Vitamin Supplements What Do Most Americans Need Essays - Vitamins

Vitamin Supplements: What Do Most Americans Need? Vitamin supplements: What do most Americans need? Vitamin supplements: What do most Americans need? That is the question I will be attempting to answer in the following few pages. To start, I will talk about their beginning as well as their recent growth in popularity in the past decade. I will discuss the medical views that are for and against the use of supplements, what types are most important, and what types people need. To conclude, I will tell about the supplements that I take and whether I will continue to do so. Many years ago, there existed diseases such as scurvy, rickets, and everyday colds. These illnesses were the cause of a lot of sickness and sometimes led to other illness and death. Chemists looked everywhere for a cure. Then came the first supplement to become popularized in its uses this was vitamin C. This wonder pill was said to help the body fight colds and other sickness. With the discovery and use of these new vitamins the Food and Nutrition Board convened in 1941 to determine adequate dietary intakes of essential nutrients. At this time deficiency diseases were a common public-health problem. Since that meeting, with the process of food fortification and improved diets, these diseases have been relatively uncommon except in the poor and elderly. In 1943, the first Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) were published. (Skerrett, 25) These amounts were stated in what amounts were just enough to maintain good health, as that any more would just be excreted by the body or build u p in the tissues. Vitamin supplements have grown in popularity at a pretty constant rate since their development, but have become especially popular in recent years. The baby boomer generation that grew up on healthy diets is finding it hard to maintain that healthy lifestyle, and would rather now just pop a pill. Some experts fear that we will become dependent on these supplements and find everyone taking 50-60 different pills each day. Today, vitamin supplements are a $2 billion a year business in the United States. Even with all these wonder pills available in the market, experts still agree that foods should be the first and most appropriate source of nutrients. (Ross, 354-55) In the past few years, the most popular supplement group has been the antioxidants-beta-carotene associated with vitamin A as well as the antioxidants in vitamin E. Antioxidants in general help clean up toxic products created by normal functions of the body's cells. Cells use oxygen to burn their fuel and the byproducts of this process include free radicals. These are chemical compounds that combine easily with fats, proteins, and other substances in the body. (H.H.L, 1) As far as beta-carotene's abilities and uses go, there have been mixed reports. On one hand, these are being praised as a modern day Fountain of Youth saying that research was showing that it may reduce the risks of some forms of cancer, heart disease, strokes, as well as slow the aging process. The findings showed that supplement takers over the age of 65 scored better on tests of cognitive abilities such as reading and remembering maps. (Godbey, 20) In a test published by the National Cancer Institute persons who received supplements including beta-carotene had a reduced cancer rate of 13 percent below previous levels. (Antioxidants, 2) In another report by the American Heart Association, women who consumed high amounts of antioxidant containing foods had a 33 percent lower risk of heart attack and 71 percent lower risk of stroke than women who did not consume high amounts of beta-carotene. In other studies, low beta -carotene levels in smokers is highly correlated with increased r isk of lung cancer and death from all cancers. Along with these helpful effects, beta-carotene is now being linked with a significantly stronger immune system that reduces infection-related illness by 50 percent. (Skerrett, 27) The other side of the beta-carotene argument is associated to health problems in people who smoke. In a study of 18,000 smokers over a six-year period supplementing with vitamin A and beta-carotene, the cancer rate increased by 17 percent over previous levels. The main focus of the experiment, lung cancer, found an increased amount of 46

One Flew Over the Cuckcoos Nest essays

One Flew Over the Cuckcoos Nest essays Try to imagine living life pretending to be a different person, being surrounded by people who can barely talk let alone being somebody you can relate with. Well after a lot of jail time, Randle McMurphy, the protagonist from the book One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, thought that this life might be easier then the hard labor he went through on a prison work farm. Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is a truly effective book that puts you right in the environment of a Mental Hospital, taking you through the ups and downs of man who pretends to be mentally ill in hopes of surpassing jail time; a once and in a lifetime experience. Randle McMurphy is a spark plug of a man that soon experiences the feeling of being trapped after being sent to a mental hospital to be evaluated. The sentiment of relief enters his mind when he realizes the life he will soon be living wouldnt be all that bad. At first things seemed to be moving along smoothly for McMurphy (or as the patients called him, Mac) once he was settled in. He introduced his fellow nuts to the game of black jack, even though none of them really caught on... without a fight at least. The patients started to really like Mac and the needed character he brought to the hospital. The only one that didnt approve of his behavior was the uptight Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched truly felt that Mac was indeed mentally sick and needed help. And while Mac was cattin around the hospital and disturbing the order, she was making it clear that he was not on the outside world. She used threats to shape up Mac and subtly took away daily conveniences that he once acted up without any regulations. For example, gambling was ended quickly in the hospital when Nurse Ratched became aware of it and confiscated all the winnings. On top of that, she made little refusals like denying him the right to watch the World Series; Mac has never missed a World S...