Quote (SKCRaynor @ Nov 1 2012 02:23am)
Here are the problems with your post.
1. Argument.
2. Specious Reasoning based on selective studies.
3. Not thoroughly thought-out or researched.
Here are the solutions.
1. Try to ask questions in a fashion that does not make you come across as being pompous and antagonistic.
2. Do some more research and find counter-claims and other studies and then start drawing your own conclusions. Remember to leave these conclusions as simple hypothesis until proven correct.
3. Make sure not to let emotion, zeal, or testosterone get in the way of being civilized and educated.
If you really think that "synthetic" vitamin e causes cancer, or in your words "ups the risk" of cancer, you are unfortunately mistaken. Alpha Tocopherols are not nearly as beneficial as Delta or Gamma Tocopherols - this is true. However, insufficient levels of vitamin E, regardless of mixed tocopherol profile, has been shown to be deleterious to health across the board. In a perfect world, it would be best to have a mixed tocopherol blend with 45/45/10 in order of D/G/A.
With regard to vitamins in general, it is obvious that one must have a balanced vitamin profile in order to maintain optimal health. Too much of one vitamin and not enough of another, is certainly not beneficial to the user, and in some cases can be harmful.
There are exceptions to this, such as in the case of vitamin C, which can often be superdosed with virtually no negative effect, regardless of supporting micronutrients.
Lastly, on the topic of studies...
You can craft a study to go any direction you'd like. If you study the "right" or "wrong" ground of people, you can achieve a different reaction based upon sampling, pre-instruction, geographical concerns, etc. Furthermore, other factors are rarely examined.
Example:
5,000 men are sampled, 2,500 receive a placebo and 2,500 receive vitamin E (alpha tocopherol only)
The 2,500 with the placebo somehow contract 16% more lung cancer, but 33% less prostate cancer.
The 2,500 with the vitamin E, contract 16% less lung cancer, and 33% more prostate cancer.
Thus, Vitamin E must increase prostate cancer and decrease lung cancer, right? Wrong.
Fluctuations with sampling patterns is not uncommon. Furthermore, pre-instruction regarding what the study is in regards to can affect subjects in unknown ways. Then there is the concern of what OTHER ingredients went into these pills. Did we study the other ingredients? Is the cellulose from a good source? Is there a potential that the batch of placebos was tainted with small amounts of arsenic?
This is how technical and absurd the process can become when conducting research.
So before you become high-and-mighty, take some time to use your brain, and think.
Nothing in my post could have come across as pompous or disrespectful or hateful.
I have reported your post though, as it was directly hateful.
The fact is that supplementing with only the alpha tocopherol form of Vitamin E (which is the only form of vitamin E in NOW Adam) has the chance of displacing or depleting plasma gamma tocopherol levels.
This is the risk of increasing cancer.
This can be avoided by not fucking suggesting synthetic multivitamins at all, or at least suggesting a multivitamin with the ENTIRE spectrum of Vitamin E.
A 10,456 male study by John Hopkins confirmed the importance of having high levels of gamma tocopherol.