised my awareness of Vitamin D when he devoted a computer security podcast to it. It had been included in my multivitamins for decades, but Gibson’s write-up and references brought new information. So I increased my intake – and my doctor added a test for my levels to my annual blood test. Additionally, I made sure that any changes in how much I’m taking happens a couple of months before a blood test so I could ensure I wasn’t taking too much. (I’m not in the sun much and I live in New England, so I get little naturally in spite of my excessively light skin.)
One of the outcomes of my prostate cancer was osteoporosis – a good trade, in my opinion. So, in addition to a non-Newtonian back pad for skiing, I’ve tried to encourage my body to reverse it. While my readings on the subject were not encouraging, I wanted to do everything I could. So, I increased the amount of D3 and added Vitamin K2 Mk7, calcium, and magnesium. The calcium was mostly in a product from Life Extension Foundation plus some more at bedtime. Some magnesium is included in the LEF product, but I take some more at bedtime (another Steve Gibson recommendation).
Another bone density test is scheduled in three months, so I’ll find out the results then.
Omega-3 Fish Oil
One of my repeating discussions with my doctor is triglycerides – they are too high – this isn’t surprising with my love of ice cream. I mentioned this to my cardiologist (yes, I have one of those too), who recommended omega-3 fish oil. I looked at some of the many offerings and settled on one, and my doctor has been happy with my triglycerides since. Success.
Serrapeptase Enzyme
Serrapeptase enzymes are touted as dissolving protein, reducing pain, and making mucus less viscous. Dissolving protein may affect plaques, but I haven’t seen any creditable studies to this effect. Regardless, it should accomplish what it’s capable of in this effect in a year or so; I’ve been taking it almost a year so this effect – if it exists – may no longer benefit me. (BTY, much of what passes for “research” on vitamins uses very small sample sizes with poor experimental controls – so I distrust it.)
Reducing pain is certainly desirable, but I don’t have any chronic pain – so that’s no reason to continue it. Finally, my most desirable effect was less viscous nasal mucus as it affects my ability to breathe properly using my CPAP machine. This may have occurred; I thought so for a few weeks, but now I’m doubtful. Because of the above, I planed to take it every other month as a compromise, but I noticed that I missed almost half of the doses so I’m continuing in that manner.
Curcumin
Curcumin has good and well-documented effects on depression, inflammation, pain, symptoms of osteoarthritis, anxiety, and others. While not all of these are relevant to me, many of them are. There are anecdotal reports of it reducing myelopathy – which I have due to osteoporosis. It effects me in certain positions – which I’ve learned to avoid – but it seems to be less since I’ve been taking curcumin.
Quercetin
I was told of quercetin by the same person who recommended LDN, so it comes with some credibility. He suggested it for the coronavirus, I’m interested in it because of it’s effects on exercise and LDL. I’ve been taking it for about a month, and I’m feeling more energy. So I’ll continue.
Glycine
This came out of discussions on Steve Gibson’s h.tns newsgroup, which was originally purposed for the sleep-benefiting effects of electricity through the brain and has moved on to magnetism. One of the results of his and others’ tests is that glycine boosts and/or enables the effect for many. For some it appears to work without other stimulation. I found that my number of sleep apneas declined when I took glycine at at bedtime. While some have reported stomach problems with it, I haven’t and plan to continue it.
Cholesterol
The other repeating discussion with my doctor is cholesterol, he’s happy with my HDL but not with my LDL. In the past, I tried his recommendation of red rice yeast (after reading about it). But it didn’t suit me – I felt weird – and I stopped taking it. Also, I don’t like what I’ve read about statins; I’d feel guilty about refusing to take them, but I probably would refuse anyway. Some of the vitamins I’m taking are supposed to help, but they obviously aren’t helping enough. I exercise fairly strongly because I like exercise and doing more isn’t reasonable. So, I did some looking around on line, and found two suggestions: policosanal and guggulsterone. These are cheap with few reported side effects, and I plan to take one per day each through my next blood test to see if they help. Since this makes three new vitamins (with quercetin) for LDL, if it drops I may experiment to see if all are needed if the experiment is successful.
Green Tea
Having read that green tea seemed to reduce the likelihood of metastasis, I realized that I didn’t much like drinking tea. So I looked for alternatives. I found green tea extract in capsules and powder – the powder was described as bitter-tasting. This seemed to be a good combination with slightly-too-sweet breakfast cereal. As I was impressed with LiftMode because of their apparent high quality and unusual substances I decided to try theirs — which was 300 grams, a 600 day supply. I’ve reordered it once and will do so again in a few months.
General Principles
Ubiquinol and LEF’s 2-capsule multivitamins are my general principles vitamins. Ubiquinol is one of those recommended by Steve Gibson, whose obsessiveness I trust. (There was a recent discussion about it on his health newsgroup that clarified some points for me.) Likewise, LEF’s multivitamins meet my objective of being periodically updated to reflect research results.
Conclusions
I am aware that my belief and implementation of vitamins puts me on the lunatic fringe for some. My defense is the two generalities I mentioned at the beginning of this post: People vary greatly in their need for and response to vitamins. Also, learning about and using them helps me feel that I’m contributing to my health.
July 11, 2020; July 28, 2020 added green tea section