How to Live Beyond Age 120 Part III

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By The Eismans (And we should know as we are doctors)

FASTING

There is a new school now – a new way to cheat father time. There are those that feel that markedly restricted caloric intake should be practiced several times a year. There are many different types of fasts, and the periods of fast can be from days to weeks long. This takes self control and in addition, you may not function well at your job when you feel you can eat an entire cow. Instead of strict calorie restriction for several days you can elect to do a strict, total fast for 24 hours four times a year. You are essentially celebrating four Yom-Kippurs each year, but you are allowed to drink water on three out of four of the fasts (On Yom-Kippur even water is not allowed).

VITAMINS
Having a vitamin deficiency can lead to serious problems. Just to bring you up to date, here are a few diseases caused by vitamin deficiency:

VITAMIN DEFICIENCY DISEASE SIGNS OF SEVERE DEFICIENCY
B1 Beriberi Heart failure, dementia. Seen with alcoholism
B3 Pellagra Rash, diarrhea and finally death
B12 Pernicious anemia Dementia that is not reversed by giving B12. Anemia
Excess Vitamin B12 results in fractures.
C Scurvy Usually in famine: Bleeding, heart failure, dementia, death
D Rickets Loss of bone growth with marked deformitie.

All this sounds horrible, and I can see all my patients running to Walgreens to clear their shelves of multivitamins. Relax! In modern societies, where there is adequate food supply, an average diet gives you all the vitamins you need. As stated before, vegetarians must be cautious and may need supplements. Eating at fast food joints is not a sign that you are eating a healthy diet. Yes, if you are an alcoholic, and go to the bar down the street for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you are going to get into trouble. Even adequate intake of vitamin B12, may be a problem with some people. We all need a chemical, generated by our stomach called Intrinsic Factor. Intrinsic Factor is necessary for transport of vitamin B12 in our stomach to be transported into our blood where it can be utilized. We already discussed diphyllobothrium latum). Certain drugs such as Metformin and Omeprazol, interfere with the absorption of Vitamin B12. Being a vegan also puts you to risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. Getting an occasional blood test for vitamin B12 level is a good idea. Check with your physician. Vitamin B12 is also mostly present in meat and vegetarians must be cognizant of this. Vegans tend to be low in iron, and this should also be checked. Be careful, however, do not take iron that you do not need. Excess iron is toxic, that is why a woman’s multivitamin may contain iron, but men’s vitamins do not. The most common cause of poisoning in children, is the aspirin that they grab from the medicine cabinet. Most do not realize that the second most common cause in children is their mother’s iron tablets. The only way you lose iron is by bleeding. We used to encourage a large intake of calcium as we felt that intake of calcium would prevent osteoporosis. Surprise! Much of that excess calcium ends up lining your arteries, and increases atherosclerosis. How much calcium is too much? Good question and we do not have the answer. I advise my patients not to take more than one calcium tablet a day, but this is not good science, just good guess-work. Well, vitamin D makes strong bones and prevents fractures. Unless you have been denied vitamin D as a child, i.e. milk and are at risk of Rickets. Vitamin D does NOT prevent fractures.

Previously, we discussed the imperfections in scientific studies. What we call double blind crossover studies, the best of study techniques, is often not possible in human subjects. However, over this past couple of centuries, there have been hundreds of studies involving multivitamins. Yes, if you are in the navy and spend years at sea, under sail, with your diet limited to hard-tack, you are at risk of acquiring Beriberi. I don’t believe that this is much of a problem today. I believe that our nuclear powered submarines, that can spend a year submerged, do not limit the diet to hard-tack. The studies that we have indicate that if you have a normal diet, multivitamins do not prolong life, and do not prevent disease. Of course the exception is vitamin B12 deficiency which we test for in our office. BUT, you must buy multivitamins. As an American citizen, purchasing multivitamins are important for the financial stability of our pharmaceutical companies, and it is our duty to continue to contribute to their welfare. So when you see that guy with the sign, “Big PHARMA” come by with his tin cup, be sure to drop a few dollars in the cup.

Dr. Eisman is the author of Bitter Medicine. To purchase a copy, click HERE.

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