A recent study showed that between consumption of vitamin and the development of lung cancer there is a connection. The news is very concerned about the public. Useful vitamin b, and in what quantity it should be consumed without risk to health? Try to understand.
What is b vitamins?
There are eight main b vitamins: B1 (thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5 (Pantothenic acid), B6, B7 (Biotin), B12 and folic acid. A recent study, interim results of which were published in the journal «Clinical Oncology», was dedicated to the link between lung cancer and levels of vitamins B6 and B12 in the human body.
It is known that vitamin B6 helps to normalize the nervous system and blood vessels, and vitamin B12 plays an important role in metabolism, strengthen the immune system and brain development of the fetus during pregnancy. Both vitamins are found in foods of animal origin. You can also get vitamin B6 from fruits (except citrus), potatoes and other starchy vegetables.
Nutritional supplements and vitamins: which is which?
According to the National Institute of health, most people in U.S. get enough vitamins from food. Nevertheless, different dietary supplements of vitamin B, is very popular among the population.
Most multivitamins contain the recommended dietary allowance of b vitamins for adults, which is 2.4 micrograms of B12 , and 1.3 to 1.7 milligrams of B6 (depending on your age and gender). At the same time, supplementation with b vitamins contain much greater amounts exceeding the limit at times, thousands of times.
The results of the study. Vitamin b: benefit or harm?
Scientists from the Research center Fred Hutchinson cancer University of Washington analyzed the case histories of about 77 000 American adults aged 60 to 76 years. And although the study has not been completed, some interim results have already been summed up. Thus, in the August report States that men who took the highest dose of vitamin B6 (20 milligrams per day for 10 years) and B12 (more than 55 micrograms per day for 10 years), faced with a twofold increased risk of developing lung cancer compared with those who consumed multivitamin In without resorting to various additives.
Another observation: men who smoked and took these high-dose vitamin B6 or B12, the risk of lung cancer increased three to four times in comparison with those who did not smoke and did not take fortified food supplements.
Interestingly, a similar dependence in women was observed.
Scientists claim that the results of the preliminary analysis cannot be taken as an axiom. To get final confirmation, you should conduct many more studies, but the findings give a reason to think and hope for the possibility of preventing up to 50% of diagnoses of lung cancer.
